“Content is King”. In the realm of social media, we believe content really IS King. But, what if we shifted our focus to the audience? Now Audience is King. Great content without an audience turns a reigning King into a pauper of proportionate size very quickly.
Identifying and your King is the first step to creating great content. Whether you’re focusing on a King with big pockets to purchase your product, or honing in on a King that will benefit from your service – define clearly who your audience is. This means everything from how old they are to when they’re online. Go from specific to broad, and gather online characteristics of your audience. Here are 4 tips from Social Media Examiner.
When you’re ready to move on to content creation, you can create original content, recycle existing content, or simply share content from others in your market. We recommend a mix of all 3. Creating your own content is key to defining your brand and displaying your voice and position within your market. When you recycling content, you’re taking the expertise/articles of others in your field, and re-writing to include your input on the subject (again, from perspective of your brand). Next, sharing content from others in your market is a great way to show your audience what you’re about. This is as simple as ‘sharing’ someone else’s post on your business’s Facebook Page or creating your own post to the extent of “check out this great article from XYZ Company”. Also, sharing content lets your audience know you’re not taking the position of being the curator of this information or claiming you’re the first person in the world to have these ideas or products. Social Media Today suggests the KISS Method when choosing or creating content.
Lastly, the way you display your content is a big factor in how it is absorbed by your audience. Simply putting content on a website will not magically create a following, nor will it generate much, if any, ROI. Developing a social media strategy is key to gaining a following. We recently shared what we call the Three C’s of Social Media Beginnings, which is a great start if you’re just beginning efforts. In a nutshell, you need to create your profiles, push out content, and engage with your audience on social media channels.
After you’ve done these things, it’s also important to re-evaluate and change tactics, even if the current ones are working. Being able to adapt and try different approaches is key to keeping up with the changing social world as well as refreshing your audience with fresh ideas and content. The one constant, though, is your brand voice.
