Shondell Varcianna Explains the Essential Role Content Marketing Plays in Attracting and Retaining Ideal Customers

Episode Summary

Shondell Varcianna is a resourceful and creative woman who keeps pace with the latest developments in the world of content marketing. Shondell is the CEO and founder at Varci Media. Her job consists of helping financial institutions succeed with their blog posts and all forms of content marketing.

Shondell truly believes in the power of content. She suggests a holistic marketing approach to get in front of ideal customers, whether it is through Facebook Ads, PPC, or Google.

In this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, Shondell reveals valuable tips and tricks financial institutions should implement when targeting the right customer. She emphasizes the importance of personalized content, technology, and unique strategies to approach the customer, as they don’t want to be seen as numbers but individuals.

Key Insights

⚡ It is important to go where your ideal audience is. According to Shondell, one of the key aspects of content marketing is being where the customers are. She suggests financial institutions should post content on social media or any other digital platform if that’s where their audience hangs out. “It’s always important to go where your ideal audience is and hang out there consistently, rather than wanting them to come to you. Always meet them where they are. Always go where they are and move wherever they move. And because we’re in this digital era, you need to know where they are online. Post content where your target audience hangs out. Find out where they congregate and go there daily.”

⚡Content needs to be customized to meet whoever it is you’re speaking to. Shondell truly believes in the power of content, especially if it is customized and personalized to target a specific niche group. Otherwise, financial institutions are at risk of losing half of their audience. “A 25-year-old does not want the same things as a 45-year-old. So, anytime you’re putting out any type of content, whether it’s blog posts or social media content, it needs to be specifically targeted to a niche group. Even though banks have customers from 18 to 90, you can’t write one piece of content speaking to that range of people because you will lose half of them. Different people have different needs. So, you do have to create different pieces of content to speak to different audiences.”

⚡ Community events are great but don’t neglect the online. You can do both. Somel financial institutions, especially the smaller ones, think they aren’t ready to embrace online approaches. Still, Shondell encourages them to do so because they have the opportunity to get in front of their customers more efficiently. “Community events are great; just don’t neglect the online. Don’t neglect anything. That’s going to get you in front of your ideal customer. So, you can do both. Continue to do the community events and show up online, show up where they are.”