Before I get started, let me clear up one thing - I’m not about to advocate that you stop producing content for social media. If social media is frustrating for you, that might be what you want to hear. If that’s the case, bear with me and keep reading, because this article is actually about how you can do social media more effectively.
The problem with social media is that it takes a lot of time, even though it doesn’t seem like it should. After all, how long can it take to write 25-50 words, choose an image, and press POST? As every business owner on social media knows, it actually takes quite a bit of time.
Social media takes time because it’s about more than just writing words. It’s about the right words, the right number of words, the visuals that go along with the words, and the underlying intention behind the words. It’s far more than just words.
Then there’s the logistics and technology. You need to research which days and times your target clients are scrolling and get them to follow your pages. You have to figure out how to schedule a single post across multiple channels, making sure it’s optimized and compliant with each platform’s guidelines. Where time is concerned, the project tends to far exceed the budget!
Once business owners realize how much time they need to devote to social media, they often begin avoiding it altogether. Is that the case for you? If so, here’s a strategy to make coming up with social media content easier.
Stop writing individual posts for social media. Start writing blogs.
Before you roll your eyes and say, “Yeah right, Lauren. Like I have time to write a whole blog,” hear me out.
Believe it or not, the time or resource investment for writing a blog is about the same as writing 10 social media posts. But after publishing just one blog, you get the added value of satisfying several marketing needs.
Here’s how that works:
Blogging makes other marketing tactics easier
Remember all that time it takes to post to social media? One blog supplies you with up to a month of social media content, depending on how often you post. A 500 - 800 word blog post gets you 5-8 “sound bites” that you can pull from the post. You can use those as teasers to get people to read the whole blog, or you can use them as standalone social media posts. You can also turn those sound bites into your marketing emails! Email marketing is easy once you’re consistently writing blogs. You know that networking event where you’re signed up to give a 5-minute presentation? No need to prepare, just use your latest blog as your talking points! Basically, use each blog to supply all of your marketing content for the month (or week).
Blogging provides you with SEO benefits
Search engines like to see that your site is getting updated with new content. Regular blogging will help with that, even if you don’t invest in keyword-specific strategies. Writing blogs optimized for specific keywords as part of a well-planned SEO strategy will take a bit more time and research than just writing off the cuff. But since you’re creating the content anyway, why not maximize its value? Even just one or two keywords per blog will move your site higher in search rankings.
Blogging helps you build the case for your services
Ultimately, all of your marketing is about leading people who need your services to where you can close a sale. Different people will be at different points of readiness. Some will come to your site ready to buy while others will need a little more convincing. Your blog guides people along their persona journey, by helping them understand their problem and how you solve it. You can do this by creating educational series that become email campaigns, or by walking visitors through case studies that help them envision your product or service in their application.
Blogging lets you showcase your expertise
If you’re in the service industry, you know that one of the major factors of people hiring you is how well you know your stuff. Blogging provides you with a better opportunity to demonstrate what you know about your industry and how you apply that knowledge to help people.
So now I’ve convinced you to write your first blog. How should you get started? Here are some tips for getting your creative juices flowing:
Record a video or voice memo before trying to write. Some people just speak better than they write. Once the recording is done, write up a transcript (or use a tool to do it for you). Then just edit it from there. And don’t worry - no one else needs to see those videos.
Write down notes after conversations you have with clients and prospects. Anytime you educate someone or provide help, that’s valuable blog content. If you’re explaining something that is second nature to you, then you can benefit from explaining it to your blog readers!
Hire a copywriter to write or edit your blogs. It’s okay if you’re not a great writer or don’t have time to write. But since you have the valuable knowledge, write down bullet points of what you want in a blog, and a good copywriter can work word magic.
When it comes to your content strategy, you want to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck (even if the buck is your time). Blogging provides you with opportunities to squeeze more benefits out of your valuable time.
Of course, there may come a time in your business when you recognize that it’s just better to outsource all of these parts of your marketing. After all, you can’t do everything yourself forever. If that’s you, I’d love to have a chat to discuss how we can help take one more thing off your plate so you can focus on your mission!