If you’re old enough to remember what it was like in the days of things like Windows 95, you also probably underwent the devastation of losing irreplaceable data. When the operating system crashed, the only recourse was to wipe your hard drive clean and start from scratch. Tech support personnel the world over tried desperately to smooth over the losses of vacation photos, important documents and emails, and much more.
For corporations, this was the kiss of death. Even before the advent of the internet, there were numerous backup measures taken to ensure that precious data did get lost in the event of a catastrophe. Still, for all their diligence and proper planning, many businesses still suffered – and failed over – data loss. More than 20 businesses went out of business completely after 9/11 over little more than data loss.
Today, cloud storage has managed to set aside no small number of those problems. It is considered a godsend to most businesses. You would think that something this great would basically sell itself, right?
At the end of the day, cloud storage is a product. Lots of companies offer similar products because they are all based on the same technological platforms. Even with extra bells and whistles thrown in, at the end of the day, the core features of the product are most of what the client will use. That makes the decision of which storage company to choose easy for most: whoever offers the level of service they need at the best price.
Your job then becomes twofold: to offer competitive pricing and make your brand stand out. The easiest way to achieve the latter is through content marketing. The real trick comes in presenting your product in a unique way.
Cookie-Cutter Content
Most cloud storage businesses approach marketing from the same basic angle. First, they present the product as a necessary tool for success or continued success (no data loss being the key contributor). Then, they bombard the prospect with a litany of features and benefits. Finally, after the entire smorgasbord has been laid out in front of them, they get hit with the price tag. Can all the extras and the promise of 24/7 support really seal the deal? Here comes my signature mantra: “It depends.”
Developing Relevant Messaging
When I say, “it depends,” in this context, I mean it this way: You are dealing with two distinct groups of people when developing cloud storage marketing content – the ones who are going to buy your product and the ones who are going to use it. The first category targets executives and those responsible for spending company money. Most of the time, these people do not have a tech background. The second category is your IT department – the ones who (hopefully) do have a tech background and can provide honest feedback about the quality of the product.
The key to mastering this game is knowing how to balance the appeal. You want to develop content that doesn’t bombard the buyer with tech garble but is, at the same time, informative enough to answer important questions for the IT director.
This is actually easier than it sounds. It has everything to do with keeping your messaging current and having enough relevant content out there for everyone involved to make an informed decision. This is true whether you are marketing to corporations or individuals. The only difference between the two lies in the nature of the approach.
For consumers, you want to follow the same strategy as you would in any other area of marketing: good branded content delivered via channels like email and social media. For B2B accounts, the information itself is going to be most important. Here is how you should structure your delivery method to cover all the bases.
#1: Keep separate email lists – Develop email content for both groups of buyers and deliver relevant messaging to each via email. Be in their inboxes as often as possible. This keeps your brand in front of them and gets them to start equating cloud storage with it.
#2: Deliver relevant messaging – For consumers, you need to drive the emotional aspect of engaging with your product. People literally fear losing their data. Your job is to first confront them with that fear, then provide a sense of security to allay it.
The approach for B2B clients is somewhat similar, but remember that companies will want to see hard, factual data. You’re not likely to spook a CIO or CFO with gory tales of data loss. Social proof will not be enough. Trackable, verifiable claims will be necessary to win them over, especially if your service isn’t the cheapest.
#3: Blog constantly – The result of being a good blogger is twofold. First, you create a library of information that can be accessed at any time by potential clients and customers. The more you can demonstrate you know about your own product and industry, the better.
Second, if you deliver well-researched, well-presented content with relevant and organic keywords, it will only help boost SEO and let more people find you. If you only serve a small geographic area, blogging will be mandatory for presenting enough local longtail keywords to rank high on the SERPs.
#4: Focus on relevant social media channels – Knowing what you do about your client base, select your social platforms (and how you market to each) carefully. If you market primarily to consumers, consumer platforms like Twitter and Facebook could be the best. If you do more B2B business, you might want to steer more in the direction of networks like LinkedIn.
#5: Call on the pros – As a final (but very important) note, if you’re worried that you might not be targeting the right content to the right audience, get some help with that. Technical content creation professionals like the ones at BeezContent can guide you through the best avenues and also provide the content you need to succeed. Even if you think you just need a second set of eyes to critique what you’re doing, the money spent working with a pro (or team of pros) can drastically improve your ROI on content creation.
