People ask me a lot of questions about blogging, making videos, and participating in Social Media. Quite commonly I am asked this: “What should I post?”
It seems that although people and businesses want to increase their participation in the digital community, they are unsure how to engage their audience – perhaps afraid that they will misrepresent themselves, post something that makes them sound stupid, or just produce content that is deemed worthless.
There is one simple principle to help companies and individuals as they market themselves – Add Value. It could certainly be argued that there is an information overload in the world of Social Media – much of which mostly becomes noise and distraction. If you don’t provide some kind of unique value then your efforts will go largely unnoticed.
So how do you add value? Here are three concepts to consider when creating content:
Educate
One of my favorite quotes is “I’ve never met a person that I couldn’t learn something from.” – Dan Collins. Everyone has insight that others would find valuable. Enlighten your audience with knowledge related to your products and services – report customer success stories, showcase new ideas, or share information related to your industry. We all like to learn from experts, and most likely, you are an expert about something. Teach us.
Entertain
Go ahead and admit that you have a guilty online pleasure like www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com. Maybe you love watching silly videos or listening to new music. Maybe you appreciate a quality “funny forward,” or maybe you like to participate in a discussion on Facebook. Guess what, so does your audience. Branding does not always have to be serious. Providing a laugh, recommending a good restaurant, telling a silly story, or sharing interesting photos, are all great ways to get your audience to pay attention.
Inspire
We can all use a little extra motivation. When you run across an inspiring story, share it. For example, today is the anniversary of Roger Bannister running the mile in under 4 minutes. There are hundreds of ways to spin that to create engaging content. Certainly there are plenty of stories about sacrifice, perseverance, charity, determination, etc. that can be emotionally rousing and encouraging for your audience. Inspirational content is interesting to read, and as the curator of that information, you reveal your personal character or the ethical standard of your business.
In this age of digital interaction, I don’t think there is necessarily any “right” or “wrong” approach, but I do think that focusing on education, entertainment, and inspiration can help steer your branding efforts.
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In honor of Mother’s Day, I would like to say “I Love You” to my Mom, my Mother-In-Law, and my beautiful wife. You “educate, entertain, and inspire” me all the time.
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