By Alyssa Gregory
If you are promoting your small business through social media, you probably think a lot about content. Since emerging media is all about connecting with your audience through different digital channels, and engaging them in conversations, content is paramount. It would be very difficult to reach people without saying something relevant, interesting or valuable in some way. Yes, of course, the end goal is to get people to click on your links and visit your website or blog (hence the subject of this post). But first, you have to get them interested. If you’re able to capture and engage, the clicks will come.
Initiating engagement in emerging media is about more than just sharing the link to your latest blog post. There are many types of content you can share and a lot of ways to share it. Here are some ideas to try that will not only get clicks but will also get conversations started.
Start with Solid Content
One of the best things to share across various social media platforms is content you (or a member of your team) write yourself, either on your own blog or on other relevant blogs. But just any kind of content won’t do. You should be writing with a purpose beyond having a new post to share. These tips from Social Media Examiner will help you strengthen your blog content. And check out this post with tips for coming up with blog post ideas.
Use Images and Video
Want to take your content to the next level? Use photos, infographics, videos, and other images. These are great tools to use on image-based platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram, but can also be great to share across the board.
According to HootSuite, visual storytelling in social media is at an all-time high. Did you know videos are shared 12 times more than text posts and links combined. Pretty compelling reason to record a video, isn’t it?
Suggest an Action
OK, now that you have your content in place and are ready to share, let’s look at the best ways to share it. Sending the link out to your networks is a decent start, but take it a step further by stating a specific action you want the recipient to take. Are you sharing on Facebook? Ask readers to like or comment with their reactions. If you’re sharing on Twitter, a simple, “Retweet if you agree” can go a long way. Try asking a specific question related to your content and directing people to your blog where they can comment.
Become a Curator
Aside from creating and sharing your own content, you can also boost your brand image and credibility by sharing relevant content from other sources. Not only does this make your accounts on different platforms valuable resources for your followers, but it can also provide you with a way to spark a conversation.
Plus, as an extra bonus, if you include the name of the original source of the content, the original poster may retweet or share your post, too. If he or she is an influencer with a lot of reach, you’ve just hit on a great way to grow your following. To get started, check out this guide to becoming a content curator on eConsultancy blog.
So as you work on fine-tuning your content strategy, remember that there are a lot of ways to share great content. What are some of your tips for creating sharable, clickable content?