You might have heard "Content is King." But, if your content doesn't get out to the world it's a Pauper King. How can you make sure that your Kingdom of Content is rich and prosperous? Make sure you build roads to your kingdom and send out the town crier every day.
Yes, every day.
Building Your Roads
If Content is King then the roads to your content are your social media platforms. These platforms share your brand and let people know what your business is all about. Taking the time to build these platforms is the same as investing in a business coach. Two important tactics to focus on are engagement and curated content.
Engagement
Engagement is the juice of social media. This is how your brand reaches new audiences, sells product, and grows your business. However, it is not as simple as pushing a button. It takes consistent effort. That's why you get a template at the end of this post to help you regularly share your content, such as blog posts, and suggestions on how to get conversations going around that content.
Hashtags are an easy way to see the conversations that are happening on social media and how your brand can participate in them. A great tool to research these hashtags is hashtagify.me. Another way to use hashtags is to check in with trending topics daily.
Most, if not all, platforms will let you know what topics are trending on that platform. Each topic will have a hashtag associated with it. Use that hashtag to promote your content to get exposure to a different audience. Remember, no "hashtag jacking." Hashtag jacking is when you use a hashtag to promote your content and it has no connection to what the hashtag is about.
Questions are a great way to get people to engage. People love to give their opinion. Asking questions about a new product name, how they deal with circumstances, or even what's their favorite ice cream flavor is a great way to get engagement with your brand. If something big happens in the news, ask their opinion.
Engagement is not a one-way street. You have to reach out and talk to your audience. When people favorite a tweet containing your content, tweet them and tell them why they should read it. For example, "There's a great template at the end of the article that helps #smallbiz organize their finances." The point of these is to start a conversation.
If you are on Facebook and get a lot of "Likes" on a post, post a question in the comments - ask people what they think. You can also use emojis to have people share their opinions.
You've heard Content is King. But if your content doesn't get out to the world it's a Pauper King Click To TweetCurated Content
Curated content is content that is created by another source that you vet. You are not taking credit for the content, but you are resharing the content, sometimes with your own commentary. For example, have you ever shared something from the New York Times or Entrepreneur magazine? That's curated content. Curating content lessens the burden of always having to create new and original content. Used well, your business can benefit from these resources.
Industry magazines and news sources are a great way to share excellent information without having to create it. Not only do you leverage their content but you leverage their audience also. To make curating content easier, you can use Feedly or any other RSS feed aggregation service to bring all articles into one place. From there you can share and schedule the content as you review it.
Peers in your industry have ideas you agree with and don't agree with. This is a great place to search out content for your platforms to highlight your brand and distinguish yourself from others.
Sending Out The Town Crier
Now, that you have created the roads that lead back to your Content Kingdom, you must send out news of your glorious content to others. The most important aspect of doing this is doing it consistently. When people know when to look for news they begin to expect news. That's why I have included this download to help you stay consistent and schedule your content weekly. This template is best used if you are creating blog posts or long video content weekly. Content is King because it converts people from just listening to being your advocate.
Download your free template here (no strings attached!): Content-Share-Template.xls
Now, you are set up to take advantage of "Content is King" in your business, with consistent effort, you will see opportunities come your way that are directly related to the effort you put in.
There is no time like the present, when will you set up your Content Kingdom?
Photo by Ryan McGuire via Stocksnap.io.
Tamay Shannon's goal in life is to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams. She is an experienced social media strategist who has helped numerous entrepreneurs and small businesses develop and execute strategic marketing plans. Through her educational training, she developed a love for communication, especially marketing through social media. Her passion for small business is only mirrored by the business owners themselves. She loves the tools that social media is an what it can provide to small business owners.
