Generating Content That Gets People Talking

Generating, smart, funny, interesting content can often prove a stumbling block for many people. Whether you are a large brand or an individual looking to generate a bit more interest, the key to doing so is ensuring that your content is of interest to others. When Rick Short, director of marketing communications for Indium Corporation, began thinking about his social media strategy, he started with keyword research.

Rick identified 73 of the most important keywords his prospective customers would search for. He then used this information to create 73 different blogs that focused on each key word and assigned a dozen employees to write those blogs.

The results of this experiment where incredible, customer contacts alone increased by 600% in a single quarter. As well as this anyone who engaged with the company through the blogs opted into the company’s customer database.

The most astonishing thing? Indium doesn’t sell fashion, food or anything else particularly exciting, they make solder paste and other electronic assembly materials.

So what can we learn from the case of Idium? Well it obviously doesn’t matter how obscure your product or service is, as long as you are providing a product or service that people want or need, you have customers. You can therefore use Idium as an example on how to attract prospective customers.

The key here is to focus on content! This isn’t just a case of stringing a few words together. It is essential that what you say means something to people. The best way to look at it is would you want to read/see/hear your own content? Put yourself in the position of the end user!

Users are becoming more and more attuned to the internet, using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to engage with brands and fellow users, whilst also using Google to search for their purchase whilst also reading blogs. The internet really is a key influence on peoples purchase behaviour.

Here are 5 rules to follow to create great content:

Show don’t just tell: instead of just telling people how brilliant something is, show them! This can be done through case studies (also known as success stories). Maybe look at a problem faced by a customer and identify how your service/product helped them solve it. A great way of doing this is to use videos by utilising video sharing services such as YouTube and Vimeo.

Don’t be afraid: try generating content that gets people talking and interacting. Content that is highly sharable will spark a flame that gets people sharing your stuff. This type of content can really make you stand out in your industry and get people talking about your brand. You could even look to highlight and hot new research to your customers and prospects.

Play to your strengths: if you are good with photoshop then create some cool infographics. If you’re a persuasive writer then use blogs, or maybe you might be better creating a video. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, make sure you know yours and make the most of them. You may have other members of your team who are stronger in certain areas, make the most of this, you want your content to be the best it possibly can be.

Speak to people: much of your fan base is unlikely to understand the technical details of your products and so therefore make sure that anything you post is on the right level. Speak to people in a voice they can understand, treat people like your friends and don’t risk alienating customers by speaking in the wrong tone. Also be careful not to underestimate your audience and underestimate their level. Monitor chatter on your social media to get a feel of the level you should be posting at.

Recycle: you may have lots of great content that is sat around not doing anything. Don’t be too determined that any particular document is essential for one purpose, instead try and re-think any content and see if there is anywhere else relevant that you could use it. It is always possible to recycle content at a later date.

It is also essential to remember that your content sparks conversation. This includes all of the previous point. If you are going to take the time to generate content then you want people to re-post it, mention it and talk about it. It is therefore absolutely essential to make sure that your content isn’t apathetic. Say something that makes people think. It may not be your own opinion but playing devils advocate may just get your brand noticed. However, remember not to be too controversial in what you say, you don’t want to risk upsetting customers.

There is plenty of great content out there that you can use as a template for any posts you are looking to generate. A social media agency is an ideal template to follow as this is what they do for a living.

Have you seen any really great content out there that has inspired you? Good look and happy posting.