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Here’s Some Game-Changing Content You Should Create and Why

Here’s Some Game-Changing Content You Should Create and Why

When it comes to content for your company’s website, more is always better, provided, of course, that it’s high-quality content.

Content, as we have discussed before, includes blog posts, social media posts, general descriptive information about your organization’s vision, mission, staff, location, products, services, and so on.

If you run a business, then above all else, your content should engage people. Your content should drive traffic to your website. And once a searcher is on your website, that content should be compelling enough to hold the attention of that user long enough for that person to become a customer.

How can you accomplish this? By creating content that is engaging, informative, and soothes the “pain” that the searcher is feeling. The pain is what caused that person to want to conduct a search in the first place.

This pain can take many forms. Your potential customer is increasingly likely to express pain in the form of a full-fledged question, especially as voice searches become more prevalent.

Such pain-related questions may include:

“How can I drive more traffic to my website?”

“How many presidents have been impeached?”

“Where can I get some poutine near me?”

As you can see, there’s a broad range of questions that people might ask hoping to satiate their hunger for information and other things.

If you run a business, the key is for you to be found (preferably first) as the answer to one of these questions.

Content does that for you!

So, back to our original question: What sort of content should you create in order to get readers’ attention (and keep it)? Read on!

Strive to be a Featured Snippet

An overwhelming majority of all search engine traffic goes through Google.

You probably use Google. If so, you have likely seen a featured snippet at some point when you have asked that search engine a question.

To see what a featured snippet is, if you don’t know, check out the screenshot below:

A screenshot of a featured snippet

In this example, the featured snippet features a snippet that defines what a featured snippet is. (Got it?)

The SEO gurus at Moz have done an admirable job of explaining what a featured snippet is. And Google has rewarded them with the coveted featured snippet spot as a result.

In case you can’t quite make out the definition in the screenshot above, know that a featured snippet is a portion of content which Google places in a box above the rest of the organic results on a search engine results page in response to a query. Yes, above the number 1 result!

Google does this, presumably, because its algorithm deems the result in the featured snippet to be the best answer to a searcher’s question and then places it there.

Now, if you’re developing content for your site, here’s some great news: The featured snippet doesn’t always come from the page that ranks first in the organic search results.

In other words, if you write content so helpful that Google’s algorithm deems it to be the best answer to a frequently asked question, then you can actually leapfrog over results that appear above you and get displayed in the featured snippet box!

You can see this in action in the screenshot below. The featured snippet came from the Moz site, but Moz is actually second, not first, in the list of organic results Google provides as an answer to the question:

A screenshot showing the organic search results for a featured snippet search

Speaking of Frequently Asked Questions…

You always want to be of use to any searcher, and you always want Google to recognize that.

The best way to be helpful to anyone using a search engine is to answer questions. And the most efficient method for accomplishing this, of course, is to anticipate people’s questions before they’re asked. That’s where your site’s FAQ page can come in.

Composing a page with frequently asked questions is one of the most effective steps you can take to raise the profile of your company’s website.

Creating an FAQ page for your website allows you to place an abundance of relevant keywords related to your business and industry all in one place.

Remember that the use of voice search is on the rise. This is a trend that is projected to continue as people become ever more comfortable consulting virtual assistants to satisfy their information needs. When you compose your FAQ page, structure the questions just as you would expect a potential customer to ask them. Use the same language a layperson might use and you may match up exactly with a user’s query.

If your FAQ page is thorough enough or helpful enough, this could be your company’s ticket to the featured snippet box.

Show Us Your Infographics!

Infographics are valuable pieces of content. They may serve as possible gateways to a whole new potential customer base.

Why? Because, let’s face it, many people simply aren’t going to read through pages (or even a single page) of just text. Infographics are more eye-catching and much easier for busy searchers to engage with. As a result, your potential clients are more likely to read an infographic all the way through. The longer their eyes stay on your website, the better it is for your SEO.

