Content creation can seem complex. There’s social media to think about as well as your website content, your business blog and email content – getting it all right can feel like a bit of a daunting task.
If you feel like your content isn’t hitting the mark, these easy fixes might give your content the boost it needs.
1. Create yourself a content schedule
Sometimes your content falls flat because you’re uncertain of what you should be posting when. This can lead to a bit of a content mishmash – you’re firing out a random blog post here, and a totally unrelated social media post there, meaning your audience is going to struggle to relate to the message you’re trying to portray.
To avoid this, setting yourself a content schedule will enable you to give your content a clear direction and ensure it resonates with your target audience. And the good news is, it doesn’t have to be complicated!
For example, you may decide to post on social media three times a week and once on your blog page. Already, you’ve given yourself a time frame – go a step further and decide on days and times, and you’ve done the difficult bit.
Once you know when you’re going to post, decide what you’re going to post. For example, you may decide to post about one of your services on Mondays, a behind the scenes picture on Wednesdays and a round-up of your week on Fridays. Simple!
What this does is takes the decision making out of your content creation for you. You don’t have to sit there searching for inspiration or panicking at the end of the week that you’ve forgotten to post. It’s all there for you, ready to go.
2. Set aside time to create content
Often, we tend to create content as and when we think about it, especially when we’re busy running a business. While this may work short-term, it doesn’t always produce the best content and can make the finished product appear rushed.
Now that you’ve got your content schedule sorted, you can set aside a block of time per week to create it. Perhaps your last task on a Friday afternoon could be spending an hour or two creating content for the week ahead. That way, you’ll have all your content prepared and won’t have to take time out of the upcoming working week to post.
3. Use scheduling tools
Creating your content is one thing, but remembering to post it on the right day at the right time is a mammoth task in itself. Instead of trying to remember to post manually, try using some scheduling tools to make the job a little easier.
If you’re regularly on Facebook and Instagram, you can use the free Facebook Creator Studio tool to schedule the posts you’ve created. Loomly and Hootsuite are great for scheduling your LinkedIn posts. All you need to do is upload your image, copy and paste your pre-written caption, add an emoji or two and choose your preferred date and time. The tool will take care of the rest, and you won’t even have to think about it again.
The same can be done for your blog posts. Once you’ve got a couple written, get them uploaded to your website and schedule them for your preferred date and time. If you’ve got three blog posts written, that’s three weeks’ worth of blog content that you won’t have to worry about once you’ve got them scheduled and ready to go.
It can seem like a bit of a pain to have to schedule your posts every week but trust us, it’s a lot easier than interrupting your day to post manually all the time!
4. Use social media holidays
So you’ve sorted out a schedule, you’re posting regularly – so why isn’t your content cultivating engagement? The world of online content is a funny place – you post content that you assume will be valuable to your target audience. It’s filled with top tips and proven advice, facts, and expert opinions, but it still seems to fall flat. You post a random picture of your dog from three years ago, and suddenly everyone is interested.
Unfortunately, this is just how it works. No matter how valuable you deem your content to be, there will always be a picture of a novelty mug out there that’s getting triple the engagement. As annoying as this is, you can use it to your advantage!
The best way to engage with your target audience is to talk about what they’re talking about. Use a social media holiday calendar to pick out days that may be relevant to your target audience and create content that matches. Use hashtags related to the day (there are often official ones listed on the calendar) and look out for other similar posts that you may be able to comment on or share. Finding some common ground with your target customers will help your content hit the mark it’s been missing.
5. Get the tone right
Getting the tone of your content right is vital when it comes to ensuring it resonates with your target audience. Addressing the reader directly with personal pronouns like ‘you’ or involving them with collective pronouns like ‘we’ and ‘us’ gives your content a more personal feel and enables your audience to better connect with it.
Avoiding the use of industry-specific jargon is also a great way to do this. While you may be well-versed in the language of your industry, your target audience may not be. Ensure you’re writing in plain English so that your message is clearly portrayed in every piece of content you post.
Your approach to content creation doesn’t have to be ground-breaking to be effective. Reviewing your current content and implementing a few of these easy fixes will allow you to produce content that is thoughtful, well-planned, and valuable.
If you require further support with content creation, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We have a range of flexible, affordable content creation packages available, designed specifically to support you and your business.