See previous posts in this series: The Basics and Look at What Others Are Doing.
The most common trap bloggers and social media content publishers fall into is the old ‘tell everybody everything’ trap. This misleading line of thinking leads them to publish blog posts that are self-centered and of little use to their intended audience. The kind of content I’m referring to could be press releases about company awards, self-congratulatory ‘look how cool we are’ posts and items that have no intent behind them to assist their readership in any way, shape or form.
At this point your blog or Facebook page becomes nearly unreadable and useless, except as an example of what NOT to do.
If your company is not blogging yet, here’s a roundup of ideas that may inspire you to start blogging soon.
So what do you do on your blog or Facebook pages?
Easy: identify and solve problems. If you haven’t already identified several issues that your product or service helps alleviate, use your Facebook page to ask questions, take surveys and keep your ear to the ground for those problems.
By solving problems – even if those problems don’t directly relate to your product or service – you’re positioning your company in a leadership role in the minds of those readers.
Beyond solving problems, move out in front of the pack by offering lead-edge thoughts on what’s going on in your industry. Anything that you can think of that’s worth sharing is worth publishing somewhere. Create videos, write blog posts, engage your readership online in as many ways as possible. Even short one-thought bursts such as those that Seth Godin comes up with may be useful to your readership.
To re-cap:
- Don’t publish selfish content
- Stay away from press releases
- Solve problems
- Be a thought-leader
photo credit: wonderferret
