How can you get your content to stand out online?

In my experience, one of the best ways to make your content stand out is to be unique. For example, instead of writing a traditional blog post, you could try creating a video, infographic, or even a podcast. One time at work, I was tasked with creating a new social media campaign for my company. I knew that I needed to do something different in order to make our content stand out. So, I decided to create a series of short videos that featured our employees. The videos were a huge hit, and they helped us to increase our social media engagement by over 200%. One thing I've found helpful is to use a content calendar. This helps me to plan and schedule my content in advance,& and it ensures that I'm consistently publishing new content.

Understanding your audience is fundamental. Here's how to enhance your understanding of your audience: → Conduct surveys and polls for direct feedback. → Analyze engagement data across platforms for patterns. → Use social listening tools to monitor conversations about your brand. → Look at competitors to understand what resonates with your shared audience. → Segment your audience for personalized content strategies. Nike's approach to audience engagement by creating community-focused content shows the power of knowing your audience. They create messages to resonate with each segment, from athletes to casual sportswear consumers, demonstrating a keen understanding of diverse needs and preferences.

One thing: don't shovel your content full of keywords and expect it to have a long-term positive effect. You might think you're stoking the fires of SE ranking, when in fact you're creating billows of smoke that leave your readers' eyes so irritated, they'd wish they were rather cutting onions.

Red Bull is a stellar example of content diversification. They've mastered the art of blending their brand with lifestyle content across various formats, from extreme sports videos to music festivals, reaching beyond their product to connect with a broad audience's passions and interests. Here's how to make it effective: → Use analytics to identify which formats your audience prefers. → Experiment with short-form videos on social media for quick engagement. → Develop infographics from blog post data for visual learners. → Convert webinar content into a series of blog posts or an ebook for deeper dives.

Quizzes offer a phenomenal way to get insights. People love quizzes. Do them right and you'll swim in valuable data. For me, the ol' long-form blog post does wonders. If it's written well, chunked into edible sizes and contains plenty of headings, lists and images, it's gold.

Warby Parker excels in this by infusing their brand with a unique personality that speaks to their audience's values, such as affordability, style, and social good. They leverage storytelling in their marketing to make the brand relatable and trustworthy, proving that a strong personality coupled with valuable content can significantly enhance audience engagement. Here’s how to amplify both: → Share real-life stories and experiences to humanize your brand. → Ensure every piece of content solves a problem or answers a question. → Use a consistent voice that reflects your brand's personality across all platforms. → Engage with your audience's feedback to show you value their input.

I dare say the odd voice will start to stand out in the age of AI. Some people have a way with words that's heard to emulate consistently with AI (at this point, in any case). If you can sing a unique tune, people will stop and listen. (Think Tiny Tim.)

Look at how Airbnb leverages user stories and feedback across its platforms. This not only amplifies their reach but also deeply connects with their audience, creating a sense of community and belonging. → Encourage user-generated content to foster community. → Use polls and questions to spark conversations. → Always reply to comments to show your audience you value their input. Building a dialogue with your audience can transform passive viewers into active participants and brand advocates.

Engaging with your audience, taking the time to like and comment on other people's posts, is more important than creating content, because by doing this, you're building a network and a community. This will help your content if and when you do post it, as you're ensuring it's been pushed out to a wider audience. How we make our content stand out online is by utilising the most powerful USP we have, US! Our personalities, how we act, how we speak, the jokes we would tell, the things that matter to us, it all allows people to buy into us. And when we allow people to buy into us, we build rapport.