Frustrating, isn’t it?
You put your heart and soul into the content you produce and yet you’re not getting any comments, likes or shares.
What’s wrong with it?
You’ve given it to your colleagues to read and they think it’s great, so what’s happening?
Part of the problem is the amount of content there is today. More and more companies have jumped on the content bandwagon, but there is only so much that can be consumed.
Small comfort.
But the issue could also come down to the fact that with increasing pressure for companies to produce content, it’s quality is falling so there’s less valuable stuff out there (or you have to cut through a lot of crap before you hit upon the gold nugget).
And, a lot of businesses haven’t grasped the whole ‘promote your content’ effectively thing.
So what can you do about it?
Start at the top – your title
The first thing someone is going to see is the title of your article.
If it’s limp, no one’s going to bother to read it.
Your title must sell your content – but that doesn’t mean hype it up and oversell what you’ve written. It must identify the audience you’re aiming at and sum up what they’re going to learn.
Tell them about the value of your content
The title and the first paragraph has to convey the main asset of your content; how is it going to help the reader, why they need to know it etc.
Immediately sum up what they’re going to learn so they can instantly identify with its value.
Let’s face it, if they’re going to learn something that solves issues they are facing they will read it.
It’s all in the images
Whether you’re writing an article, newsletter or review, make sure you add a relevant image. Note the word ‘relevant’? That means not a random stock image; it has to be something that relates to the content and that will carry meaning to the reader.
Ask them to engage
As a marketer you wouldn’t dream of creating a web page, brochure, or marketing email without a call to action, so why haven’t you put one in your content?
If you want someone to share, comment or like something, ask them. If you include a link to further information explain where they’ll be take and why you believe it’s relevant to them.
You see, getting engagement isn’t just about creating compelling and high quality content (although that’s obviously part of it). You must make sure you’re offering something unique and valuable to the reader. But even then it won’t sell itself – ask your reader for help.