Content Development - Best Practices

XL TRAINING SERIESBy: Kimberly Fernandes

February 8, 2015, Version: UB.01

Types of Content

Funny or Clever Content

Thoughtful or Inspirational Content

Educational Content

Conversational Content

Promotional Content

The 80/20 rule: Use just 20% of your content to promote your brand, and dedicate 80% to content that really interests your audience and engages them in conversations.

Content Development1. Know Your AudienceNot only audience's demographics - age, gender, ethnicity etc. But also understanding of their interests, needs, mindsets, and behaviorsMethods of audience discovery - industry research, focus groups, and brand surveys etc.

2. Provide ValueYour content must provide some type of value to your audience. That value could be information, education, entertainment etc. The content should aid in providing long-term awareness and brand recall, so that when it comes time to make a decision, you're the first brand that comes to mind.

3. Expand Your Conversation Don’t only talk about your brand- your products, services, features, staff, culture, and on and on. Customers don't only want to hear about this, they want to know what else your brand can do for them.

To broaden the conversation and take the spotlight off your brand, you should create content pillars. Content pillars provide a creative filter and platform that is rooted in customer needs, brand voice and personality, and business objectives. These pillars represent a starting point that allows you to live within your brand's core environment - your products/services - while also stretching into adjacent, relevant, and credible aspects of your customers' lives.

Content Development4 Stay Relevant. With social media, the primary goal is to continuously develop fresh, original content that readers will find interesting and will want to share. High-quality, relevant content should always be at the core of any such content development and social media strategy, and it’s imperative for content developers to produce the types of content that will keep audiences engaged and encourage them to return to the website, blog or page at a later date.

Use Trending Topics as Content Development Tools: In the fast-paced digital world, content developers should always be aware of what’s trending on the internet. Content that is aligned with a trending topic offers an added bonus of potential exposure to a wider audience of people who are interested in discovering content relating to that trending topic.

http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends

5. Know Your DimensionsPeople share things not only because those things look good, but because those things make them look good. If your content is cropped inappropriately or appears blurry and pixelated, it's probably not going to get shared by users on social media channels. Be aware of how your content will display on different social networks and devices by understanding the various dimension of each channel, and how your audience most often finds that content.

Cheat sheet for dimensions: http://www.postplanner.com/social-media-cheat-sheet-for-image-dimensions/

Content for different platforms

                                                                                                         

Facebook: Best practices

                                                                                                         

1. Post consistentlyBe consistent in the quality and types of posts you create can help people know what kinds of messages to expect from you and how they tie into your business.Schedule posts for when most of your audience is onlineHighlight days for major business events or product newsCreate targeted messages that tell your story

2. Target your postsDepending on your goals, you may want to post something that will interest people in specific ages, genders or more.Here's How:At the top of your Page click Settings, then click Post Targeting and Privacy and check the boxCreate a new post on your PageWhen done, select the target icon in the bottom left corner and click Add TargetingTarget based on gender, interests, age, location and more. As you refine your targeting, you'll see how many people your post could potentially reach.

Facebook: Best practices

3. Keep post images and text freshThe more recent your posts, the more interesting people will find them. To keep your posts interesting:Post timely content. For example: post about holidays or events.Respond quickly to comments on your posts to let fans know you're listening to feedback.                                                                                         4. Connect with words and picturesThe right combination of images and alluring copy that reflect your business objectives can really get your audience interested. Keep these tips in mind when writing posts and ads:Use high-quality photos that showcase your business or products, or lifestyle images of people interacting with themKeep your sentences short and instructive. Quickly inform people why they should pay attention.Avoid promotional phrases such as "buy now" and "shop now." This language may make it harder for your posts to reach the people you care about.Test different photos and messages to see which ones your audience responds to most

Twitter: Best practices

                                                                                                         

Keep it conversational. Write a Tweet like you’re having a conversation with a good friend. Strive for a genuine,

approachable communication style. Stay away from “marketing speak”—it’ll go a long way in making your voice your own.

