5 Tips on Creating Content Your Audience Will Engage With

Posted on December 13, 2017 in Marketing

The average social media user scrolls past a massive amount brands that are creating content every day. On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other channels, audiences are completely bombarded with content offerings. Hundreds of companies are in the palm of their hand clamoring for their attention.

People skim headlines and decide whether something looks funny, interesting, helpful, boring, or irrelevant in a fraction of a second. IF you’re lucky and you make decent content, people might skim the first sentence or watch the first few seconds of your video.

So how do you make content that people not only consume but respond to?

Here are our thoughts:

MAKE CONTENT THAT’S BOTH ENTERTAINING AND EDUCATING.

People value their time. Even if they’re just in line for the bathroom or on their bus home, they could always be checking out someone else’s website. So you HAVE to be creating content that’s fun while also being helpful. Research your audience and find out what they care about, what they’re looking up online. Find out what your audience WANTS and NEEDS — then answer that need with content that’s entertaining enough to hold their attention.

USE VISUAL AIDS.

Did you know that the average person now has an attention span shorter than a goldfish? Yeah, written content doesn’t cut it anymore — not by itself. Use some design elements specifically crafted for your brand and content, because slapping an unedited stock photo in your post just looks tacky and lazy. Video is another powerful tool at your disposal and is an eye-catching way to get audiences to pay attention.

WRITE Q&A CONTENT INFORMED BY GOOGLE SEARCHES.

Q&A content is a great way to tailor content to the natural questions people type into Google. However, it is essential that you do your homework to find what people are looking for. Luckily, it’s never been easier to do your research. Let’s say you’re brainstorming post ideas for an HVAC company — try typing in “why is my furnace..” or “why are my vents…” You’ll get a few ideas for both that would each make for great blog posts. Looking for something even easier? Check out answerthepublic.com — you can thank us later.

SPELL OUT THE NEXT STEP FOR PEOPLE.

Say someone sees something they like on your page. Mission accomplished, right? Wrong! Not unless you want to be a one-hit wonder. You need to make people hit that follow button, go read one of your other posts, like your content, share it, comment, anything. It’s not enough to get people to see your content, you need people to engage with it. That’s how you build momentum, how you build your reach, how you make an impact. So spell it out for people: follow our blog for more. Tell them to comment with their thoughts. Link to other posts. Invite them to share it with someone who might be interested. Inspire your readers to DO something, not just read it and forget it.

REPURPOSE AND RECYCLE CONTENT.

Creating content is hard work. Creating GOOD content is even harder. So it can seem a little counterintuitive to spend hours making great content, only to post it once before it gets lost in the bowels of a crowded news feed. That’s exactly why you should repurpose and recycle your content. Did you make a great design element? Use it again for an e-blast, a print marketing campaign, or a billboard. Did you write a post that everyone loved? Post it at the end of the year with your 10 most popular posts. Did CNN just break a news story relevant to one of your old posts? Share it again with a short comment about it. Kickass content never gets old.