More importantly, how to create insightful content without becoming a “content creator” - here we go.
When I am planning my content for the week - and I do always plan ahead, which means by Friday I have my ideas ready and by Sunday I have them recorded.
To start we have to pick an end goal of the content, which I break out into three categories…
I want to educate about the product/ problem
I want a response
I want them to act
#1 - Educate about the problem or product - The customer is not always aware of the problem they are about to face. So this content is usually built by presenting a problem that your customer might not see coming. A simple example is if you are a window salesman, you might know which neighborhoods received lower quality windows and target them. Your content would be focused on educating that segment of people about the rubber seal around the window, which you know is lower quality and will start to deteriorate in time.
The alternative to this is educating about your product, and I DO NOT mean pitch your product. We are going to educate that your product is a solution that they might not know about. Using the window example, lets assume you make an adjustable size window, and you are reaching out to people considering professional window installation but showing them that they can use yours instead because it is a DIY solution they were unaware of.
#2 - I want a response - A response can be positive, negative, neutral or even a share. As a leader you might want to get a feel for the people in your circle that are actively engaging in your content, so you create a poll, or a simple question to be answered on Linkedin. Alternatively this can be used to share a controversial opinion in an attempt to spark a debate and ride the wave of the algorithm.
Personally I would use this to start a conversation about a topic you can personally speak to. An example would be to write an article about the three ways to cut down a tree, because you own a tree trimming company, and the article surrounds your feelings of the most effective way to recycle the tree - mulch, sell to a mill, or donate to a local non-profit for woodworking. This sparks a debate but nothing that would be considered controversial. Bonus points and something that is really good for marketing - using the feedback to make the decision helps build brand loyalty from your customers. When you publish the results and show you are listening, people feel more connected to the company.
#3 - I want you to act - This is not just a response but it needs to provide a next step, examples include; signup for my newsletter, go here for your coupon & event signups. These are direct hand raisers for your outreach and have actively said they would like to be involved more. But this is not to be mistaken as direct buy-ins. They are actively raising their hand to participate, and it will be your job to walk them across the line.
A great example of this would be an event you are producing about cold calling techniques, which is going to cover the ways to coach and track a team to victory. Although your main focus is leadership here, and they DO want to learn, they are not actively saying they want to purchase your product that teaches cold calling. This content is great and will give you valuable insight, but you MUST treat them as curious and not assume they want to take the next step.
Final pro tip - creating content daily can prove to be emotionally draining, but I tend to record, or write openly about my topic for the week during the weekend before. This should be totally free form and seem like a “knowledge dump” which I can then pick through and create a schedule for the daily outreach.
-Zach
How to create daily online content
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