If you were offered the choice between a guaranteed 100 readers of your dazzling new marketing campaign or a guaranteed 1,000 readers the decision would be obvious, right? Show me the numbers!

Hold on, not so fast. Converting readers into buyers relies on prioritising the quality of your audience over the quantity.

Question: Do we actually benefit from non-relevant readers finding our content via search engines?

Answer: No. Our page views and egos receive a boost, but the meaningful branding and number of direct leads we generate is unlikely to be influenced.

Of course recognising what doesn't help us is only useful if we can also recognise what does. So let's discuss strategies for targeting the right people, not just the most people.

Location, location, location
It's an old adage that applies to online real estate just as much as the property market. Ensuring your business appears in front of an industry-specific audience – such as an online marketplace or targeted e-Newsletter – helps attract genuine buyers.

Tricks are for magicians
Translating your industry expertise into a strong online presence is the best way to organically attract a desired audience. Target your most profitable items and best sellers first as this is where the big wins from your marketing efforts will come from.

Trying to play tricks on search engines to grab traffic from all over the web is fraught with danger. Remember, quality not quantity.

Keywords that matter
You certainly want to rank highly in both search engines and online directories, but you only want to rank highly for the keywords that matter to your business. Coming up number one for the search term, "crazy free products" is not exactly going to help you sell industrial equipment, is it?

That means your content writers and SEO (search engine optimisation) advisers should focus on naturally weaving relevant keywords throughout important pages, rather than obsessively packing every page with the same one or two phrases.

Write for your audience, not for yourself
Content that you love is not necessarily content that attracts buyers. Try to put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers – what information would they find valuable? Will they learn something from this content?

If in doubt…
These are a few simple tips to help you aim your content marketing in the right direction. If you would benefit from a more in-depth discussion about reaching a target audience, IndustraCom experts are only a phone call or email away.