Creating a content calendar goes beyond simply lining up haphazard topics into a grid with dates on it, and if that’s how you’ve been treating your calendar, you’re missing out on one of the most important considerations behind posting content online in the first place: your audience, the people you want as clients.

Don’t write for everyone, write for your ideal client. Keep it focused, be authentic, and always be helpful (of value).

Last week, we posted two parts which outlined how creating a content calendar benefits you, your business, and your audience. Today, we’re diving more in-depth, taking a look at your audience, what it is they want to read (learn more about), and how you can transition them through your sales funnel to become a trusting, paying customer.

Let’s get one thing straight concerning your overall objective in writing content, this is an equation you can easily memorize.

Ultimate Goal = Content that Convert

How to Create Content that Converts

Know your ideal client, and write to and for them. Think of them when you word titles. Think of them when you push something out on social media, when you create offers, services, or products.

I will say it again, don’t try to write to everyone because then you appeal to no one.

Alright, so how do you get to know and understand your audience or ideal client? I like to think of it as a two-step process: 1) You write out avatars for your ideal client; and 2) you research where said avatar would hang out and “listen”. Social listening is when you pay attention to what people are saying, and we tackle that more towards the end of this post.

Creating Your Brand’s Target Avatar
Wait, what’s an avatar?! An avatar is an icon or figure (in our case, a write-up) representing a particular person, a.k.a your ideal client.

I feel like this requires an example, so let’s look back to Ann, our interior designer from Part 2 of this series. Ann’s mission is to transform household interiors by making things new, and mixing in old pieces with character.

Her avatar (ideal client or blog reader) might look something like this:

“Clair and Tim have been married for 5 years, and do not have children yet, but love to host groups in their home. They like clean rooms with space for movement and want their guests to feel comfortable, and refreshed, not cramped and restricted. They like neutral colors, with vintage pieces scattered throughout.”

That is a very specific avatar for Ann, she would likely have others as well. Perhaps an avatar for a single business woman, one for an older retired couple, one for a family (or more than one!), etc. This makes Ann’s job easier because she can target the articles she writes. If Ann wants to appeal to Clair and Tim and other couples that fit that specific avatar, she could write a piece on “The 5 Different Methods for Using Neutral Colors in Your Home,” or “How to Make a Small Space Feel Bigger.”

That’s why we’re going to make avatars, so we know exactly to whom we are writing.

So take a look at your mission and vision, and think of the people this directly appeals to, ask yourself these questions:

• Is my ideal client a he or a she? (If you think either apply, this is where you know you’ll have more than one avatar)
• Are they single, married, divorced, widowed, married with children, without children, with grown children, etc.?
• What is their financial status, or what is their annual income? (brackets give you breathing room, ex. 50,000-75,000)
• What are some of their hobbies?
• What are they passionate about?
• What social causes move them?
• What is there problem or need? (Again, feel free to list more than one depending on what you offer, but they should all be directly related)
• What kind of help would they seek from me, my products/services?

Include any other questions you think will be useful or important to creating your avatar and then write it out as I did above for Ann’s ideal couple sans kids, Clair and Tim.

Yay! You have successfully completed the first step in understanding your ideal audience/client. Now we move onto social listening, and figuring out where your people hang out.

If you’re going to create a content calendar months in advance (it pays off in the long run, I promise), then you need to come up with ideas..lots of ideas. Besides the article generating idea tools I listed in Part 1 of this series (which is easier, and not as targeted), the best way is to do a little hunting.

Here are some suggestions for different places you can look to in order to fill the slots in your content calendar:

Facebook Groups

That graphic designer who wrote “Why You Need Photoshop For Your Graphics” might be a good person to follow, and even more so if you have a similar ideal audience. You don’t follow them so you can imitate them, but so you can keep up with ongoing conversation and questions people are posting.

Online Forums

These are very popular among gamers, graphic designers, developers, software or app builders, technicians, and DIY tech folk.

Similar Websites/Blogs in Your Niche

Again, this is so you can do some “social listening”. What are the questions people are posting in the comments? What are the people asking for, and what can you offer to help them?

Online Markets

If you sell a specific product, then looking at online retailers and the customer reviews can be super helpful! Did people like that carrot peeler? Are those resistance bands as long lasting as you thought if you’ve only had them for a few weeks but someone else had them for a few months and they broke? Random examples, I know, but you get the point. Good place to look since consumers like to share their experiences, especially if they absolutely loved it, or completely hated it.

Hashtags

Look up specific hashtags on Twitter, or other online hashtag monitoring platforms and see what people are writing surrounding those hashtags.

SumoMe

I referred to this in Part 1 because it’s awesome. Not only can you look up the popularity of certain words, but SumoMe shares how many shares certain articles got on various social media platforms. Don’t copy those exact titles, rather see how you can add value to the existing article’s content. What else could you write on the topic that is missing, or look at the questions and comments from those super popular posts.

Be Intentional

Now that we’ve covered how you can create avatars for your ideal client, and how you can find out what they’re talking/asking about online, you have no reason for throwing random, irrelevant, not-so-helpful titles into your content calendar!

TAKE ACTION: It is likely that your business and brand appeal to more than one person. Make at least three avatars, and more if you need to! Then do a little research and write down 5 specific places where you can do some social listening. So don’t write down “Facebook”, that is way too broad. Look for a very specific Group or Page, and write down the name so you don’t forget.

Shoot me any questions or suggestions in the comment box below!

If you need more specific help with any of these content offers, join the Connected Women community (it’s free!) & feel free to reach out to our experts in the group!