Wondering what to blog about, speak about on Facebook live, post about on Facebook, twitter, Instagram or linkedin?
Here’s my definitive guide to creating your content!
1. Know your audience
2. Speak to your ideal customer
3. Answer their questions
4. Get into expert mode
5. Delight them
6. Take them with you
7. Collaborate with another person in your field
8. Know your news
9. Announcements
10. Be yourself
1. Know your audience
I know I probably do keep banging on about it. But essentially everything that you’re going to be presenting in the big wide world for your business is to satisfy your customer's needs. Or your potential customers. You want to create content that your ideal customers want to read, watch, share, comment on and like.
So how do you go about finding out who your Ideal customers are?
My first answer is read this blog and answer the questions in it and then come back to this blog! 27 questions to help you identify your ideal customer.
You might have a couple of ideal customers, or maybe you have 2 different sides to your business. While that will make things hard, it’s not impossible. In that scenario, you either have to find the common ground and write with that in mind, or create completely different content addressing each customer – which could make you feel a little schizophrenic!
You don’t have to nail your ideal customer down to Sally, aged 31, single, dreams of Hollywood, loves dogs, hates cats, has a strange relationship with her mother and bites her nails with watching endless Netflix.
But if you can at least get a sense of the feelings they have, their wants, their confusion, their dreams, that will help enormously!
2. Speak to your ideal customer
Once you have an idea of who this person is, you’re going to want to create content in a really personal fashion. As if you are speaking directly to them.
I had a fantastic conversations with a client following a Facebook Live challenge I recently run. She said in her first live she was imagining talking to a room full of people, it felt scary. Her second live, she did the same. The third she had an ah-ha moment, hopefully, remembered all I’d taught her and spoke to one person. She imagined one person watching, her ideal customer. Much less scary, and more intimate feeling, she felt comfortable and it felt lovely to watch.
As if she was talking directly to me. As if she had made a connection with me. We made a connection. Now that’s what you want your potential customers to feel.
For a lovely story about how powerful this one to one ideal customer interaction is, check out this blog: blogging the number one rule.
Everything you create should be a love letter to your ideal customer, a conversation between you and them.
3. Answer their questions
What questions do potential customers regularly ask you? Make your answers into a piece of content.
If you get asked what it is you do, how you do it, why you do it, does it hurt, can I do it with a friend, what materials do you use, is it safe, how should I do this? Create content that answers these questions. Because I bet my bottom dollar they’re not the only person with that question, and you position yourself as the caring one with all the answers!
4. Get into expert mode
You are an expert in your field. Flex your expert muscles and give out some free advice. Let people know that you know things and that if they want to know more you’re the person they need to go to.
Or could you do a live demonstration of what you do?
You don’t have to give everything away, but enough to help. And being generous is generally rewarded.
Make those potential customers look forward to your next piece of content where they can learn something.
5. Delight them
Can you give your ideal customers a behind the scenes look at your life, where you work, your family, your garden, your lunch plate? People do like this stuff. They like to know the person behind the service or product.
Not all the time, but a little bit goes a long way.
And on the note of delight – can you make them laugh? Business doesn’t have to be serious all the time!
6. Take them with you
Are you off to an exciting event, speaking at a University, selling products at a craft fair? Could you take your audience with you. Could you write a blog about what it was like, do a live while you are there, post about where you’re going to be?
7. Collaborate with another person in your field
Could you do a joint piece of content? Could you interview someone for your blog or on a Facebook live? That way you’ll both get access to each other’s audience. Big players do it all the time. So, if you know of someone who compliments you, why not get together and see if you can co-create something.
8. Know your news
Keep your eye on the news and if something happens in your field be the first to get in there and give your comment.
Facebook likes topical posts, so you may find you end up with your content getting an even better reach.
Twitter’s trending #s are also a good place to find new and have an opinion, you may end up on the BBC as an expert; journalists are often trawling twitter looking for people to quote and interview.
Plus your ideal customers will be impressed that you’re so on it!
9. Announcements
Moving premises, got a new product launch, got some fab PR, just got 3,000 FB likes? Then tell people!
Look at this post I wrote when I got in the Guardian for some ideas: What I learned from being in The Guardian.
10. Be yourself
Amidst all this, you also need to remember who you are, why you started out in the first place and the values you bring to the table. Don’t try to be someone else, it will always end in tears. Be true to you.
So there you have it 10 tips to creating content. Now alongside this make sure you keep an eye on your analytics for what works best, the time of day that works best and the type of content (blog, live, short post, images) that works best. Give your customers more of what they want. Build a relationship with them. Let them know that you’re the best person for the job, that you have amazing products, that you can solve their problems and that you want to work with them!
Now go create some amazing content!