Employ your knowledge and voice. This is also your chance to show o your own brand of humor, wit and know-how. People seek ff

education and entertainment online. Use Twitter as a way to provide it. Make it shareable.What makes people share? Funny, helpful, newsworthy or inspiring content. When you write a

Tweet, imagine how your followers will use it. How will it help them?On Twitter, there’s a pattern: the most retweeted content tends to contain links, pictures, videos or

quotes. What’s the best way to engage your followers? Ask questions. Listen. Then show people you’re listening by responding. You’ll be amazed at the

valuable insights you’ll get about your customers. Watch the clock. Twitter happens in real time so there’s plenty of opportunity to guide conversations when they are

most relevant to users. Keep your messages timely by tweeting relevant Tweets during events. Iterate! Timeline Activity shows how every single one of your Tweets—organic and promoted—are

performing. Experiment with out how different wording and content affects Mentions, Follows, Unfollows and more.

LinkedIn: Best practices

                                                                                                         

1. Personalize your messages to your audience Drive increased engagement by targeting your status updates to specic groups of your

followers using LinkedIn’s rich, up-to-date prole data.

2. Remember what LinkedIn members are interested in Focus on sharing relevant and actionable insights about your company and industry.

Informative, useful updates receive the highest engagement rates because that’s the information members expect from companies they follow on LinkedIn.

60% of members are interested in industry insights 53% are interested in company news 43% are interested in new products and services

3. Encourage your audience to participate Extend your reach by encouraging your followers to like, comment, and share your posts. • Participate in the conversation with follow-up questions or answers • Write updates that include clear calls to action (e.g., like, share, or “Tell us something”) • Ask questions to spark participation in the discussion thread

LinkedIn: Best practices

                                                                                                         

4. Keep it brief Make your posts succinct and meaningful. Build industry credibility by adapting your language to match that of your targeted industries. If you’re posting to developers, use their language. If you’re targeting by country, localize your spelling for the region in which your audience is based.

5. Time your status updates Time the posting of your status updates during business hours for maximum reach. LinkedIn’s busiest hours are morning and midday, Monday through Friday.

6. Post regularly Post as many status updates as your content supports. You will reach more of your audience and extend your reach as you post more often.

7. Experiment and learn Keep testing your targeting, content, and strategy. Keep conversations fresh with different content types – from company news to event announcements to industry insights. Certain content may resonate more with different targeting segments. Experiment to learn what works! • Try posting the same status update at different times of the day, different days of the week, or with different headlines to maximize reach.

Google+: Best practices

                                                                                                         

POSTING:Create a posting schedule to post at least once a day. The best times to post are from 10:00 a.m.

– 1:00 p.m.

SHARING IMAGES:Don’t just share any photos – share exclusive photos. You can edit your photos directly in

Google+ and post animated GIF photos – a great way to draw attention to your page.

Instagram: Best practices

                                                                                                         

SHARE COMPELLING CONTENTPost photos that users can’t see anywhere else – behind the scenes photos or sneak peeks of what’s to come. Don’t be afraid to experiment, and pay attention to what users like and comment on most. Here are a few tips and tricks to make your photos more beautiful.

TELL YOUR STORYThe photos you post tell a story about your brand. Users can tell when you’ve put thought into every photo you post. Being authentic about the content you share will help you build genuine connections with your followers.

EXPAND YOUR AUDIENCEConnecting your Instagram account to your other social networks is a great way to let your followers know you’ve joined Instagram and to grow your audience. It also makes it easy to share the content you post on Instagram to your other accounts in order to increase your reach and exposure.

POST CONSISTENTLYUsers generally like to see a variety of photos from different accounts in their feed. Post often enough to keep users engaged, but keep them wanting more. Spread your posts out throughout the day or over multiple days.

ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITYInteract with the Instagramcommunity. Ask questions in your caption and respond to comments. Encourage users to hashtag photos at your events.

                                                                                                         

LinkedInhttps://help.linkedin.com/ci/fattach/get/2352183/0/filename/Company_Pages_Status_Updates.pdf Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/business/a/page-posting-tips Instagramhttp://blog.business.instagram.com/post/29441248656/instagram-best-practices-to-see-more-tips-and  Google+http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//intl/en-GB/%2B/business/assets/getstarted_guide.pdf

Pinteresthttps://business.pinterest.com/sites/business/files/best_practices_02_en.pdf  https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/business-best-practices Twitterhttps://biz.twitter.com/en-gb/best-practices

References for Best Practices

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