Branding Byte #010

I’ve been blind about this, people are aware of the importance of creating content for their business. The real challenge that needs to be tackled need is not the ‘why you need’ but ‘how you’ll do it’. 

That will be the goal of today’s Newsletter, share an actionable 3-step process to help you build a tailor-made content strategy.

One that will fit perfectly your professional goal for the next 6-12 months.

Let’s be honest about this, content is the new fundraising. How many solopreneurs have been able to build bootstrapped startups just because they decided to build in public and create content?

Thousands of them. And for the other thousands that failed, they now got an audience that will help them in one way or another.

Content is for everyone, the only difference will be the strategy that needs to be built, but hey I’ll talk about that later.

Content is the best way to test hypotheses, get feedback from the right audience, and ultimately build something specific they’re ready to pay for.

Unfortunately, strategy is way too often let aside, while it’s the most important step in your Branding journey.

Take a deep breath, put some Hans Zimmer in your ears, and let’s jump straight to the point:

No transformation in mind.

The goal of your strategy is to focus on one specific thing:

The transformation you provide to your target audience, what state are they currently in and what is the promised state they’ll be in after using your product/service?

But answering that question requires a few primary understandings:

• Who’s your hero? (Identify the right persona)

• What critical pain point are you solving?

• What is the form of your solution?

• Why can you take the position of the guide?

You may feel a little lost with those and wonder what they have to do with your content strategy or worse, how can you seamlessly integrate them into it.

Here’s how you can make that happen:

Step 1: Start and end with your Ideal Client

Have you heard about the rule of one? Also known as RIOA:

• One Reader

• One Idea

• One Offer

• One Action

Every successful brand has established a clear, concise, and memorable sentence for each of those.

How can you do the same?

1/ Who’s your ideal client?

• Where can I find them online?

• How do they phrase the challenge they face?

• What’s the most urgent problem I want to tackle?

• Is my solution concretely understandable?

2/ On what Idea is your product based?

• What transformation do you provide?

• Why it’s necessary for your client?

• What’s at stake if not implemented now?

• Why it’s relevant to solve it with you?

3/ What’s your One Offer?

• What path to resolution are you providing?

• How easy is it understandable for your client?

• Which feature matches critical pain?

4/ What is One Action?

• How simple is the next step for your reader?

• Do you have an existing offer?

• Do you free alternative to mature the decision stage of your reader?

Did you notice the pattern? It’s not about you or your product. The sooner you understand that it’s about your Ideal Client, the sooner you’ll build a profitable business.

Step 2: Optimize your format and presence.

Ok, now that you answered those questions you built the roots of your content strategy, now time to format that and make sense of the chaotic nonsense you see all over LinkedIn.

There are 4 elements you need to review based on RIOA:

• Your Linkedin Headline

• Your LinkedIn Background picture

• Your LinkedIn About section

• The format of your posts.

A confused mind never buys, your role is to make everything stupidly seamless.

For the format of my content here’s a simple framework I use:

• Carousels: Long how to or how I did something my audience needs.

• Short written post: One specific punch that refers to something your audience already knows.

• Long-written posts: I use this to make lists of what people need to do to get a desired outcome.

• Image + text: I use this to showcase results and share metrics.

Time to build your presence:

• Make a public announcement that you’ll start sharing X number of posts per week.

• No one likes to fail in public, it’ll keep you accountable.

• Share once a week an update on your achievements.

So far you did everything right, you’re set for trial. The next step is to get feedback and iterate on your hypothesis.

Step 3: Assess performance and jump into calls.

Pre-analysis is just as important as post-analysis.

You may be consistent in your content creation, but consistently doing the same mistakes won’t get you anywhere.

The best advice I can give you at this step:

Propose a free consultation for the targeted Ideal Client and aim for 20-40 of them (20-30 mins each time). At this stage listen carefully, take notes, and be genuine in the questions you’re asking:

• What is the most critical pain you’re experiencing in the ‘Specific process’?

• Have you ever tried existing solutions?

• What did they fail to provide you with what you need?

• Is what we do at ‘Name of your brand’ clear for you?

• How can we truly help you?

That’s how you get direct feedback and that’s how you get leverage over competitors that are not creating content.

Honestly, it’s the best way to set the tone regarding your Branding Strategy, people will tell you what’s wrong with your content and product.

That’s a wrap!

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I hope this can help you in your creator journey, do not hesitate to reach out if you need help with your LinkedIn content strategy.

If you found that useful, follow me on Linkedin, I help 3100+ people daily leverage growth through content creation.

Till next week for a new Branding Byte!