Consumer insights:
FANFINDERS
The secret to
great content
L
et’s address the elephant in the room: what do we mean by content? Well, it incorporates everything from blog posts, emails, case studies, e-books, webinars, podcasts, social posts, video and images. There’s a vast landscape out there but the good news is your business doesn’t need every type. In July’s issue, we covered why ‘valuable’ content carries immense power in the buyer journey and it is a fundamental part of your marketing mix. We’re all far more likely to enjoy content when it doesn’t feel like someone is selling to us, so if you want to establish authority and develop relationships with your target consumers (who doesn’t!), great content that is centred around providing information or value is essential. Having built up a community of over 5 million new and expectant parents across two continents, we wanted to share a few consistent things we’ve noticed that can help you with making those all-important connections:
Identify your audience We’ll begin with the biggest mistake most brands and retailers make when marketing to parents or families: using a one-size-fits-all approach. The parents ‘group’ is just as diverse as the general population, so why would you treat them as a homogenous audience? Demographic factors like age, family relationship dynamics and lifestyle priorities can affect whether families will be attracted by certain products or services. So, you need to do your homework on your specific niche within this group, identify their wants and needs, and then tailor your approach accordingly. 14
nursery today
This month, FanFinders shares the keys to having content that increases brand awareness, drives engagement and creates devoted customers. Be authentic Modern parents want to hear from real people. While they do seek out healthcare professionals and use Google to search for topics, they want to get advice or hear from people who are either in the same situation or understand those experiences. This is why our ‘Ask the Fans’ feature works well over on Facebook – where parents offer advice to other members – and why we have so many real parent bloggers. As Laura Driver, Social Media Manager at FanFinders explains: “Being real and honest is what we do, because I think people can relate to this far more than content about how you can be the ‘perfect’ parent – the ‘perfect’ parent doesn’t exist. At some point, your child is going to shout out something embarrassing in a supermarket and that’s OK.” Regardless of your objectives, your content should have emotion. Parents can tell when the person writing isn’t an expert on the topics they’re covering. Lack of authenticity is obvious and detrimental to establishing brand trust.
Learn from behaviours Has one of your product newsletters performed better than another? Did one have a higher conversation rate? Did one piece of content generate more engagement? Many underestimate the importance of taking time to learn from their audience’s behaviours. We regularly take the time to monitor how our community is interacting online and what they want to see more of, both on social channels and with more qualitative content. By taking this step back, you can better evaluate what your users and followers want
and how they behave. From there, you can put a more concise plan into action. For us, it’s about channelling our efforts into valuable, saveable, sharable content for new parents; content that answers their questions, faces realities and, above all, is engaging.
Think about video Parents are at a very vulnerable stage in their lives, so having content that can simulate that feeling of someone sat comfortably in the living room with them carries extra weight. During the pandemic, we gave parents around the UK free access to our experts through Facebook and Instagram Lives to provide much-needed reassurance to parents, and give them a resource that they may not have had access to otherwise. You should test different formats like these to meet parents’ needs and find new ways to be a source of support.
Consider the right influencers Influencers remain a very good route for marketing your brand or business, given they offer a potentially huge reach at a reasonable price. This is crucial: it has to be the right
influencers, or you can totally miss the mark with content. You want someone that represents your audience and, for a brick-and-mortar retailer, this could be micro-influencers in the form of someone local to your business. Bear in mind you can actually get better influence from social accounts with a following under 50k, under 10k even.
Above all, put parents first Putting your ‘customer’ or ‘audience’ first should always be one of the top priorities for any content. When thinking of content approaches, remember that the new or expectant parent receiving it could be nervous about giving birth, or they may be struggling with breastfeeding, or they might have had a terrible night because their child isn’t sleeping well. If you continually strive to ensure the needs of your audience are met and they are made to feel valued, your business will be valued in return. FanFinders is a performance marketing and consumer insight company that connects brands with parents who want what they have to offer via Your Baby Club. See more at fanfinders.com
FanFinders is a performance marketing and consumer insight company that connects brands with parents who want what they have to offer via Your Baby Club. See their latest insights into the baby market at fanfinders.com/insights.
For more information on FanFinders and the consumer insight they can offer, call: 0203 808 3011 or visit www.fanfinders.com