Plus, infographics are an excellent way to repurpose content that you have previously created. Have you composed a blog post that tackled an aspect of your industry particularly well? Turn it into an infographic and release it into the world again! The time you’ll spend on the graphical layout is more than offset by what you save on not developing an entirely new set of ideas.

Video Saved the SEO Star

When you’re tired of text, and even an infographic isn’t lively enough for you, try some video content!

Video content gives you the chance to liven up your website and your social media feeds. It can add some personality to your business, which may help to forge a connection with your audience of potential customers. Plus, it gives you a chance to be creative in a different way. And although text interviews can be interesting, video interviews are even more riveting, especially interviews with influencers!

Perhaps more important than that are these stats about video content and social media engagement. In short, social media content consisting of videos receives more engagement and produces more fruitful returns. Even if you’re camera-shy, it’s worth it.

In Conclusion

As always, more content is better. Higher quality content is better. A greater variety of content is better.

Compose those FAQ lists and strive to be a featured snippet. Repurpose your blog post text as a helpful infographic. And increase your company’s engagement with your audience by posting videos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Still stuck? Reach out to Triple Canopy Media! We can help you to develop the content that will elevate your business to the next level.

How to get dozens of social posts from one blog post

How to get dozens of social posts from one blog post

You’re writing a blog post. And you plan to share it on your social media accounts by posting the link with a photo and hoping your followers will click and follow you there. But there’s another way, one that will allow you to generate a month’s worth of social posts from just one blog post.

Below are some ways to do just that, as shared by Josh Barney on Einstein Marketer and Kylie Fennell on MavSocial.

Get a month of social posts from one blog post

  • Share a teaser. Create interest in an upcoming blog post by posting an image, an excerpt, or a quote.
  • Share a fact or stat. Your blog post is likely to be full of them. Pick the most intriguing and share them on social.
  • Pull a quote. Make sure your blog post includes a few lines that are quote-worthy and they can provide fodder for social.
  • Ask a question. Make it thought-provoking.
  • Make a bold statement that connects with your blog post.
  • Mention – and tag – your sources.
  • Create a visual slideshow. Choose the most valuable sub-headings from your blog post, place them into a slideshow that provides a post summary.
  • Turn your blog post into an infographic.
  • Think quizzes and polls. Figure out an angle that connects with your blog post and post it on social, possibly as a story.
  • Got a good photo in your blog post? Post it on social. By itself.
  • Try a meme that picks up a point from your blog post. Make it entertaining.
  • Add a GIF to a short piece of copy from your blog post.
  • Create a video post from your blog post.
  • Summarize your blog post in a list. Post it on social. Include a hashtag.

More social media post ideas

Still in need of ideas for things to post on social media? Check out this list:

  1. Workplace photo: behind the scenes
  2. An answer from your FAQ
  3. Introduction to new employee
  4. Share product/service popular with your customers
  5. Interview or case study with a customer
  6. Customer review
  7. Community event
  8. Something funny
  9. Your company’s story: share one piece at a time
  10. Podcast
  11. #TBT
  12. Seasonal item
  13. Inspiring quote
  14. Highlight customer of the month
  15. An event you attended
  16. Attention-grabbing statistic
  17. Poll
  18. Fill-in-the-blank post
  19. Video featuring products or people from your business
  20. Repeat top-performing posts
  21. Email newsletter
  22. Infographic link
  23. Survey link
  24. Image
  25. Correct a misperception
  26. Favorite book or playlist
  27. Shout-out to other local business
  28. Industry research
  29. Helpful tip(s) related to your products or services
  30. Celebration of company milestone
  31. Promote your other social networks
  32. Ask people to join your mailing list

Reap the rewards

Doing all this – and more — will help you reap the rewards of social media. You’ll engage your customers by delivering interactive and professional content that will help improve your online visibility and expand your customer reach.

TCM can do it for you

If you’re not sure how to do your own social media, reach out to Triple Canopy Media. At Triple Canopy Media we would be glad to show you how it’s done. Or do it for you.

