One reason many businesses are losing money or missing out on opportunities to grow is that they lack a strategy for how to bridge the gap between the content they are creating and what their customers want and need from them.
Forrester Research and Consulting, an American market research company that provides insights on the impact of technology, recently reported that brands are increasingly disconnected from their customers, and 77% of businesses struggle to create a cohesive strategy across various channels and devices. Yet, more than 3 of every 4 brands expect their social channels to increase their rate of growth. Those stats set the stage for failure. There is one critical thing you need to avoid the mistakes other businesses are making.
A strategy.
You can overcome the odds and become a company that maximizes your content to reach more customers, edge out your competition, increase your revenue, and scale your business.
We’ve put together a 7-point checklist to help you get the most out of your content creation.
Your 7-Point Checklist for Maximizing Your Content Creation
#1: Know Your Audience
Every customer is coming to you to solve a problem. Your job is to drill down and clearly define what your audience needs and why. Most companies are too vague and stop short of clearly identifying their customer’s greatest problem and how they can solve it. Be specific, and remember, even when it’s time to talk about you—it’s never about you. It’s always about them.
#2: Count the Cost
Think through how much it costs to create an effective post. Paying for content promotion on social media is an essential part of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. By paying to promote your post, you increase the chances that people will see, engage with, and possibly share your content. It costs you to have your staff spend time creating, posting, and managing content. Don’t lose money by creating without boosting.
#3: Value Quality Over Quantity
Post more quality and less quantity. There’s plenty of content in the social market and many businesses are comfortable sounding just like everyone else. You need your content to cut through the noise. Keep images and videos as focused and high quality as you possibly can. Carrying the feel of your brand identity through quality visuals is key to attracting and retaining followers. Combine strong visuals with your brand voice, and tell your brand story by adding valuable context to your visuals through customer-focused captions. (See #1)
#4: Create a Content Calendar
Don’t post just to post. Many businesses are losing money by slapping together daily posts that aren’t thoughtful. Post less frequently, but with more intentionality. Creating a content calendar will give you direction and free up time to get creative. A calendar will ensure you and your team (if you have one) are on the same page and that nothing is falling through the cracks. You’ll be fully prepared for what’s coming up, and you’ll have the time to flesh out creative and effective ways to create engaging content that best supports your goals.
#5: Include a Call-to-Action
You can do Steps #1-4 and still miss out on converting browsers to buyers. Your audience needs you to tell them what to do next. Don’t be afraid to ask them to do exactly what you want them to do. This is your opportunity to drive traffic to your website. Narrow down one specific call-to-action that will clearly lead your customer into your sales funnel or buying cycle. If you can get someone to leave their social media platform to visit your site, make it as easy as possible to capture their email and contact information for future business opportunities.
#6: Utilize Your Data
Social media analytics track your customer’s responses to your ads or promoted posts. You can easily see which promoted content received the most clicks, shares, favorites, or re-posts. Third-party tools like HootSuite or Sprout can track engagement across multiple platforms. Using these tools, you can perform A/B tests to see which version of the same promoted posts got the best response. You should test different keywords, headlines, images, post formats, and messaging to see which earns the most audience engagement. You can also create unique landing pages on your website with trackable links to identify which channels, posts, or ads are driving the most website traffic.
#7: Leverage Your Efforts
If you are creating content, you should be considering how to effectively use it on multiple platforms and channels. Companies miss getting the greatest return on their digital marketing budget when they don’t multiply and leverage what they produce. Could your social content translate into an email campaign? Could you develop an informative blog post series from the theme? Are you sharing longer videos on YouTube with shorter versions on various other channels? Look for ways to take even the smallest thoughts and move them as far as possible.
Need Help with Your Content Strategy?
Great content motivates people to take action. To get a customized digital marketing strategy that supports your specific initiatives, request your brand roadmap with Vers. We’ll get in the trenches with you and listen for the opportunities you might be missing.
