Content has been a hot topic as businesses of all sizes and varieties compete to get noticed and stay top of mind with customers and prospective customers. And the consideration of content’s impact on business success doesn’t show any signs of cooling off!
Content is king, but yours has got to have 2 characteristics to make it so:
Quality and Consistency
Unfortunately, when you’re struggling to pay attention to the other responsibilities of running a business, attaining either of those can be daunting.
Quality
Whether you’re sharing a blog post that someone else shared on Facebook or if you’re publishing an original article on your blog, quality matters. Never leave it to chance; read everything you intend to post on your blog, tweet on Twitter, or share on Facebook. Just because other people (even those you revere) passed it along, doesn’t necessarily mean it was done well.
And it’s critical that the content you create is memorable in a good way. Written content (blogs, newsletters, articles…) should be error-free, interesting, well-written, and easy for your readers to relate to (don’t overdo jargon!). On many occasions, I’ve refrained from sharing articles and blog posts with really terrific information because they had multiple spelling errors, incorrect word choice and poor sentence structure. I’m sure I’m not alone. You want your content to be share-worthy so make it worthy of sharing.
Keep in mind that your content can either make you look like a pro or a grammar-school dropout. Your reputation depends on it, so if you personally don’t have the writing chops to pull it off, either hire an employee or a freelancer (like me!) who can skillfully create content from scratch or who can adeptly edit and proofread the drafts that you produce.
Consistency
Regularly contributing helpful information to your audience can raise you to trusted advisor status and make you the “go to” guy or gal when people need – or know someone who needs – your services or products. The operative word is “regularly”! Establish consistency in how often you share tips and resources.
Don’t be a stranger to your own Facebook page, LinkedIn account or Twitter stream. You need to be there for your followers. You need to share quality content of your own and that of others. Daily, several times per day, or several times per week…not all social platforms or audiences are created equal when it comes to their tolerance for posting frequency.
Educate yourself on the nuances of the online networks you’re using, and plan to interact enough to effectively build relationships and stay top of mind without turning people off and inciting them to tune you out. And seek help (either from an employee or a freelancer) to enable you to do it if you can’t personally dedicate time to the cause.
What measures do you take to create and share quality content? What challenges do you face in posting consistently to keep your audience engaged and meet their expectations for help and guidance in your field of expertise?
I view my role as more than an independent contractor for hire — I become a part of your team. You’ll find that I dig into the details to understand what’s important to you — and your customers. I embrace collaboration, communicate openly, and craft content to help you achieve your marketing and business goals. Read More...
Great post Dawn. I recently worked for a company that sells social media as a service to their clients, but the consistency of posts ended the minute I walked out the door. Even if they try to start posting again, they are going to have a very hard time getting that trust back from the audience that I built for them. I am hoping that other companies can learn from these kinds of mistakes. Consistency and Quality are indeed key!
Wow! Abandoning your audience is definitely not a smart move. Unfortunately, some companies don’t realize how much “being there” on social media really does help nurture relationships. Sadly, as you said, once the damage is done it’s a steep uphill climb to establish trust again. Thanks for sharing that, Kris – a very good example of how not to manage an online presence!