I am an English major and I had to answer the same questions over and over when someone would find out that English was my choice. My answers were always the same: “No, I don’t want to be a teacher” and “No, I don’t see myself asking ‘Do you want fries with that?’” Even as a child, I had a love for the written word because words can so perfectly convey the thoughts and feelings of an author. It is pretty bad ass that words can be manipulated to say whatever we want them to.
So when people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up (though I went back to college at the age of 34), my response was “An Editor!”. I got my wish; I am now the Content Lead at On Target, responsible for the ideas and polishing of all the content that our fine company produces. Thank you Digital Marketing for continuing to grow, and thank you world for realizing the importance of content marketing. When it comes to all things online, people want to access their information on their phones and if you can’t provide that, as a digital marketer, then I have a little secret for you: You are screwed.
As an English major in a content marketing world, I have realized some things about reaching people through content. So here are a couple of tips I want to share with you to help make your content relevant to your audience.
1) Speaking Human is the Only Way to Go
People don’t want to be sold to all the time. They come across your content because they want to be there. That is your time to establish a personal connection. Offer them tips and insights. Your goal is to offer them something to read that enriches their lives, so it is vital to make your content less about selling and more about educating! I recommend a rule of 70% engaging content and 30% selling content. If you sell to your readers all the time, it will frustrate your readers and they will find someone else’s words to fill their precious time. Building relationships builds leads which in return, builds sales.
2) Respect Each Social Media Platform When it Comes to Your Content
Think of how your content is appearing on each social media outlet and make adjustments. While Hootsuite has helped the digital marketing world tremendously, it can also hinder engagement. People aren’t stupid and they know when that post has been posted in real time and when it went out on auto-pilot. We laugh at those who post everyday at noon-really?
Think about your Twitter feed. How many times do you actually click on a link to see a picture? Pictures need to be directly posted to Twitter. Hashtags work on Twitter and Instagram, not Facebook. According to research, those posts on Facebook with a hashtag actually get less of a viral reach than those without. And speaking of Facebook, if you use Hootsuite over Facebook Business Manager, then it’s time to make the switch. When you schedule your posts through Facebook, you can take a link and Facebook populates that link into a pretty little package, in which you can change the picture, headline and subheading so your message can come across quickly, offering a more engaging post for your fans. Also, when you write your message in your post, stay at 140 characters or less. People don’t want to read a novel when accessing information; they want to know exactly what they are getting into when they click. Your message, picture, headline and subheading needs to be rock star status.
That’s it for now folks…I can’t give away too many of my secrets at once. I need you coming back for more!
Best,
Jen
