With all of the content on the internet today, it’s easy to see how you can easily get overwhelmed. How can you make your content stand out from all the blogs, vlogs, Twitter posts, cat videos, and podcasts? The key is to make your content engaging for your audience. Here are ten ways you can do this.
- Start with a content marketing plan.
A content marketing plan is essential. If you don’t already have one, that’s the first thing you need to do after reading this post. Create a plan that will help you to develop content that will align with your business goals. Create content that is helpful, informative, or entertaining for your audience. Having a content calendar is an absolute must. You can plan out your content a month in advance for the best results. But don’t get stuck in that. If something relevant to your niche happens in the news, don’t be afraid to create content about that even if it’s not on your calendar.
- Use more audio and video content.
Every day, 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube, there are 1200% more shares of video content, and 100 million hours of video are watched on Facebook, according to Social Media Today. Video content is one of the most versatile types of content out there. You can share it to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can create Facebook or Instagram stories. You can broadcast live events. However you use your video content, though, you want to do it in a way that makes sense for your business.
- Be unique.
Today, it’s difficult to be completely original. It’s hard to find something to say that hasn’t been said before. But what is unique about your content should be your voice. No one else has that voice, and your business should be authentic. You can achieve authenticity by being honest, open, and vulnerable. Use whatever makes your business unique to create content, and it will stand out from the crowd.
- Use images and infographics.
Images are an excellent way to captivate your audience. 56% of online marketers stated they used visuals in their content nearly 100% of the time in 2018 according to Impact. Content with images is always more compelling than content without images because the brain can process visuals 60,000 times faster than just text. Don’t know what kind of images to post? Create infographics related to your niche. Or try taking some photos with your phone. The cameras on phones these days can take professional-looking photos.
- Create targeted content.
Develop personas for your ideal customers, and create detailed profiles for each persona. Target your content towards these personas, and it will speak to many people that are similar to them. It’s better if you can make each profile very detailed. You can create content that is specific to your target audience if you understand them better. One way to make your content stand out is to niche down and get very specific.
- Consistency is key.
The most important thing to remember about creating content is to be consistent. If you never post on your YouTube channel, it’s not going to get very many subscribers. If you never Tweet, no one’s going to follow you on Twitter. If you run a podcast, you need to produce a show weekly or at least every other week. Make a content schedule, and stick to it. If you decide to post a blog every Friday, make sure it’s something you can actually do. Your readers will begin to expect blog posts on Fridays, and you don’t want to disappoint the people who are following your content.
- Switch up your content.
While it’s important to be consistent, you don’t want to post the same type of content over and over again. You want to mix it up. If you’ve been posting a lot of text-only blog posts, try making some infographics. If you’ve been posting a podcast, try filming yourself as you make the podcast and then you have video content as well.
You also want to mix up the format of the content. For example, you may want to do product reviews one day followed by a case study followed by a story. You want to keep your audience guessing what you’re going to do next.
- Back up your claims with data and further resources.
Writing a blog post that’s nothing but your opinion is easy. It’s much harder to back up your opinion with evidence, but your content will be much stronger. If you link to authoritative content in your niche, it will make your content more respectable. Find data and studies that support your claims. Link to resources where people can get more information on your topic.
- Use brand storytelling.
Many marketers don’t really understand how to tell the story of their brand. It’s not just a way to talk more about your business and promote how great it is. Telling the story of your brand is about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Storytelling is about making an emotional connection with your audience. Talk about any obstacles you had to overcome and how you overcame them. Conflict is at the heart of any good story, so use it and talk about any conflicts you’ve had to overcome.
- Find the micro-influencers in your field.
When people hear the term “influencer marketing,” they think of celebrities and models with millions of followers on Instagram. But that doesn’t have to be the only people you try to reach out to. Find the influencers in your niche with tens of thousands or even thousands of followers, and work with them. The audiences of these influencers are more likely to care about your content.
There is so much content available to everyone so it can be easy to feel like no one is engaging with your content. But what you need to remember is that your business or you as an individual have something to offer that no one else does. Even if you’re doing something similar to someone else, no one will do it exactly like you. So find what makes you unique and use that to create content that stands out from the crowd.
Sara Crawford is a digital content strategist for WT Digital Agency and an author from Atlanta, Georgia. She has written novels, produced her own plays, and performed as a singer/songwriter. She is passionate about the act of creation, and she adores the written word.