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Think Like a Friend, Fan, Follower

3 ways to engage your audience on social channels

LJust 66% of content marketing programs prioritize their audience’s informational needs over their organization’s sales/promotional message, according to a study by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.

Think Like a Friend, Fan, Follower
Tell them how to News and how-tos are the types of social media content most likely to be retweeted. Image by Ivelin Radkov

Yet, 88% of the top performers do.

Here are three ways to put your content-marketing program among those top performers by Thinking Like a Friend, Fan and Follower:

1. Share helpful information.

Why do people share information on social networks? According to a study by Chadwick Martin Bailey:

  • Because I find it interesting/entertaining: 72%
  • Because I think it will be helpful to recipients: 58%
  • To get a laugh: 58%

Want your status updates to travel the world instead of staying home on the couch? Get people to share your content by making your social media posts helpful to your audience.

2. Write service stories.

What kind of information do people share? News and how-tos, according to research by Dan Zarrella, viral marketing scientist for HubSpot.

Here’s how often six kinds of information get shared on:

  • News: 78%
  • How-to information: 58%
  • Entertainment: 53%
  • Opinion: 50%
  • Products: 45%
  • Small talk: 12%

Please note: News is what CNN and the BBC report. It’s not your urgent updates about your Widget 2.6.3.1.

That leaves how-to information, or service stories, as our best bet for going viral.

Want your content marketing pieces to move more quickly through your social channels? Create content that’s packed with tips and techniques.

3. Cover solutions, not services.

How can business-to-business bloggers build brand awareness by engaging readers?

  1. Focus on the customer, not on the company. Don’t let your posts sound like a series of press releases. Instead, ask, “What problems can I solve? What expertise can I share? What issues can I weigh in on?” Answering questions and providing good service are good social media marketing.
  2. Think of your company as a publisher. “Blog like you’re the best trade magazine in your industry,” says Kipp Bodnar, inbound marketing manager at Hubspot.
  3. Promote resources, not products and services. Share white papers, studies, webinars and conference speeches on your social media platforms.

“They don’t really care about your products,” says Rick Burnes, inbound marketing manager at HubSpot. “What they’re interested in is solutions to their problems.”

Offering tips and techniques that serve your customers also help you position your company as the expert in the field. And watch your reach and influence rise on social media.

How can you write content readers want to read?

There’s a lot of ME in social MEdia. And there’s a great big I in TwItter. No wonder social media thought leader Brian Solis calls content marketing the egosystem.

Get Clicked, Liked & Shared, our content-writing workshop on April 18

Unfortunately, talking about yourself and your stuff on social channels works about as well as it does at a cocktail party. But watch your social media reach and influence grow when you deliver relevant, valuable, useful content.

Learn how to identify what content readers want to read at Get Clicked, Liked & Shared, our content-writing workshop on April 18-22.

You’ll learn to your company as the expert in the field. Find out how to make sure your posts are welcome guests and not intrusive pests. And discover the power of the most-retweeted word in the English language.

Save up to $100 with our group discounts.

Register for Get Clicked, Liked & Shared, our content-writing workshop on April 18