Work out what you love
As the saying goes, “do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life”…same is true for content output.
When it comes to content, you have to love what you commit to publishing. You have to respect your customers, clients, followers and subscribers enough to offer content you truly believe they will like, find interesting and that will be of use to them. If you don’t show them this love, they won’t hang around for long.
So, as it was Valentine’s Day yesterday, I am going to tell you a bit about the sort of marketing tactics you can use and how you can grow to adore the content you create.
Social Media Posts
What do you think is interesting and engaging when you are scrolling through a newsfeed, whether it is on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram? What catches your eye? What makes you stop the ‘continual scroll’ and look closer?
Personally, video has got me ‘stopping’ more often recently. Partly because of the ‘autoplay’ option – someone starts talking and I can’t help but read the accompanying post, whilst listening to their opening lines. I admit I don’t commit to watching the duration of every video, but I certainly stop long enough to read the post and find out more. I am certainly coming round to the idea of ‘loving’ video myself. I think it is an engaging and very ‘raw’ way to communicate with clients, especially to announce or launch new products, services or important news. The positive feedback can be so invigorating and confidence-building. I appreciate not many people will probably say they ‘love it’, but I think many find the response something very much to love.
In terms of written posts, I love reading quite personal news posts, when businesses share a success, story, or event. Again, it’s a lot about the reactions you can get. It is lovely to read messages of support or congratulations. I think it is also why a lot of people follow small businesses on social media – not just out of loyalty, or to find out about the latest offers, but to learn about the company, have an insight in to their ‘story’.
I also love a good image – some beautiful photography especially, not necessarily of just landscapes but of products too. Personally, I spend a lot of time searching through stock images, to support my posts (and blog posts), I also try to capture photos in my surrounding. I am not a natural photographer, but I enjoy it and if I can share something ‘beautiful’ and still on message with my clients, then even better. Brightening up someone’s newsfeed is certainly something I love.
Finally, I love the ‘latest and greatest’ type posts; posts that send me on to interesting articles, which offer fantastic easy to follow advice that I can use and share with my clients. And if they are written well and typo free (!) – then I love sharing them on my own Facebook page – alongside a summary or my own thoughts on the article.
Blog posts
I absolutely love blogging. Hence, why I have continued to write one every week. I love how much there is to learn by committing to writing something new and different about my subject area regularly.
I also love the process of writing my blog. I often write in the evening, whilst watching TV, nice and cosy on the sofa, with a cuppa…or even something stronger. When I come to edit and finalise the post, there is so much to work with and I love refining my work ready to publish.
Linking back to social media posts, I love putting together ‘Top Tips’. It is really exciting trying to summarise down knowledge into bitesize chunks, and actually knowing the post I am putting together will help someone. There is something rather warming about that.
There are loads of different types of blog posts, from diaries, to sharing funny stories, to photo collages, to interviews and explanatory posts about technical areas of a business.
I would recommend trying all of the different types of posts and working out which ones you like best. You don’t have to stick to just one type, and it is good to offer a variety, but blogging is so much easier if it isn’t a chore. Do you like writing what you have been up to? Try a diary style, sharing news, events and latest successes. Do you like doing research around particular areas? Try an explanatory style or top tips post. Do you like video or photos? Try a vlog or using photos to explain a concept, method or order.
Email Marketing Campaigns
I talk a lot about newsletters – partly because I love writing them. I like the short snappy style, offering ‘a consistent structure’, which is different and engaging each time. I like to create a strong newsletter template with defined sections, which clients become familiar with as it pops in to their inbox. However, the content within each section needs to interesting and hook the reader in. Helping clients decide on this content and writing it up, makes me buzz. I love working on newsletters which start as jumbled handwritten notes and turning it in to a thing of structured beauty!
How about you? Would using a strong, consistent template float your boat? Or would something more splashy and bold suit your style? Emailing marketing isn’t limited to newsletters only. If you are running a special offer or selling a limited product, then how about designing a colourful email and subject line which will have a highly successful open rate. Remember images and good, quality copy to accompany them.
Website updates
How much do you love your website? Do you proudly send everyone who makes an enquiry to your website? Do you link to it regularly in emails and social media posts? Do you display the website address ‘loud and proud’?
If you don’t love your website and how it looks, then sort it out! So many platforms offers lots of different templates and many website designers can help you to rework your content. It doesn’t have to be a huge, time-consuming and costly job. Look at the images – do they ‘light your fire’? If not, can you find something more exciting on stock image sites or commission some professional pictures just for your business? You’ll use them again and again.
Does the wording really reflect you and how you want to portray your business? Importantly, are you proud of your ‘About page’ or ‘Company profile page’. Don’t cringe at being truthful about your achievements and qualifications; and also sharing your passion.
I absolutely love writing the home page copy and about page copy for websites. I love taking a businesses’ mission and vision, and turning it into an inviting opening paragraph on a home page and, hopefully, creating a strong strap line which is memorable.
As for the ‘About page’, I get that it can be difficult to boast about yourself and ‘blow your trumpet’, so again, I love taking what people find so difficult to say about themselves and stating it in an engaging way, telling your clients what they want to know.
Get creating
Find out what you love! Have fun experimenting and start telling your businesses’ story in a way which you actually enjoy!
Image credit: Photo by Brittney Burnett on Unsplash