You have more to say than you realize

Show me what you've got to say - I bet it's really good!

There's a common piece of advice given by big name marketers that says you should only write when you have something to say. It's meant to be applied everywhere - your blog, your newsletter, and social networks. In theory, it makes sense: Don't overload/bore/waste your audience's time with content that you share just to have content to share.

For a small business, with a small audience, that's trying to build up engagement, this is not good advice. Here's why:

1) It requires a critical mass of engaged followers/subscribers.

The marketers who say this have all done their time, building up a good sized audience that trusts their expertise. They have loyal followings that look for their content and interact with it when it comes. As a small business owner, it takes time to build that kind of relationship with your audience. To remain successful with a "write when you have something to say" strategy, you need a critical mass following you. Can your business grow if 50% of your followers convert to paying customers? Depending on the size of your audience and what you do, many can say yes to that. The reality is that most businesses won't convert nearly that many people. So, how many people would it take to build your business to the level you want to reach? Now, you'll likely have to grow an audience that is at least 20 times that size (or more!). That's why it's important that you know that when content isn't delivered regularly, your audience will not grow consistently or as fast.

2) Credibility starts with visibility.

The point of posting content regularly is to keep your business and expert content top of mind with your audience. If they don't see or hear from you on a regular basis, they can't learn to trust what you have to say. Whether you're sending a newsletter, writing a blog post, or posting to social media, each of those touch points is an opportunity to provide value that builds your credibility as an expert in your field. As your audience sees the information you share, they will respond in various ways: by filtering it out or ignoring it, reading it, taking some kind of action - like, comment, share, tweet, or apply it to their work. Each of these responses is important - some can be measured and give valuable insight to you for future content. Stay visible with your content by delivering consistent 

3) You have more to say than you realize.

Has anyone ever said, "There's a reason we have two ears and one mouth," to you? Human nature is that we like to talk and some people need a gentle reminder that listening is important too. It's a rare person who truly doesn't like or want to talk. Posting content without thought or for the sake of putting something out there isn't valuable to you or anyone else. But if you think about the interactions you have with your customers and clients each day, how many times did you find you had nothing to say to them? What about associates? 

On January 13, 2015, Lara and I are leading a Content Mindset Workshop that will help you see how much content you truly have. Whether you've been creating content for many years or you're just starting out, we have some exciting plans for this day that will help you look at the creation of content from a different angle. We're going to spend time teaching about various types of content, and tools and tactics that can help you create more effective content. You'll walk away at the end of day with content to use for your business. We strongly believe that you have more to say and this workshop is designed to draw those things out of you - for the benefit of your audience and your business.

Join us - I promise you won't regret it!

What do I think? I think you should be more specific.

Most of you probably know that engagement is the key to social media success, but engagement is not, I repeat NOT following up a blog post, or social media post by asking your audience, “what do you think?” What do I think about what? The weather, my lunch, the colour of my shirt? Asking your audience what they think is one of the broadest questions you could possibly ask.

Be Specific

If you want to avoid silence, ask a specific question that directly relates to whatever it is you are posting. For example, if you posted a third party link regarding Canada’s Anti Spam Legislation, ask your audience what is one way the new CASL law will affect their marketing efforts or ask what one thing they hope CASL will do for marketers? By asking questions that directly relates to specific content, you better your chances of getting comments and creating genuine conversation.

Be Network Appropriate

Obviously, you can’t post an introductory paragraph before asking a question on Twitter, but you can on Facebook! If you are looking to engage on Twitter, try asking a question relating to a timely event, perhaps something everyone knows about. For example, if you are nearing a national holiday, such as Canada Day, ask your audience what their favourite Canada Day activity is. You could also tell them (in brief) what you’re doing to celebrate. On Facebook and Google+ you could include a link to Canada Day activities, ask what events they have attended in the past and also suggest activities no one may have thought of before – or ask your audience for suggestions. 

Be Prepared to Answer

When you do ask a question on social media that generates answers, reply! A lot of people on Twitter get frustrated when someone poses a question and they answer within seconds of the post publishing and their answers are followed up with… nothing. This tells your audience that your questions are not genuine and that your posts are scheduled. A good question will get an answer, so be prepared to answer in a timely fashion with more questions or information to keep the conversation going.

The key to engaging with your audience is to demonstrate that the questions you are asking serve a purpose. Why are you asking a question? What do you want to know? By asking a direct question regarding a specific subject you are telling your audience that you genuinely care about what they have to say and want to hear from them. If your question is too open-ended, you won’t get many responses because people won’t know how to answer. The more specific your questions are, the more answers you will receive.

What is one type of question you always answer? What’s the worst question you have ever seen asked on social media?

Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending March 2

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

For this week and next, I’m on my own since Lara decided to take a much-deserved vacation.

Karen

Today, you’re going on a content adventure. We’re going to learn so much, from keeping content fresh (Spin Sucks), to finding content ideas when they seem to have dried up (SmartBlog on Social Media), to the art of repurposing content (Duct Tape Marketing) and beyond content marketing (Grow Blog) to the next steps.

Do you need a break now? That’s a lot, but I’m not done.

Related to content, it’s important to know when to stop using a social network (Hubspot). Joining or continuing with a social network for the sake of having a presence alone isn’t reason enough to keep going.

Your website is your business’ hub on the Internet. It’s your virtual front door and the place that will often give prospects their first impression of your business and you as a business owner. That’s why it’s important to make a really good first impression and avoid these web design mistakes (HubSpot).

Every now and then, I go to the TED website and just start browsing. I love watching TED talks. I’ve learned so much and been so inspired by the eloquent words of the speakers. Mitch Joel compiled a list of TED talks to help you re-imagine your business (Six Pixels of Separation) and I have seen a few, but I need to go through and watch them all again.

It came out this week that Facebook had a bug with insights and got our reach wrong for months and months. They fixed the bug and reach dramatically improved (Marketing Land). In other Facebook news, apparently all those text and photo updates may not benefit you the way you think they do (Jon Loomer Digital). Take the data with a grain of salt. Jon’s audience isn’t your audience. Also, I feel vindicated in my stance on the text updates.

We’ve all seen the Harlem Shake videos. It’s the meme of the moment. Personally, it’s run it’s course for me. One video was plenty. But this? This is brilliant. (Marketing Land). YouTube took something that was becoming very run-of-the-mill and made it interesting again.

The Media Mesh

If you missed reading the blog this week, you didn’t miss much. I’ve been very busy working on Social Capital Conference - oh, did you know our tickets went on sale this week? - but there is this one post about how I gained my Twitter following - I even included homework!

App of the Week

You’ll likely notice that our apps will have a business focus and not necessarily a social media focus. These apps help us stay organized so we have time to do social media. We’ve recently begun using a tool called Asana, which has become our task/project manager. It’s a lifesaver for us because all those tasks that used to go into emails and texts now get slotted into Asana. We can get reminders and set deadlines, which I happen to find valuable.

That’s it for this week. I hope you had a good one! Let us know what you’ve been reading in the comments.