Writing articles is a great way to share knowledge and provide value for your audience.
It gives you a chance to demonstrate what you know. Also, they give you have social media content that can help you to bring traffic back to your site.
Before you even start thinking about writing the article, it’s good to ask yourself the following questions:
If it’s something that doesn’t interest you or that you know nothing about, it will be hard to write a good article! What do you know about and what will add value to your readers?
This is important because if you know this, it will be easier for you to write in a way that is relevant. If you’re writing for professionals in a specific field, you can assume some prior knowledge. But if the topic is new to them, you may need to explain some concepts first.
Also think about whether the article is for your own audience or for someone else’s. If it’s for your audience, you need to write in a way that is consistent with the rest of your content. If it’s for another audience, do you know enough about them?
If you’re explaining how to do something, a structured plan, in which you list out the steps in a logical order, can work well. It is easy for the reader to follow the steps and complete the task.
If you’re giving information, such as tips or advice, a numbered list can work well.
If you want to present an idea, it’s good to introduce it, explore it, and then write a conclusion so that the text flows in a way that makes sense. Do you have reasons to support your idea or argument? Do you want to explore other points of view or possible objections?
If you want to tell a story, what is the point of the story? Why are you sharing it, and what do you want the reader to take away at the end?
Or maybe you want to combine a story with a point of learning.
Whilst it may be tempting to get all of your ideas down as quickly as possible, it can help to plan out the structure first. You might want to write the headings and then fill in the text that goes under each one. This will make it easier to put things in an order that makes sense and to make sure that you haven’t forgotten anything important.
Think about whether you need to do any research before you start to write.
If you are writing a list, what are the points that you want to make? Writing some bullet points first, even if you don’t use them all in the end, will help you to make sure that your ideas are clearly organised and that you don’t repeat yourself.
At some point you will have to do the work and write the article, but this will be easier if you know what it will be about, who the audience is, and how you want to structure it.
If you struggle with writing, try to block out some time in which to write the article. Put the writing time in your diary and try to make sure that you won’t be disturbed.
It’s ok if you don’t like the first draft, but it is easier to work with words on the page than a blank page! So start writing and you can decide later whether you want to keep all of your ideas, whether what you wrote makes sense, and whether anything is missing. You can always delete sentences, move them around, change them or add to them later.
It can be difficult if you’re working to a tight deadline, but you are unlikely to see mistakes or things that don’t make sense if you read the article immediately after you have written it. Where possible, do something else and come back to it later so that you can check it and make sure that everything is as you would like it to be.
Try reading it aloud. This will also help you to spot anything that isn’t quite right, or where your brain was faster than your fingers and you missed out a word or punctuation mark.
You might want to ask someone else to proofread it for you as well.
Your best or most useful article won’t make any difference if nobody knows it exists! So it’s also important to think about what you will do after you publish it. Where will you share the link? How will you encourage other people to read or engage with it? Do you want to start a discussion? If you want people to comment, make sure that you respond. People are less likely to comment a second time if they feel that their first point was ignored.
Often the hardest step is the first one. Hopefully this guide will give you some ideas so that you can take that first step.
When you start a new business, it can be overwhelming when you see all the options that are available for your social media content. It’s easy to feel under pressure to be everywhere.
The truth is that you’ll have more success if you:
A. build a strategy that defines what you want to achieve with your social content
B. make informed decisions about what’s likely to bring you the best results
C. use this information to make a clear plan of action.
Let’s clear this up first. In order to be successful, to find new customers, or to get the message out there about your brand, you don’t need to be everywhere. Especially at the beginning, it’s better that you aren’t.
Choose one or two channels that resonate with you and work consistently to build your presence and your audience there.
It’s better to do one or two things well than to do many things (or be in many places) in a half-hearted or inconsistent way.
Nobody wants to post into the void, so do some research first. Think about the demographics of your ideal paying client. Who are they? Where do they live? What age are they? What do they like?
Don’t get into the trap of saying that your brand is for everyone. It might be accessible to everyone, but there will be some groups who are drawn to it more. Once you’ve figured out who they are, it will be easier to talk to them and to find out where they like to spend time online.
Are you selling directly to customers or to other businesses? This will also have an impact on which platform best enables you to communicate with those clients.
Now that you know who your target group is, you can think about what kind of content best resonates with them and which platform is best suited to sharing that content. Do they watch a lot of videos? Will they be attracted by image content that shows off your products? Do they like to be in communities where they can meet others who share their interests? Do they like to read?
If you want to attract young people, don’t go to a platform where there aren’t many young users.
Once you’ve defined your audience, you can then find up-to-date information about trends and demographics for the various platforms.
Also, think about which platforms you enjoy spending time on to consume content or connect with others. If you already like a platform and it fits with your goals, you will automatically be motivated to spend more time there.
It matters what your audience likes, but unless you outsource it all, at least at the beginning, you’ll be the one producing this content. Therefore it makes sense to think about what type of content you want (and know how) to create.
If you like making videos, don’t start a blog! Think about the type and length of your video and where you are most likely to find videos like that now.
If you enjoy writing texts or story marketing, a more visual platform may not be the best place for you.
If you know your social media goals, it will be easier for you to figure out how to achieve them. You’re likely to have more than one goal, but different platforms are good for different things. Do you want to:
These are just a few examples, but understanding your goals means you’ll be able to identify the platforms where you’ll have a higher chance of reaching those goals.
If you already have a social media presence, have a look at where most of your traffic or leads are coming from. This will help you to decide whether you want to increase your activity/try something new on that existing platform or to try something else.
Even if you don’t have any social media channels yet, think about how the clients or leads that you have already first discovered your brand. This might help you to identify some strategies, marketing activities, or types of content that are already working for you.
This also ties in with your social media goals, but try to think about the whole buyer journey and where your social media presence fits in that journey. Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter/click through to your sales page/join a membership somewhere/buy products directly on the platform?
Some platforms give you multiple options such as running a page, opening a community/group, or engaging in other groups.
Some platforms allow you to host events or to run adverts on multiple platforms at the same time.
Try to think creatively and to discover what else you can do with each platform.
You don’t have to copy them, but seeing what’s working for companies who have similar offers can help you to understand what type of content is already resonating well with your target audience.
It’s easy to focus on the big, well-known platforms, but some interest groups also use other lesser-known platforms. Some countries have their own business networking sites. There are sites where people go if they have a particular hobby, or if they are looking for a specific type of product or service.
If you do your research, you might find it will add value to include one of these smaller but more niche-focused platforms.
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