Here’s what we do:

    1. We assess your needs, determine which social media platforms will best serve them, and set up a regular process for sharing carefully crafted content about your business via selected platforms.
    2. We create a cohesive strategy and measurement plan.
    3. We integrate the plan across the organization.
    4. Finally, we use metrics to monitor content marketing performance and ROI.
From Gen Z to Boomers: Social Media Preferences

From Gen Z to Boomers: Social Media Preferences

You are putting together a marketing campaign. And because you are doing it right, it includes social media targeted to the market you have identified. That target market can be based on age, gender, location, language, spending power and patterns, interests, or stage of life – or any combination thereof.

Understanding the demographics of each social media platform is essential before deciding which platforms make the most sense for the market your brand is targeting.

If age is an important factor in determining your target market, there is plenty of information out there that will help you choose the platform or platforms that will get eyeballs – of the right age — on your posts.

Choosing social media platforms: What the numbers tell us

It’s important to choose the right platform for your social media posts because social media is not going away. By 2020, there will be an estimated 2.95 billion social media users. Of those, 78% will be in the United States, making the U.S. the largest social media advertising market in the world.

Six years later, by 2026, here’s how the numbers will break down by generation: The Silent Generation (those 74 and older and born before 1946) will make up 14% of the U.S. population; Baby Boomers, 66%; Gen X 65%; Millennials, 80%, Gen Z, 82%, and Gen Alpha, 43%.

Generational breakdown

Of the 2.95 billion social media users who will exist next year, here is how that number breaks down by generation, from Generation Alpha to the Baby Boomers.

Generation Alpha: Born 2010-2025

  • 2 billion by 2025
  • 5 million born around the globe each week
  • First totally digital generation
  • Immersed in technology since birth
  • Technology deeply integrated in everyday life

Gen Z: Ages 13-19 – Born 1997-2010

Millennials: Ages 23-38 – Born 1981-1996

  • 25% of U.S. population
  • Extraordinary buying power
  • Largest living generation in U.S.
  • Unmatched social media skills
  • Social Media Platforms: 70% use Facebook, 63% are heavy YouTube users
  • 43% want brand to reach them via email
  • Spend 8 hours a day online
  • Concerned with financial future
  • Generation most loyal to brands

Generation X: Ages 39-53 – Born 1965-1980

  • 6% of U.S. population
  • Smaller than any other age demographic
  • 58% of internet users in U.S
  • $200 billion in spending power
  • Social Media Platforms: 80% on Facebook and Twitter but only half use their accounts regularly
  • 76% of all online users will access social media in 2017
  • 68% make decisions based on reviews. Pay attention to online reviews

Baby Boomers: Ages 55-73 – Born 1946-1964

  • Spend 27 hours a week online
  • Social Media Platforms: Facebook preferred platform: 45% of 65+; 60% of 50-64; 15% spend 11-plus hours a week on Facebook; 13% use LinkedIn
  • 50% rely on credit cards for purchases
  • Responsible for 50% of total consumer expenditure
  • Most price conscious

Social media use overall — in the U.S. and beyond

When looking at social media use overall, the research shows that today about 70% of Americans use social media to connect with each other. Worldwide, there are approximately 3.04 billion social media users. About that same number actively access social media on their mobile devices. Of these, 90% reach out to brands or retailers.

In the U.S. 77% of people have at least one social media profile. And global internet users spend 135 minutes daily on social media sites.

Content Marketing and Social Media: What’s In It For You?

Content Marketing and Social Media: What’s In It For You?

At Triple Canopy Media, we use Content Marketing to help monitor and maintain your company’s reputation online. This strategic marketing approach is focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content, content that will attract and retain a clearly defined audience. Ultimately, this content also drives customers to take action that profits your company. Social media is one component of a content marketing plan.

