Every company no matter the industry, be it hospitality tech, property management, or property tech, has a story to tell. But how this story is told can be the difference between making or breaking your brand.
There’s never been a more relevant time to focus on your hospitality tech company’s story than now. Consumer demand for tech-enabled spaces is at an all time high. This year in the short term rental industry, for example, we’re seeing a 21% increase in new properties joining the scene – all of which will require products and services like yours to get on par with their competitors. As Jason Fudin, CEO of Pacemakr told Phocuswire recently, “Those who can deliver on a tech-enabled, customer-centric experience are going to come out on top.”
The good news is your business and field of expertise are not short on consumers. The bad news, however, is that those consumers have ample choices to choose from – and without a clear voice, you could be lost in the noise. So, the question is, how do you get to the forefront of these property managers’ journeys to ensure your tech is chosen and used? This is where content marketing can help elevate your business above the competition.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the art of using content to expand your business’s audience, strengthen your brand, and ultimately drive leads and sales by appealing to other companies. In short, content is everything (when done well).
Why companies should invest in content
By giving your brand a voice, you can communicate what you want to who you want to reach. It sounds simple, but simplicity is often the most effective way!
Content enables you to amplify everything good about your business, your product, and your people, through blogs, eBooks, white papers, case studies, social media, videos, podcasts, and more, as well as starting a dialogue with your audience.
Crucially, appealing content is just easier to digest than dry spreadsheets and spam marketing. It engages your customers, makes them take notice, educates, and converts. Great content connects the dots between marketing and sales – building brand awareness and generating leads.
“Great content connects the dots between marketing and sales – building brand awareness and generating leads.”
Businesses are now well versed in these benefits, but do enough of them put the time and energy into creating content? When a tech startup is focusing on its product and sales, creating content for its blog or social channels likely takes a back seat. At Abode Worldwide, we would argue that if you are building a business for long term success, content is a crucial element.
Our top 5 tips for engaging content creation
- Targeted, relevant, and engaging – Above all, B2B content must be useful. Rolled into this are the obvious SEO benefits – content that is optimized with targeted keywords and specifically chosen trusted backlinks can drive website traffic.
- Show don’t tell storytelling – Focus on the audience and customer needs first. Think from the perspective of the customer; what does their journey as a property manager or hotelier look like? Remember, content that is too salesy can be off-putting, so keep it educational.
- Remember your audience – Your audience may be businesses, but these businesses are still made up of real people. Cut out the cliches and speak directly to your customer keeping in mind that business people are busy with limited time to read. Skip the jargon too; not every reader will be a veteran in the industry, maybe they’re still in the start-up phase and coming to you to learn. Plus, the more understandable your blog is, the easier it is for Google to rank it higher in searches.
- Find the right content creators – Great content should be crafted from sound industry knowledge that is both authoritative and engaging for your ideal customers.
- Share your content – Creating content in a vacuum is a waste of your time. The whole point of targeted content is for people to engage with it, so make sure you’re sharing it with your social networks or through customer newsletters.
When content is right for your business, it can be a secret weapon in your marketing arsenal. Evergreen content has the added advantage of longevity and builds up a valuable bank of material on your website for prospective customers or investors to browse.
If you would like any more pointers about content creation in the lodging industry, please do get in touch.
