Five tips to help you create engaging content

Business

Want to increase your online following and social profile? Here are five tips to help you create engaging content.

We live in an era of content. As Bill Gates proclaimed all the way back in 1996, “Content is king.”

Today we’re confronted by an avalanche of content daily – from news and blogs to social media and podcasts. And with such a quantity of content, it can be hard to stand out and ensure that the content you create gets in front of and excites the right people.

So how can you ensure this happens? And that all your hard work doesn’t disappear into the ether, unwatched, unread, unliked and unshared?

To help you create content that the right people will want to engage with, Your Brand Found have shared five tips to generate engaging content.

1) Make sure your content is appealing to your demographic

Content is highly dependent on your audience and, more often than not, it can be taken out of context. This is why content should be carefully crafted to fit the needs of your target demographic.

An article criticising the Chinese government or blatantly blasting communism might not fare well in publications controlled by the Chinese government, for example. Or a piece about how to cook beef in 10 different ways might not enthuse an Indian demographic. Every culture has its intricacies and crafting a content that is appropriate for everyone seems like a herculean task. 

There are many ways to ensure your content is appropriate for your target audience. The easiest would be to hire a writer that can write content tailor fitted for your target audience. This would entail hiring someone who is fluent in two or more languages and has enough knowledge of the culture from whence it came.

This is why using multilingual content writing services has its advantages; not only will you have more time to spend in other aspects of your business, or your life in general, but you can also rest assured that the content you are featuring is 100% appropriate for your audience.

2) Create content that solves a problem

If you want to create content that engages, you need to come up with ideas that solve your own problems – and will therefore help your audience out of a bind too.

Ignoring or internalising a problem will just cause stress and make it harder to come up with a solution. So if you’re struggling with something that you think your audience find difficult too, address it honestly.

Brainstorm how the problem manifests, and the ways that it makes your life or business more difficult for you and your audience. Then research and come up with solutions for each symptom or problem.

By approaching a problem methodically and thoroughly, and researching and brainstorming ideas to fix it you’ll come up with valuable ideas for you – and desirable content for your audience.

You can even try some of your ideas yourself and share them in further content, and use them on clients to generate case studies and powerful testimonials. To boost engagement, encourage your readers and followers to share their results using your suggestions too.

3) Tell stories

Who doesn’t love a compelling story? Humans have been telling each other stories since we first evolved, and we’re just as addicted to them today. Just look at the huge followings that influencers (and formerly bloggers) attract as they share the stories of their lives.

So what does that mean to you as a business or freelancer? How can you leverage the power of storytelling to attract and engage an audience and promote what you do?

Your starting point always needs to be who you’re talking to. It’s essential you know exactly who you want to connect with, and what they care about.

When you have a good idea of the kind of themes your ideal customers want to hear about, you can start finding ways to tell your story through them.

Stories can take the form of:

  • Customer experience, as told through case studies, testimonials, reviews and social media posts.
  • Behind the scenes glimpses, from photos and videos to content that explains how you work.
  • Your story – what’s your mission and vision? Why did you start your business? How did your business get to this point?
  • What you do – what’s your product or service range, and how do you create or deliver them?
  • Your inspiration – what and who inspires you and why?

Stories are so powerful that we even created a Brand Story Day to help you uncover and tell yours through compelling content.

4) Make it visually exciting

It doesn’t matter what your business or industry is, you need to create visually exciting content.

If your business is naturally photogenic then you have an easy advantage. Invest in quality product or action shots (or learn how to take them yourself) and use them to show off what you do.

But what if your business isn’t ‘sexy’ or has an obvious visual element? How can you ensure that your content looks enticing, or even just interesting?

There are still plenty of ways a non-visual business can compete on social media. If you can’t generate any images from your own business, you can use GIFs, images and videos created by others (as long as you’re legally allowed to share them) to illustrate a point you want to make and add visual interest.

This is where having a clear idea of your brand and tone of voice is important – you’ll need to choose and create the content you share carefully to ensure it builds a cohesive brand.

You can also use typography – using free online graphics tools to design visual quotes and tips that are on brand to share.

And don’t forget to include how to and behind the scenes visual content. A plumber can share before and after photos of a job, for example, or a writer take a photo of their desk with morning coffee as they get to work.

With some creativity and imagination, every business or freelancer can find visual content to attract and engage their audience.

5) Keep up to speed with trends

And finally, social media and content trends move quickly. And it’s important you keep up to speed with them.

So, if everyone is sharing and watching Instagram Stories, think about how you can use them for your business. If GIFs are a craze, find the best ones for you business. If inspirational quotes are on trend, make your own.

Whatever type of content people are searching for and engaging with, make sure you’re creating it. Just, as always, ensure it’s on brand and accurately reflects what you do and your values.

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Photo by Tuấn Trương