Once you have established your online presence, you will have automatically started to leave your own trail of digital breadcrumbs. It may not be something you planned but it is the start of you gaining the attention of your audience.
The trail you leave is saying something about you. But the question you then should ask yourself is "How do I control and channel my efforts for marketing purposes?
David Lomas, CEO of M3 Media Publishing explains, “By creating dynamic and intriguing content, focused on the needs and concerns of your audience, you are effectively leaving them a trail to follow. What you are creating is your own, bespoke customer corridor, down which you can draw people towards you.”
This subject customer attraction was the theme of a recent Business Connections event, held in Manchester.
At the event, David spoke to his audience of entrepreneurs, business leaders and influencers about how to use the principle of 'digital breadcrumbs' strategically to attract the perfect prospect.
A Corridor Not a Funnel
A core business concept is the sales funnel, where you filter your audience through stages towards the point where they become prospects and act to buy from you.
David explains, however, why he favours the customer corridor over the sales funnel.
“The funnel suggests to me a kind of industrial process where you squeeze people through and out the other end. It feels less empathic towards the audience.”
Instead, the customer corridor is about generating curiosity and a subtle but continuous build-up of knowledge through content.
"Always treat the prospect with respect. He knows when he is being 'sold to'. When content is done correctly, our clients have had some very significant results from the customer response to their content"
“One of our articles directly resulted in attracting a business deal worth over £250,000 for one of our clients”
“Central to good content is storytelling,” David states. “Stories can attract and engage, address the customer’s pain points and needs and then provide a solution.”
The Importance of Content
Core to the M3 Media Publishing approach to content marketing is to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Make your content about them, not you, but in doing so, reveal something about yourself.
“If you feature consistently as an expert in third-party content, the comments are attributable to you, but they’re about what your audience is interested in”
This is what helps, ultimately, to pre-qualify your prospects.
“You can measure people’s interest in your content online, and you can engage and discuss it with them through social media,” explains David.
“Use your content to draw out your audience and start focusing on the detail,” concludes David. “It’s a strategic, scientific process, but it’s expressed in very human terms.”
To take control of your trail of digital breadcrumbs, contact M3 Media Publishing on 0161 922 8571 or visit m3publishing.co.uk.
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