How To Write The Right Content
In Social Media you can post just about anything and that you want but is anyone going to share it? If you are simply socializing with your friends then it really doesn't matter if no one shares your posts, but if you are posting for a business then you want your name to get out there so you will need shares! There are tons of professionals that will give varying numbers about what type of content you should be posting, however, since I have been in marketing I have come to like the 20/20/60 method the most. Basically, this method consists of making 20% of the content you post about your business and marketing your products. The second 20% is fun, interesting and sometimes irrelevant content to draw interest to your social pages and the 60% is informational, insightful and focuses more on the bigger picture. Gary Vaynerchuk is one of my heroes as far as marketing because he stresses the value...his message is that no matter what social media platform you are on you should be providing something of value. Take a look at this article he wrote called DRIVING BOOK SALES THROUGH PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES. For example, let's say that you are a photographer and you are marketing yourself so that you can get business being a photographer. You would want 20% of your content to be upcoming events that you are going to be hosting, perhaps pictures that you are trying to sell, demonstrations of completed work etc. Then your next 20% would be pictures of adorable kittens cuddling, photos of gorgeous landscapes in your area, personal photos like a picture of your trip to the zoo when the lion almost took off your head. The 60% should be informational and interesting like links to articles that depict new advances in photography, information on how to stage the perfect setting for a shoot, how to get the light just right for a photo and so on. This combination is what I have found to be the most successful in business.
Pick your audience
In business you often will be asked what it is that you do. Most people can answer this without any issue at all. Now what if the same person asked you why do you do it? Do you have an answer? The why is of the utmost importance!
Sinek did a presentation called The Why Factor and I have posted that video here in the content for you. If you own a business or are marketing something then I would strongly suggest watching it. Here is the trick...if you know why you are doing something then it is much easier to figure out why people would want to be part of it. Let's go with the photography example again. If someone asks you what you do, you respond "I am a photographer." If they ask you why you wanted to be a photographer and you answer "because I love it" then you sound exactly like every other photographer on planet earth! However if you said "I love capturing a couples happiest memories on their wedding day and cataloging this momentous occasion so they can cherish the memories for years to come," then you are unique...you have captured your audience. Your audience is now anyone who is in a relationship and is thinking about getting married soon. Since you have captured your audience then you are going to want to think about how this audience will differ from one social media platform to another. Jayson DeMers wrote a wonderful article that will really help you narrow your target audience called 6 Steps To Decoding Your Target Audience.
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How To Write For Each Audience
Once you have found your audience you will want to consider this...what your audience needs will be different depending on which platform you are using. For instance, if you are writing a blog for Facebook then you are probably talking to those who may be in need of your services so your blogs should reflect information that they may need, want, or will interest them. Let's go back to the photographer....their blogs will need to be about love, capturing the moment, how to design a picture-perfect wedding, etc. If that same photographer was posting to say Google plus or LinkedIn then they would be appealing to other photographers with tips and tricks on how to best photograph a wedding. Their audience would be other professionals in their field and they would want to be reading and sharing the content from those sites to their social media platforms. Also keep in mind that when you link to a professional website in a different state that is similar to yours they are likely to link back which gives your site credibility with Google, so consider siting their blogs in yours and linking to them.
Twitter is its own animal...I like to call it the fast track grab bag! Essentially anything you write you should tweet. Your Twitter audience will be a mixture of you audiences from all of your social media sites so all of your blogs have a chance at getting shared.
So to recap, make sure you know why you are doing whatever it is that you do in the business world and make sure you are appealing to the right audience while you are writing. Post the appropriate content on the appropriate platform to optimize your chance of getting your content liked, commented on, and ultimately shared. Thank you for taking the time to read and take a minute to post a quick comment about what you liked, disliked or learned here!
