If you’ve been following the advice of digital marketers and creating content, first, great job! It’s definitely time consuming and can be tedious after a long day on the job. It’s not always something that provides immediate gratification but can certainly be beneficial in the long run. But what happens when you’re writing content and it’s just not working for your target audience? It might be time to take a step back and create a strategy for your business or re-evaluate your current one.
Create a digital content strategy.
If you haven’t already, this is where you absolutely need to start. You need direction and building out a strategy is the way to go. You first need to understand who your customers are and where they are online. You also need to understand what value you can offer them or what problem you can help them solve and plan your content accordingly.
Plan out your content.
We know you are busy and sometimes it’s easier to write social media posts or blogs on the fly but getting organized is going to be key and will make things easier for you in the long run. Instead of racking your brain on any given day searching for something to post, you can have this planned out prior so that your posts are well thought out, adding value to your platforms or website.
Create a document and list out any information in that given month you’d like your customers to know. Make sure your posts are thoughtful, add value and are not always about the sale. Your own website can provide content by posting a helpful blog post surrounding an industry related topic. Aim to become an expert in your industry and be the go-to for your customers if they want to learn more.
Evaluate your current content.
If your current content isn’t performing well, it’s important to look at a few factors. First, are you on the right platform? Is this where your audience is? And it could be more than one platform, just make sure you are putting the most effort where your customers are spending the most time.
Next, is your content being posted at the right times? It could be you are missing the mark and posting during the morning hours when most of your audience is active in the evenings or vice versa. It’s important to take a look at your back end analytics to see when your audience is most active and likely to engage with your content.
And finally, is your content engaging and entertaining? Is it giving your audience value or are you strictly about the sale? It’s important to create engaging posts so you can build an online relationship with your followers. If you are creating value or entertaining, they will be more likely to come back for additional information.
Are you utilizing each platform?
If your audience isn’t engaging with you or seeing your posts in their newsfeed, start taking advantage of other aspects that some platforms offer to get more eyes on your content. Facebook and Instagram both have a stories feature that puts your brand front and center. You can simply repost your newsfeed content to make sure your audience is viewing. Also making sure you are utilizing hashtags on Instagram, Twitter and now LinkedIn. Creating a hashtag strategy will help to gain additional followers and viewers for your content posts.
Add in Video
A successful page will have a mixture of written content with captions and videos. Videos are becoming the new norm and it might be time to hop on the bandwagon. With the use of smartphones and free editing apps, creating a quick social video to accompany a blog topic or a brand announcement will up your content game.
Blog
Content isn’t just about social media posts, it also expands to the content on your website, which includes your blog. Make sure your blogs are SEO-friendly to attract more attention in search engines and utilize industry related terms in each. Make good use of each blog by sharing to Facebook, Google My Business, LinkedIn and even through a newsletter to your customers. You can also repurpose blog content by verbalizing the overview of the blog in a short video.
There are various ways to test out what isn’t working in your current strategy and ways to expand and repurpose content into other digestible forms that may be more relevant to your audience. A content strategy should always be evolving as social media trends evolve, but it’s also important to remember that not everything popular will be relevant or a good idea for your brand. If you are struggling with your content and want a helping hand, we would be happy to take a look. Fill out our free consultation form to get started.
