Everyone’s doing it right?
That’s what you’ve heard in the halls, on the field and in the locker room.
Everyone wants to fit in, and it may seem lonely if you feel everyone else is doing it. Just know that everyone isn’t… well, maybe they are, but most aren’t getting it right.
Below you will find a list of 10 areas that as content marketers you should consider when developing approaches and content creation practices. These 10 points will help you return to your prime and give you the edge you need.
1. Intimacy
You can offer content that is casual and good enough to satisfy some immediate need. But when you take the next step and get intimate with your readers, showing that you care and understand, your content has a much more long lasting impact and you can develop a satisfying emotional tie to your audience.
2. Atmosphere
Creating the right atmosphere enhances the entire experience – the right images, music and video can make the difference between a pleasant experience and a WOW experience.
3. Reciprocity
When content becomes a genuine give and take, it is so much better. Consider how good it feels when your readers react and express something about your content. When they do, you don’t want to stop. You want to give them more.
4. Obsession
Men are obsessed with how they perform (Analytics and Metrics tell the story of how each piece of content performs). Women, on the other hand, like to shmooze about it socially, sharing it with friends and on their blogs.
5. Size
Size doesn’t matter nearly as much as quality. A Tweet can be as genius as a video clip.
6. Anatomy
Find that spot. You know, by their reaction, when you touch your audience in just the right place.
7. Cool
Be cool. Don’t rush. Let things flow. Sometimes you need to be short and to the point but appearing anxious and rushed is a turn off.
8. Go Pro?
Nothing can beat being able to convey your passion and genuine feelings. A Pro may have impressive skills that you don’t have but they can’t capture the passion that you feel about what you do.
9. Be Free
Let yourself go and unleash the animal that’s in you. Go wild, cross your boundaries, get creative – but be careful not to hurt anyone, including yourself. Good content will flow naturally if you can do this.
10. Frequency
It depends on your audience and your resources. For some creating fresh content more than once per week is too much of a burden. Some can handle twice a week and the real enthusiasts can sometimes create fresh, unique content almost daily. Keep it alive. Don’t do it under pressure.
On reflection, perhaps this isn’t such a sexy post after all, but it does offer 10 practical considerations to people wanting to develop content and copy. Each of these areas may help, but as they say, “no one size fits all.”
Dr. Mathew McDougall boasts over 10 years working experience in China and time spent working in Australia, UK, US and Japan. He is a renowned expert on digital marketing, especially in the area of Chinese digital marketing. Recognized for his published articles, his frequent speaking engagements, as well as his prestigious consulting and teaching programs. Dr. McDougall founded the digital marketing Agency, “Digital Jungle” in early 2011. This content focused digital Agency has grown significantly to now have offices in China (Beijing & Shanghai), Australia and New Zealand. Dr. McDougall is also the editor of the “Digital Marketing Inner Circle” blog on digital marketing, author of “The Chinese Social Media Universe”, a frequent spokesperson on Internet issues and guest speaker at Internet industry forums worldwide.
