Content Development: What You Need to Know

Are you excited for season 5 of Arrested Development like me? With the show’s new start ahead of us and a little word association, I was inspired to share examples of content development that can help business owners like yourself.

Content is the backbone of any successful marketing campaign; anything you create or produce for your business needs to be quality content. There are many different platforms a company needs to interact with, including social media and e-newsletters; you also have the benefit of repurposing your content when applicable.

Keeping reading for tips on how to write effective and useful content to reach and engage customers and social followers.

Social Media Content Development

One of my favorite aspects of Arrested Development is Ron Howard’s narration. He speaks directly to the audience, offering helpful and hilarious insights into what is going on with the Bluth/Funke family. How are you speaking to your social media followers?

Here are a few pieces of advice to consider when writing effective social media content:

1. Focus on Your Audience

There is fierce competition between organizations, celebrities and even ordinary people on social media; it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Remember that if you want to catch the attention of social media users, you need to create content which considers the needs and interests of the audience.

One simple way to reach readers is to follow in Ron Howard’s footsteps and write directly to your followers, in the second person. Secondary pronouns (“you”, “your” and “yours”) are the most attractive narrative way that helps you connect with your audience. This is a simple technique that immediately makes your text more personal. If you are doing this right, the potential readers feel it from the beginning.

2. Provoke Curiosity

Provoking curiosity is a great way to improve how many people read your social media content, especially if you are trying to increase your followers and receive more clicks. Curiosity arises when people feel there is a gap between what they know and what they want to know.

Here’s how to provoke curiosity:

• Break the reader’s expectations
• Fill a knowledge gap
• Promise to solve the problem (and then actually solve it)
• Challenge common beliefs

Asking a question is a simple way to arouse readers’ curiosity and make them think about how much they don’t already know about the topic. But be careful with this method, as the question in the header can get your post marked as clickbait if you do not provide any context about what the readers will find when they go to your site.

Another great way to create curiosity is to put an amazing fact, statistic or quote in the title or description. People become curious if they discover something that contradicts their expectations. It will draw their attention and encourage them to want to read more. Always ask yourself: “Is this text convincing enough to entice people to click on the link?”

3. Consider Each Update a Story

Stories are a great way to connect with the followers and to engage readers. When it comes to writing for social media users, view each post as a story filled with characters that perform actions. If you create appropriate context as decorations, this will make your update more attractive to readers and will allow them to perceive this story as personal one.

4. Focus on Value

Your audience consists of real people who have real needs and goals, so pay attention to the value your posts have to them. You need to adapt your content in order to help them solve their problems or even just improve their day.

Before sharing anything, ask yourself why the people you’re trying to target should care about it. Why should they read more? Be prepared to answer this question clearly and honestly.

Make sure that your post on social media answers the question, “What can users get from reading this?” Provide the necessary benefits and it will attract new readers.

Are there more tips to writing effective and helpful social media updates? Of course! Click here for a more advice that can really help you out.

Writing E-Newsletter Content

One of the most effective yet overlooked marketing tactics is email marketing, or creating and sending e-newsletters. Whether you’re a smaller company like Arrested Developments’ Gobias Industries or a larger business like the show’s Sitwell Enterprises, great e-newsletter content can help you reach customers directly.

What are the benefits of e-newsletter?

1. Easy to create, easy to read: With the help of content management systems like Constant Contactand MailChimp, e-newsletters are simple to create and even simpler to read. Simply choose a template, insert your content and send! Distributions can be sent out at any time with a multitude of information, making interacting with your clients a breeze.
2. Strengthened relationships: A monthly e-newsletter will keep you actively engaged with your client base without running the risk of being seen as a spammer. Keeping in touch regularly will benefit and strengthen the relationship that your business should be consistently building upon with members of your growing client base.
3. High ROI: Email marketing efforts have a remarkably high ROI (return on investment). In fact, the average ROI for every dollar spent on email marketing is over $40.00, which is more than 20x the ROI of banner ads.
4. Trackable metrics: Email marketing and content management systems make tracking the effectiveness of your e-newsletter or promotion easy as pie. From open rates to link clicks and beyond, the metricsprovided allow for insight into the distribution’s marketability within your target audience.

Now that you know the benefits of e-newsletters, what do you need to create a great one? Here are 5 pieces of essential content for email distributions.

1. An enticing subject line.This is probably the most important part of your e-newsletter. 64% of people say they open an email because of the subject line, so spend time on it and make sure it’s enticing.
2. A strong visual appearance.In addition to choosing colors and an overall feel that matches your brand, include high-res images(that you have rights to use!) sprinkled throughout the newsletter.
3. 

   Don’t forget to include a call-to-action in your e-newsletter content!

   Concise, helpful content.Make sure your e-newsletter is easy to read and provides something of value to your readers. If you want to share an article that’s more than a couple of paragraphs, post it on your blog and link to it from the newsletter. Also, a brief introduction at the top of the email is a fantastic way to give your readers a quick look at what the issue includes and infuse a bit of your personality.

4. Eliminate typos or grammatical errors.Text that’s rife with errors can be confusing, plus it makes you look less professional. If possible, have a co-worker or friend proofread the text for you and double check your work.
5. A call to action.What do you want your readers to do after reading your newsletter? Share it with their friends? Contact you to for a free consultation? Make it clear how you’d like them to respond – after all, if you never ask they’ll never do it!

Are you investing in email marketing as part of your public relations strategy? From an enticing subject line and a strong visual appearance to concise, helpful content to a call to action, make sure you include each one of these essential elements in every single newsletter you distribute.

How to Repurpose Content

As a business owner, when you write blog posts, create infographics and other marketing assets for your company, you know the kind of time that goes into each piece; wouldn’t it be nice to use that content again?

As season 4 of Arrested Development turned into Season 4 Remix: Fateful Consequences, when you repurpose something, you give that content a chance at a new life.

Here are three tips for repurposing content:

1. Share across multiple platforms
   After you upload a blog post on your website, it shouldn’t stay there. Share your article on social media channels and in your e-newsletter; this will expose your expertise with consumers who may not follow your blog. Plus, repurposing your posts in this way will remind followers about helpful articles you’ve written and drive more traffic to your website.
2. Add your expert thoughts
   Did you recently share an interesting article on your company’s social media channels? Think about turning it into a blog post or e-newsletter or social media update by adding your own thoughts. This is a great way to position yourself as an industry leader and offer insightful tips and tricks to your consumers.
3. Update old posts
   Many industry practices and statistics can change quickly; sometimes in a year or even a few months. If you wrote about a topic last year that has outdated information, this is a great time to update your post with current information. You likely won’t have to do too much editing; just change dated facts and figures to offer current information. The same can go for social media images. If you used a statistic in a meme, update the information and share the same image again. Also, if you have a favorite quote that applies to your industry or simply just love, use that same quote but simply add it to a new background or creative design.

Creating Your Own Content

If you’re looking to develop your own content marketing strategy, Three Girls Media can help! We have experts in social media, e-newsletters and more to help you with your business needs. Contact us today for a free 30-minute consultation with our CEO, Erika Montgomery.

Are you interested in learning more about social media, e-newsletters and content development while we wait for season 5 of Arrested Development to drop? Read these blog post for additional tips and insights:

How to Use Acronyms Effectively in Your Content Marketing

Video: How Do You Make Social Media Users Feel?

9 Tips You Need to Follow for Successful Email Marketing

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