A recent report has found that 72% of content marketers see 2016 as the year in which they’ll actively try to create more engaging content. Well, I don’t know about you but I think most of us are already in that train. Unfortunately, many of us are struggling to get it done and the train is going off the rails.
Creating engaging content – especially when marketing a small business – is one of the hardest things you can face. So, what can you do? Probably a lot. Whenever something isn’t working, the solution isn’t one-dimensional. You can change the tone of your blog posts, create more visual content, establish a new kind of strategy for your social media. And you can also try one of these.
User generated content
You know what your audience (and any audience) really loves? Seeing their contents in your social media. People love to feel special, and sharing their images, posts and anything you can think of with the rest of your audience can do the trick. This is one of the most widely used techniques to create more engagement – and for many reasons.
First, the reason any director, manager or CEO loves to hear – it’s free content. Since your business is sharing content created by someone else who isn’t working for you, you don’t have to spend a dime. And people make some incredible things that have an amazing share value! Besides, doing this lets you establish a new kind of relationship with your audience, who feels that you’re listening and paying attention to what they have to say.
Finally, user generated content gives you a fantastic look into what your audience likes and how it relates to them. You can later use this information to develop a new marketing strategy for your brand.
How can you use this type of content? Share Instagram images of people using your product, arrange story contests involving your business, ask them to send you video snippets telling you what they think and mash them together in a video – you get the hang of it.
Animated infographics
People used to love infographics not so long ago and that’s why everyone started creating them. But as more and more infographics hit the Web, we grew more tired about them. Maybe is something about how static they are, or how dull they all look in a context where everything’s so dynamic. That’s why animated infographics (or Gifographics) are so popular right now.
Infographics have always worked well because they can show us a lot of essential information in a brief and understandable manner. Animated infographics build upon that, adding a vibrancy and an impact that traditional infographics have lost a while ago. Bringing your data to life makes it more interesting and eye-catching, it separates your from your competitors and it doesn’t take that much time.
How can you use this type of content? In the same way you’d use a traditional infographic. Take some of the topics that are most relevant to your business and animate them. You can do this for yearly reports, case studies or simply with brief guides for an interesting subject. Be sure to brand them well as they’ll surely will be shared quickly!
Quizzes
Do you know why BuzzFeed has a huge traffic? It’s not about their political pieces or their Friends nostalgia, let me tell you. No, it’s secrets is as obvious as it can get – its quizzes. People go nuts for them, and for a reason. They are so easy to take, they are mindless fun and they are amazing at killing time.
Quizzes might not seem like a great way to engage with your audience but don’t let appearances fool you. People will take your quizz in no time if it’s interesting enough for them. By doing that, you’ll be getting more traffic with increased time on your site and you can even use them to slip an offer or get people in your funnel.
How can you use this type of content? Find something your audience loves related to your field and create a fun quizz. Be sure to use it in your site and take advantage of it to promote an offer or a new product. Oh, and don’t just create one – make it a weekly or monthly event your audience can look forward to!
The three types of contents described here can be pretty effective today. Of course, their effects will be diminished as time goes by, so you’d better take advantage of them soon before the new marketing trends come our way!
