Producing Content on your website that is easily and readily shareable is not as easy as it sounds.
Content marketing is a brilliant way to market your products and services, in terms of SEO and brand building. You can raise the profile of your brand by having content on your website that interests your potential customers enough for them to share it and talk about it, thus creating a word-of-mouth effect.
How do you decide on your content?
Before you go any further your content must reflect your brand. Otherwise there is no point in producing any. Your content can be funny, informative, safe, challenging, long or short, but it has to be connected with your brand in some way, either industry-specific or something that reflects your brand values.
Your content should be unique. Re-hashing what thousands of other people have done is unlikely to get many shares or attract attention.
Your content should be valuable. It does not matter what value you choose, but the reader must be able to gain something from reading, watching or looking at your content. It could be informative, giving the reader a different take on a theme, or it could be funny and bring some joy to the reader.
How do you encourage readers to share?
Once you have created your perfect piece of content for your website You need your readers to share it. The easiest option is to put the widgets of all the main social media sites on your content, so people can share it with 1 click. This greatly increases the chances of your content being shared via social media. Ask your website designer to do this.
At the bottom of your content, if it is designed for sharing, you can also write \’Please share\’ or words to that effect. It will be an extra little nudge for your reader. It can be their way of thanking you for your great content.
Alert your industry leaders about your content. If you have disagreed with someone, or agreed with someone in an article let them know. If you have been influenced by someone when producing your content, give them a mention. If you think your content may be of interest to anyone tell them directly, with an easy link for them to click on.
Twitter is the easiest way to reach out to people.
Do your own sharing as well. Put it on your social media sites regularly, so if anyone missed it the first time round they will catch it again. If your content is targeted at a specific niche, consider a small amount of Facebook advertising to give it a push.
How do you follow up?
Keep track of your content and don\’t forget about it once it is on your site. Respond to any comments promptly and thank anyone on Twitter who has shared it. This way you will generate more interest and keep the ball rolling.
It is very hard to generate very shareable content, even those who regularly succeed will tell you that it is a long, hard push that relies a lot on timing and luck. But, as the saying goes, you miss 100% of the shots you don\’t take.