If you’re looking to build your content plan for 2022 then this episode is a must-listen.
On this guest expert episode, we are chatting with Janet Murray one of the UK’s leading content marketing experts that specialises in audience growth. Janet is also a chart-topping podcaster, author and speaker, who has spoken all over the world about content marketing and audience growth.
In this episode, she gives us all the golden nuggets to questions such as –
- How do I find and get in front of my ideal client?
- How do you position yourself as a market leader through your content?
- How do I find content ideas without the risk of running out?
Listen to the player above or read the blog below.
Grow your audience
People start a business and run it and they forget about building an audience. They focus so much on creating a product and pricing it. Janet explains that we get swept up in our business and get so excited about the product we want to sell that we forget to check if there is an audience or market there.
To bring a product to market, there is so much to do and you forget to check if anyone wants to buy it. If so, where are those people?
When we look at this – when that section is missed we sometimes have to change the direction of the business.
“If you don’t know who you are, what it is that you do and what makes you different, it is difficult to build an audience because you don’t know what kind of audience you want to build,” explains Janet. “Then the content becomes difficult. Knowing what to post on social media becomes impossible because you have missed out on crucial steps.”
Niche
Niching is the most important thing in the world and everyone is terrified of it.
“There is a fear that if you say you are going to work with a specific person in a specific area then you will lose out on other sales,” says Janet. “In fact, the opposite is true.”
Some of the most successful clients that Janet works with are the ones who have cornered a niche. You can niche in many different ways. Audience building is an example of this niche. The challenge of Janet’s niche is that it is so new that you may not know what it is. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it allows you to drill down.
Janet was originally teaching general marketing, which is a highly competitive area. When Janet started to hear the phrase, ” I need to build my audience” the niche found her. You need to tune into what people keep asking about and saying.
Janet realised that people want online courses and to scale but this needs an audience to sell this. You need to be brave and claim that area.
“You need to be that person or brand so people know you are the person to go to if you need help with X,” says Janet. “If you can dig deep and find that ‘inch-wide, mile deep’ niche then everything becomes easier.”
Examples of successful niches
Janet explains that Jo Souley found the business coaching space crowded. She niched with coaching and numerology. You need to be open with being woo to work with Jo. Since Jo came up with this niche, she has filled her spaces.
Janet also explains that a Management Accountant client is doing well with not a particularly exciting subject. This client wants to be flexible and work from home. It was about knowing your business numbers but people were not resonating with her message. People need to want it and want the results.
Your audience needs to get excited about what you sell. Consider what people ask you about the most. In this client’s case, it was pricing. How to put prices up and work out the best selling products. The niche became pricing and profits. Suddenly this client is an expert in pricing and people want to book power hours because they get what she does.
Now, this client is the pricing queen. And it is important to include profit in this niche as she can still sell to people further along in their journey. She is still doing the same thing but with a different message.
“No one wakes up in the morning and says, ‘I need to know my numbers,” explains Janet, “but they do wake up and say ‘I have to get back to that person with the price and I don’t know where to go with it.”
Language
Janet also explains that you need to use language that your audience understands and can relate to. People may need a service but that does not mean they want it. If they do not feel the pain, they will not move. Language makes this meaningful to them.
You need a Unique Magic Bullet and Jo Souley is a perfect example of something that is productised and unique to her clients.
Listening is also key to finding your niche. You need to listen to what people want and what they say. If you are in that boat – there is an opportunity to adapt and change.
Content creation
When it comes to content creation and having a niche is the worry about running out of ideas. Janet explains that if you know your audience then you should not run out of ideas. Taking pricing as an example, you can have subjects around setting prices, when people say no, matching pricing. From there you can look at best-performing products and services.
“For me, when it comes to creating content for my products and services, it all comes from the questions I get asked,” explains Janet. You can dig into each question and move from there.
You can also repeat content. Google loves you to update content – adding to the existing content so you are not creating new. You can also revisit topics and look at them from different angles.
Evergreen content is important and you need to bring new people into your audience all the time. If you are speaking to the same person all the time then there is a problem as it means they are not buying from you.
“Your perspectives and experiences change, too,” says Janet. “I have new tips and strategies than a year ago. You can revisit and update it.”
Positioning as a market leader with content
“Don’t be vanilla,” says Janet. “There is so much boring and safe content out there. You need to be you. You don’t need to share pictures of yourself in the bath.”
People want to get to know you as a person online. They want to know about your life so personal and opinion content is worthy. Who wants to follow a market leader who does not have opinions about anything? Who doesn’t lead the way and the conversation?
For example, everyone is encouraged to build membership and online courses but there is no one teaching people how to teach. So there is some appalling teaching online. People want the outcome but do not invest in being a good teacher. This is an example of what you might put out if you want to be a market leader. It’s a position and an opinion.
“If you want to be a market leader, you have to lead,” says Janet.
Where to find your ideal clients
Example – selling luxury styling and life-styling to women in mid-life.
“Who has paid you for this so far?” asks Janet. “Start with who you have worked with before and where they hang out online. Set up a chat with them and find out more about where they hang out. I guess Instagram but do not build your strategy on guesswork.
“Understand behaviours, and who else they like. Then look at the content of who else they like. It may not be social media at all or using Pinterest. Social media is not the best place to build your audience. You need to understand what your ideal client searches for.
“You may need to offer a freebie to access the conversation. They may be looking for ideas on how to wear something or other questions they ask. Think about their online behaviours and brands they might look at.”
You need to go beyond the surface level of your product and look at other aspects they are searching for online. It’s about problems and pain. Real people and real questions.
Useful links:
Book a Call with Jen – bit.ly/claritycallpodcast
Download my FREE Seven Figure Market Leader Roadmap –http://www.marketleaderleague.com/marketleaderroadmap/
Send your emails to jen@jen-hall.com
Find Janet at www.janetmurray.co.uk
Available on Apple iTunes, Spotify & Stitcher (Just search Expert Unrivalled Podcast)