Don’t let the name fool you. A personal brand is ultimately a financial asset that stimulates sales, raises profits, opens up new doors, and improves online credibility. A personal brand is an investment, much like any other financial asset—success necessitates analysis, preparation, strategy, and a diverse portfolio of communications and material. Most personal branding advice begins with a statement about being unique, finding your voice, or something similar. But what happens when you’ve decided what your brand should say?

What “content” do you need to invest in to increase your company’s value and positive image? What will your brand’s canvas of search results say, and how can you employ Google to present to the world what you want it to see? You may start by simply uploading content to the internet. Most businesses refer to this as “spray and pray.” From the standpoint of investing, this is akin to tossing darts at a list of stocks.

Consider this: when this sentence is being posted, over 3 million blog posts have been published today—and lunch is still an hour away. Before bedtime, the number would have surpassed 5 million. It’ll take a little more than cannonballing into the ocean to get things done. Professionals in the field of branding begin by examining the content marketplace thoroughly and methodically. They search for “content holes” in a brand, such as these:

• Topics that draw in a large audience
• Searching for keywords
• Formats, websites, and social media listings
• Any other possibilities that a company is overlooking

In sales, there’s an adage that it’s not about knocking on the right door; it’s about knocking on all the doors. In the vastness of online content, there are thousands of doors waiting to be discovered. The pros use Content Gap Analysis to home in on those opportunities.

What Is Content Gap Analysis?

The process of identifying missed opportunities to raise brand awareness online, draw an interested audience, and turn that interest into sales is known as content gap analysis.

Content Gap Analysis is customer analysis. The first step in identifying content strategy holes is to ask yourself, “Who are my customers, and what do they want?” What data do they require? What are the advantages they’re looking for? What are the platforms that they use? What keywords are they looking for?

Content Gap Analysis is competitor analysis. Which of your rivals (which of your coworkers) is blowing everyone else out of the water in the current content market? Who is dominating the search engine rankings? What kind of material are they sharing? What are the platforms they’re using? What are the keywords they’re using?

Content Gap Analysis is internal analysis. A detailed audit of where you are now is needed for a Content Gap Analysis. How well is your content doing if you’ve already posted it? How effective is your search engine optimization? Are you achieving observable objectives? Is your content strategy, above all, generating revenue in the form of leads, closings, purchases, or payments? When it comes to personal branding, what content do your rivals in your business who have the most profitable private brands do that you don’t?

Are You Delivering the Content Your Customers Want?

Understanding the consumer is the first and most important step in content analysis. The buyer’s path, or the whole process that people go through on their way to being a loyal customer, is what we’re talking about here.

The Buyer’s Journey

You want people to purchase your product. These “buyers” will look you up on the internet. It is possible to monitor what Google displays. Respect the buyer’s path to gain a better understanding of how consumers communicate with your brand.

Customers often have a developing knowledge of a need or problem. They do not know exactly what’s wrong, but they feel something needs to be fixed (the awareness stage). As they gain a clearer understanding of the situation, they seek out potential alternatives (the consideration stage), progressively narrowing their choices to a few best options before deciding on what appears to be the best option (the decision stage). The story doesn’t end there. The distinction between a “customer” and a “loyal customer” still exists. In the final and most lucrative customer journey stage—the loyalty or advocacy stage—online content is critical. People look to online content for guidance and direction at any stage of the customer journey.

Don’t confuse the format with the content, though. People gravitate to particular designs at different stages of the buying process. What they’re looking for, on the other hand, is comprehension. The material is where understanding resides. People are searching for general answers and facts at the beginning of the buyer’s journey. They’re asking questions like “what is,” “how is,” and “why is.” They aren’t looking for product demos, price comparisons, or a high-pressure sales pitch. They’re out the door if that’s what they find. They’re searching for specifics to assist them in making decisions later, rather than the generic knowledge they wanted earlier. They search around if they can’t find what they’re looking for, such as costs or feedback.

Where to Start Building Personal Brand Content

Unfortunately, most people who are building a personal brand don’t have the time or resources to learn the intricacies of Content Gap Analysis. That’s fine. As with most aspects of running a company, there is a tried-and-true method for getting started: best practices. The best practices research entails systematically analyzing the most effective online personal brands of your most successful rivals – people similar to you or who you want to be viewed as. They’ve also put in the effort to optimize content during the consumer journey. You’ve come to find the discrepancies in your material and theirs. As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest type of learning.

The Content Your Personal Brand Needs

Assume you’re a San Francisco-based cosmetic surgeon. Start your content gap review with Usha Rajagopal, M.D., or Dino Elyassnia, M.D., two of the most well-known cosmetic surgery personal brands in the Bay Area. A search on any of these sites reveals an online presence that includes the following:

• A primary website
• A Google Expert Panel
• Editorial content produced by independent sources
• Several review pages (Yelp, HealthGrades, Google, RealSelf, DemandForce)
• Social networking accounts that are involved (Instagram, Facebook)
• Several professional profiles on the internet
• Affiliations with many organizations
• Images from online videos
• Paid advertising

Begin with this diverse collection of content and platforms. Piece by piece, go over the entire site profile. Please make a list of what it is, what it says, what aspect of the consumer experience it addresses, and what keywords brought you there. Anything you come across has the potential to be an opportunity. A close examination of Dr. Rajagopal’s San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center or Dr. Ellyassnia’s professional website shows a comprehensive content strategy to raise consumer awareness during the decision-making process. Each offers a wealth of introductory content outlining the fundamentals of various plastic surgery procedures, effectively serving as a concise encyclopedia of “what is” papers.

Visitors are guided to more specific content suitable for later stages of the customer journey—more comprehensive details, feedback, and pricing—by each keyword-rich introductory post. In photographs and videos, the “actor” behind the brand is still present at every move. No matter how general or insightful the content is, it is still personal. These key websites employ a tried-and-true content strategy: they feature a lot of awareness content. Also, the most shared content guides visitors through the buyer’s journey to the final stages. Pricing, calls to action, and interactive consultations are examples of bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) material. They may not be the stars of the show, but they are the final act. Don’t be discouraged if you do a deep dive into the content of your top competitors. All of the content you’ll find was created over months or years of consistent and concentrated effort.

Conclusion

A best practices content gap review is more of a road map for the long haul than a fast fix recipe. Don’t be put off by the technical style or eye-catching graphics. Your most popular competitors, including Dr. Rajagopal and Dr. Ellyassnia, employ skilled designers to create a meaningful, clean visual brand and overall design that meets their customers’ standards. You, too, will take care of this matter in due time. For the time being, concentrate on the content gaps. Then get down to business. Improve your online reputation. It is that simple.