Everybody knows you need content to make the world go ’round these days. But it’s not just about putting any content out into the world; it’s about putting great content into cyberspace—the kind of words that’ll show your audience that you’re an authority figure in your industry. You need the kind of words that will not only attract audiences but keep them on your pages, too. You need to present the types of words that make people come back again and again because they can’t get enough of the things you have to say.
Yeesh! That’s overwhelming.
There are only 26 letters in the alphabet. How can you possibly string them together in different and unique ways that put your words above those of your competitors?
Fear not! We’ve got some great ideas!
Mine Ideas from Reddit
When Daniel Russell of Go Fish Digital spoke at our recent Content Marketing Conference, people were floored by his Secret Sauce. Daniel unleashed the power of content mining that’s readily available at anyone’s fingertips: Reddit. Using his insights, we learned that by becoming an active member of Reddit, you’ll have an assortment of focus groups, outspoken opinions, and idea generation readily available 24 hours a day.
Hire People Who Do Words for a Living
WriterAccess is filled with professional freelancers who write content for any number of industries in a variety of narratives, styles, and tones. Their creative minds can often help guide you toward topics that’ll be interesting to your readers. You’ll also find content strategists here who are skilled at navigating consumers’ needs in ways that’ll make your business stand out to people who are looking for the information you’re touting.
It’s not easy to come up with content ideas. It’s even harder to find time to put them on paper when you’re already operating a business and wearing ten thousand hats. Freelance writers and strategists do this for a living. Doesn’t it make sense to hand this task over to the people who specialize in making words work for their clients’ companies? We think so!
Listen to Your Customers
You probably don’t realize it, but your customers are giving you excellent content ideas on a daily basis. Every frequently asked question and weird inquiry serves as the foundation for a great blog, social media post, or landing page. When people ask you questions about the products you sell or the services you offer, you can bet they’re not the only people wondering about your business. Do your customers a favor by making it easy for other people to find the information you’re being asked regularly. And those weird one-off questions? Include those in your content, too. Others might very well be curious about the same things; they just don’t know where to look to find the answers.
Keep an Eye on Your Competitors’ Sites
We’re not suggesting you copy anything from someone else’s site; quite the contrary, actually. If you keep an eye on the stuff your competitors are posting, you’ll likely find an assortment of things you could communicate to your audience even better than other people are. It’s important to understand your competitive advantage and utilize it in a way that makes sense for a successful content strategy. If your neighbor Bob sells widgets that have limited capacity, talk about your widgets are full-service thingamajigs that go above and beyond the standard use. If Sally down the street only offers brilliant blue widgets, this is your opportunity to tout your complete line of ultra-colorful whatchamacallits.
Knowing how your competitors are addressing your audience is an imperative way to stay one step ahead of them. This has always been true in business, but with the onset of social media, it’s more important than ever.
Engage with Other Industry Leaders
You may not be a fan of social media, but it’s not going anywhere, so you might as well embrace it. Hit the social scene every so often (no less than twice a week to ensure your followers are being engaged with within a proper timeframe). Make sure you address questions, comments, and concerns from your followers, but don’t stop there. Take this time to retweet great advice from other industry leaders, and follow companies that could reciprocate the favor when you’ve got good stuff to say. If you’re inspired to create a blog based on something someone else said, be sure to shoot them a shoutout when you publish your piece.
At WriterAccess, you’ll find thousands of content creators and strategists who are happy to step up and help you figure out how to make words work for you. Our network of freelancing professionals includes experts from all sorts of fields—and a lot of folks who are content chameleons, capable of delivering messages across an assortment of target markets, audiences, and industries.
Interested? You should be! Give us a try today!
Kristin B is interested in anything that teaches her something new or gives her a different perspective on something she already knew. She’s a self-proclaimed Learn Nerd, which means the world is her educational oyster, and she’s always seeking opportunities to learn from life’s experiences and her clients’ assignments.