Social media: an important component

Having a well-developed social media presence is critical in today’s hyper-connected world. Your customers, clients, and stakeholders live on social media, and so should you. Your presence on social media will help you actively engage in reputation management, broadcast (and narrowcast) your public relations messages, reinforce and build your brand, identify and attract new customers, and retain existing customers and clients.

At Triple Canopy Media, we know that social media is an essential component of every business’s content marketing plan. And about 90% of marketers agree. They say social media generates important exposure for their companies.

The benefits of using social media are so great that anyone not using it is missing out on a cost-effective marketing opportunity. It is cost-effective because setting up social media accounts is free. Plus, it only takes the investment of a few hours per week to increase brand awareness and enhance the reputation of your business.

Plan and publish

Simply having a social media page will benefit your brand.  And while it has never been easier to connect with your stakeholders, we strongly suggest that you have a plan before wading too deeply in these waters. It’s easy to make missteps on social media. Once it’s on Twitter, you can’t take it back.

But it is also important to provide updated content on a regular basis if you want to generate a wide audience for your business. As we like to say: Publish or perish. So while you want to update your website and blog content regularly, we recommend that you do the same for your social media accounts.

Figure out what to post

Feeling lost about what you should post on social media? Don’t despair. You’ll soon find your way. Here are a few good places to start.

What is your company’s story? What is its mission? What are its key messages? What makes your company stand out from the others? Craft your posts to convey this important information to your followers and those with whom they share your posts.

Vary your posts. Share links to information on your website, including any case studies you may produce. Broadcast links to new informative posts on your blog. Share news about your company, including links to coverage in media outlets. Share details of your events. Be sure to add visuals. Photos, memes, and videos add interest and variety.

Take a look at other social media pages and accounts — including those of your competitors — and make note of what catches your eye. What do you find interesting, informative, important, or amusing? Let those observations inform what you post on your business accounts.

Don’t forget user generated content. As Social Media Today reports, “the authenticity and influence of user-generated visuals are what people seek, trust and act on most.” Reviews from satisfied customers or clients are perfect, as are video testimonials from that same group. Such content proves you have a valuable product or service, according to the real people who use it.

Remember these two things: Eight-six percent of people say authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support. And 93% of consumers admit online reviews influence their purchasing decisions. Both are good reasons for collecting and using user generated content.

Tag and hashtag

Remember to tag other businesses and organizations that you mention in your social media posts whenever possible. Such tags will encourage those entities to like and share your page and your posts, thereby increasing your audience and generating more awareness of your business.

Add appropriate hashtags that refer to the topic(s) included in your post. This will allow those interested in that topic to find your post by searching the particular hashtag. Example: #contentmarketing

Like and follow

Look up your clients and customers on social media. Find the accounts and pages of important civic organizations and others in your community. Like their pages. Follow them. Like and share their posts. Post positive comments. Write reviews. With any luck, they will do the same for you. All of that will increase your audience, your engagement, and your credibility.

What social media can do for you

Now that you have had a crash course in social media engagement, here’s what setting up and regularly maintaining appropriate social media accounts can do for your business:

  • Create and increase brand awareness
  • Build credibility and trust
  • Educate your audience(s)
  • Generate demand for your goods or services
  • Generate leads
  • Build loyalty and brand advocacy with existing clients/customers
  • Build an audience
  • Generate sales/revenue
  • Improve search engine rankings
  • Increase website traffic
  • Drive attendance to events
  • Support product launches

How does TCM handle content marketing?

  1. We assess your needs, determine which social media platforms will best serve them, and set up a regular process for sharing carefully crafted content about your business via selected platforms.
  2. We create a cohesive strategy and measurement plan.
  3. We integrate the plan across the organization.
  4. Finally, we use metrics to monitor content marketing performance and ROI.

Reach out for help

Trust us. Social media is a key element for marketing success. If you’re not sure how to do it, reach out to us. We here at Triple Canopy Media would be glad to show you how it’s done. Or do it for you.