Spice up your content with this SMART framework
Liz Campbell ?? Media, comms and marketing
Media officer ? Content writer ? Speaker ? Author ? Journalist
“Does your content lead readers on a journey, or does it merely stuff them as leads into a pipeline?”
This is a great question by marketer Ann Handley.
And it’s a question you may not think to ask, but it’s imperative to stay grounded, align your creations with your clients’ goals and create high-quality content.
We all have brands and businesses that we admire for different reasons, but usually, it’s the handful of bloggers you follow, stories or posts on Instagram that always makes you go “wow” and email newsletters that take you on an experience.
So when you look at what you like about them, they will usually have some things in common that drive their success and keep you coming back for more. They –
- Have a solid content strategy
- Are thought leaders
- Know who their target audience is
- Know what their customers want
- Add value with every word
- Embrace collaborations and partnerships (like influencer marketing) to grow together
- Have a unique identity, style, voice and words that define them
And, most importantly, they take their readers on a journey that’s an experience – and it’s that part which makes them memorable. You can do this too, with our SMART framework!
So how do you write content like the gurus?
Look back at your business’s content journey – read your blogs, socials and emails and find out what your content is lacking. After reviewing your past content and when you start planning for the next few months, follow our SMART framework.
SMART framework equals
S – Sharp, structured and strategic
M – Memorable
A – Amusing
R – Relative to your audience
T – Timely ?
??S – Sharp, structured and strategic
The strategy is content’s soul and the key driver of success. Without it, your content won’t accomplish anything for your business’s or readers’ growth.
Have a goal for each piece of content you publish – do you want to inform, engage, make your readers think or have them take action. Create content that supports your business goals. When you know and leverage the what, why and how of every content piece, you are breathing life back into your content.
Your business goals might be to reach new audiences, drive traffic to your website, create brand awareness and sell more products and services. So, before you hit publish, think about whether your social post or blog is working to help you achieve these goals.
Keep it short, sharp, strategic and don’t waffle on – no one likes to read five introductory paragraphs before you finally get to the point. Follow a simple method and write to make sure you get the key points in it.
We use our Hourglass Content Writing Figure: Headline, lead, body, conclusion and call-to-action.
??M – Memorable ?
It’s OK to jump on to the social media bandwagon, but if you do not set yourself apart from the crowd and cut through the noise, you will just blend in with everyone else – and that would be a shame because you and your business are AWESOME!
With these three tips to make your content more memorable, you can take your content from now to WOW!
1. Stories – Only high-quality content has the ability to strike a chord and move your readers. One way to create such content is with stories and storytelling. Nothing grabs the reader’s attention better than when you weave in a fascinating story that warms hearts like a cup of coffee on a wintry day.
2. Statistics – Is your content, opinion and own thoughts that you use in your blogs and social content backed by statistics, facts or research data? With a saturation of information and a world where hoaxes, fake news and low-quality content have become the norm, throwing in and highlighting facts, research and statistics will always help you stand out and add to your credibility to give weight to your words.
3. Quotes – It is always the right time to inspire, be genuine, real and compel and motivate your audience. Many people scan content to pick out and consume the best parts of it. Add famous and inspiring quotes to your content to guide your readers to think, establish authority and make a powerful impact. Quote like a pro in your next content piece! PS – be sure to use your own quotes and maxims too.
??A – Amusing
Readers today are constantly craving something new, exciting, entertaining and enticing. Every business is expected to serve their needs. The internet and the digital world are changing at a rapid rate – are you following the content trends? Do you share the fun stuff too? How amusing is your content?
For example, Pop-Tarts’ twitter feed is racked with witty, interesting and funny tweets meant for the younger crowd. Humour, honesty, entertaining visuals and a touch of authenticity will never go out of style!
??R – Relative to your audience
Why are you in business? To serve your customers and to lead a life of freedom (generally speaking!). And why are you writing content? To reach out to your target market and potential clients so you can serve them and live your life of freedom!
This means, the success of your business depends heavily on your audience and their needs – and one the best ways you can achieve your goals is through your content.
Is your content relevant to your audience? That blog you recently published or the Facebook post that just went live is that the kind of content your audience is really looking for? If your content strategy is not audience-centric, you are in trouble!
Before you sit down to chart out a plan and write your next batch of content, think long and hard about what your audience wants from you. Do some research and give them exactly what they are asking for.
??T – Timely ?
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have been pushed to think about how timely, sensible and relevant the content needs to be for their audience and their future success.
Marketing with a timely twist is a great way for businesses to stay in the now and be relevant. Pay attention to what is happening in your local region and around the world, and think about what kind of content, products and services you can release that fits in with the current times.
Now is the perfect time for you, as a business owner, to look at your content strategy, website copy, social posts and the overall message from a fresh perspective to ensure it makes sense not only for your business but also for your readers.
Turn your content into a client-generating machine!
Learn how to write profit-driven (and awesome) online content that connects with your audience to reach more people, builds your list, triples your leads and grows your profile and business with more clients and opportunities.
In our 8-week “Content 2 Cash” online course, we teach every business owner to write their own awesome online content. You will learn all about content foundations, strategy, how to find your style, write soulful content, use structures and frameworks to create quality content in a shorter duration and skyrocket your sales with the very content you create.
Need help now?
Have you ever said out loud (or very quietly) … “How do I know what the next step is with my content?” or “What piece of content comes next?”, or “What do I really need to be working on now”?
I’m hearing you!
I’ve got a SMART framework that I follow for myself and our content writing clients that I’d love to share with you. It will answer all of these questions and more!).
In this webinar, I will show you the steps to success for the 7 pieces of content you need to nail for business success!
It’s a live webinar where you will leave with:
? A clear plan on what your next strategic content move is (stop wasting time!)
? The pieces of content you need to create for your specific business (only create what you need)
? How the 7 pieces of content fit together to get you high-achieving results in your business (roadmap to success online)
? Insight into the costly mistakes business owners make that instantly crush your online presence (and how to avoid them).
If you are creating online content now, but you really have no idea what to do next or how to get better results – that is, more leads and more clients – come and join me, and I’ll explain it all to you!