Winning the Content Battle

Some days if feels like we are being bombarded with content. Images, video and blog posts fill our email and social media news feeds. With so much content out there, how do you make sure people notice, read, like and share your content?

Well, you can produce more, but at some point you run out of things to say. Or you can work smarter. Here are some tips to make what you do create work harder for you.

Segment Your Content

Stop trying to appeal to everyone. let go of the boring, generic content and create focused pieces which only appeal to a small niche. The content will have limited appeal to the general audience, for your specific target it may be the only place to find relevant information.

Extend the reach of the content with offers to sign up for updates on just that topic. Don’t dump these people into your main list. Continue to offer them focused content to keep them coming back.

Distribute Through New Outlets

Everyone is sharing links on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. While it is good to start there, if you want to get noticed, you have to do more. And I am not giving your permission to post twice as many links on those platforms!

Go where there is less noise. Find other outlets and submit content where your prospective clients will see it. Write articles or offer to do short presentations for your local chamber of commerce, trade association, directories or other informational blogs in your industry. If your target audience includes families with school age kids, write articles for the PTA or Dad’s Club publications.

These outlets give you a chance to reach an audience who may not be following you on social platforms. Don’t miss the opportunity to request links back to specific information on your website.

Take the Conversation Offline

It is easy to rely on social media and email to do all they heavy lifting. But it is also easy for people to simply screen out the content. If you want to get noticed, pick up the telephone and call people who have clicked on a link in your email or downloaded a report from your website. Don’t wait for them to call you.

Consider printing something. As the cost of postage increases, fewer and fewer companies are using direct mail to reach prospects. While I don’t think most businesses should use bulk mail, limited campaigns to a targeted audience will get you noticed. Once you are on their radar screen, they are more likely to recognize your logo in their news feed and pay attention to your latest update.

Individual Attention Takes Work

The bad news? This is going to take more work than just publishing the same information to all social channels several times a day. It takes time to plan your content strategy, monitor what is working and offer more and more focused content to niche audiences.

The good news? Since it requires more work, many of your competitors are not likely to do this, so you have a chance to stand out