Serving Your Content to Deliver the Message
It is not what you say; it is how you say it that is important – everybody has probably heard this maxim at least once, and nowhere is it as important as in marketing. Since marketing is all about communicating your message, you want this communication to be relevant for the audience, and make sure it’s captivating, educating and even fun. What type of content can you serve in which situation to make the best of every communication attempt? Let’s have a look.
1. Discussion Trigger
One of the best ways to attract attention to yourself, brand, product, or whatever you want to promote is to make a viral post; a post that almost presses someone to submit a comment. Of course, it is worth ending most posts with a question addressed to the public (“and what do you think about it”?); but unless the reader has a really burning opinion to share, this won’t always work. It works much better with controversial topics. For example, “Android vs. iOS.” The adherents of both cults are always at each other’s throats, so after throwing a bait like this, you can hope for a frothing torrent of comments from both sides proving that they are on the right side. Just make sure you know your audience, and create a foundation for a civil conversation – you don’t want comments to literally turn into a flame war.
2. Explanation
If your business provides complex services, (like for instance, finance consulting, real estate assessment, etc.) you should not only reach out to potential customers, but also explain what it is that you do and why and when people may need your service. In the media you own, like a corporate website or blog, post a long-read or guide explaining where you stand in your field, what assistance you provide, who will most likely benefit from buying your services and how. While on social media, an explanatory video would work better. Here is a fitting example: Howwetrade created a cohesive post examining binary options trade from all relevant angles.
3. How-to Posts
Two of the most common reasons why people spend time on the Internet are to either play around or to find how to solve a problem. Where there is a problem, there always will be an audience willing to find a way to deal with it, and if you have a solution, it’s up to you to decide how to better express it. Here is an area where videos truly shine – especially when you describe a physical process like how to use a certain piece of equipment or to repair it, or try to teach some non-obvious tips and tricks. Take a look at LuxyHair – they’ve managed to turn simple hair beauty tips into a powerful marketing tool that kickstarted their business to its current level.
4. Why Posts
This kind of post explains why something is the way it is, why it came into being and so on. When combined with a fully referenced, fact-driven foundation, it can be an incredibly interesting and fascinating read, clearly demonstrating that the reader is dealing with valuable information that is worth sharing and spreading. For example, take a look at this research article on why people share information in the first place.
The Internet offers incredible diversity in the ways you can spread information. Whatever the message, you can easily find a way to turn it into a powerful, attractive and even viral piece of content. You simply have to know what you are dealing with and how to use your resources to the best advantage.
