“Content is king.” While this is a true statement, what does it mean exactly? Why do some websites get 1000s of readers and others almost none? At the end of the day, you need to learn how to write content that is valuable.

Do these suggestions sound familiar to you?

• “Write great content.”
• “Make sure your content is the best available.”
• “Build great content, and they will come.”

What does all of this mean, exactly? The truth is it all depends on who exactly reads your content. With this in mind, you need to know what your audience values to sell them what they want.

Let’s discuss a few different audiences and specific strategies you can employ to offer more value than your competitors.

1. A Sophisticated B2B Audience

When you target this group, load your content with facts from reputable resources or use your own tests as examples. If you go with the latter, make sure you describe the processes you used in explicit detail.

You can also write about personal experiences. Short sentences that get straight to the point work best.

2. A Crowd of Young Techies (Age 25-35)

Moz’s Rand Fishkin is the perfect role model to work from here because—though now in his early forties—he recently represented this very demographic to the tune of fantastic results.

He knows how to engage this audience. For example, he’s dressed up as Fred Flintstone and used a lot of geeky references to Star Wars and other sci-fi stuff this generation loves.

He’s also incredibly knowledgeable about search marketing as well. The great thing is that his humor lends itself to a somewhat boring and technical subject—SEO—making it much more interesting to digest.

Drawing on strategies employed by Rand, how can you take your product or service and make it more intriguing and engaging for your target demographic?

3. Bob & Sue Homeowner (Age 45-60)

Think of your typical middle-class family. With so much going on in their everyday lives, you need to make things as quick and easy as possible. Though this is actually true for every demographic, it’s particularly so with this group because this is precisely how they set out to do everything in their lives—at work, at home, or out in the community.

You’ll also want to frame everything in a positive light. While business owners love to hear the brutal truth, this demographic doesn’t want anything to do with that.

4. Engineers, Accountants, Etc…

Let’s be honest here, with no criticism intended: justifiably or not, most people deem the fields of engineering and accounting boring subjects with boring people. Fast and easy doesn’t sell quite as well with these folks, but if you’re specific and highly technical, this is precisely what they want to hear.

Does that mean you should write everything in a “boring” and “technical” manner? Not necessarily, leading copywriter Bob Bly says. In one of his newsletters, he reminds aspiring copywriters that though technical audiences are more intellectual, they’re still human beings at the end of the day. With this in mind, it’s best to present them information in a casual and interesting way.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, you know what works with your clients and customers on an in-person basis. A large part of content marketing success is as simple as taking these same techniques and applying them to the written word.