Do you sometimes sit there and wonder hmm what on earth am I going to post about this month, this week or even today? This article looks at what you should consider when planning what to share with your networks.
Through Torchlight Marketing’s services I help SMEs with their #content strategies and post writing for Facebook, #LinkedIn, Twitter and also help my #Pinterest clients with what to include on their pins. I’ve learnt loads from practical experience, articles, marketing books, blogs, Pinterest searches, and just observing what others do!
In this article I wanted to share my thoughts and give some tips that have helped me. Here are just a few key things I’ve learnt over the years:
CONTENT SUBJECT:
A great tip to start with and was highlighted by one of my marketing heroes Grant LeBoff is to always think about your content with your CUSTOMER in mind. The focus of your content shouldn’t just be about your company and the products and services you offer but more about the challenges your customer might face.
Think of your industry topics and what things your audience are interested in. What are they likely to engage with? Can you answer a question you often get asked by prospects? For example with my Primary school resource client we found the audience were constantly asking “What does a deep dive in geography look like?” so we produced a blog which specifically answered that question. We used our social platforms to direct our audience to our thoughts on the topic.
Look at what type of #content you currently produce and how you can re-purpose this. What’s on your website? Do you have videos you can share natively? Do you have fantastic images that would make a great visual post? Do you have a blog which you can take bits from? Do you have email newsletter content you can rework into a short post? Can you highlight happy customers in a post? What are you doing for your local community that you audience might be interested in?
Always consider what your goal is from each piece of content. For example, as part of my volunteer work (I am currently committed to spending some time each month helping with Union Baptist Church's marketing) when I write Facebook posts for them one of my key goals is to highlight the work they do in the community and how it’s making a difference.
CONTENT VARIETY and TESTING:
Vary what you’re sharing. Don’t just have a full month of client testimonials, or talk about the same topic and don’t use your channels as a sales platform! One of the biggest mistakes (although I do think people are getting this a bit more now) is constantly promoting their services in every post. One of my marketing heroes David Meerman Scott wrote about the ‘sharing more than selling rule’ which endorses the idea of spending 85% of your social networking time sharing and engaging, 10% publishing original content and only 5% or less about what you are trying to promote.
Quality is better than quantity. With my own business Torchlight Marketing I’ve made the decision to post twice a week on my engagement platform #LinkedIn but be active on it for 15 minutes a day. I know that’s achievable for my schedule at the moment.
Do your analytics at the end of each month to see what posts are getting the most views and engagements. Can you see any patterns? What are people liking? Tweak your schedules accordingly and give your audience what they love. Remember not to dwell on the negatives…if your audience didn’t really react just move on and try something different.
FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE PLATFORM AND ETIQUETTE
Be mindful of algorithms and best practice for the specific platform. For example Facebook likes you to stay on their platform so don’t keep directing your audience away from them as it won’t help with distribution of your content. Facebook love it when you use the LIVE function so perhaps consider when you may be able to use that rather than just posting a video.
If people have taken the time out to comment on your post, acknowledge their thoughts and reply back.
If you’re on a number of platforms remember to switch up your posts and make them suitable to that platform. You can say a lot more with Facebook than Twitter, and LinkedIn obviously needs to executed with a slightly more professional audience in mind. If you’re struggling to manage them all maybe it’s time to review what you’re getting back from them?
AND FINALLY….. INVEST YOUR TIME
Generating ideas takes TIME. Probably one of the most important aspects is to invest your time in developing your social media content in terms of planning, delivering and executing. By giving yourself this planning time you can see your content as whole piece of work rather than piecemeal messages here and there. It also gives you the opportunity to look at what content you already have that you can share or what you need to arrange to be produced. If you’re thinking of doing videos it makes sense to try a film a series of videos at the same time, or if you’re hiring a photographer to do product shots can you also get them to take photos of your team, day in the life images etc
NEED HELP?
There is A LOT to think about when planning out your content strategy so if it’s something you’d like some marketing support with I’d love to help you. Check out my services page or please get in touch.