7 ways of serving up online content in the same way as hosting a dinner party
Cooking up a great content marketing strategy uses the same methodology of hosting the dinner party of the year. Thought, careful preparation and just the right amount of spice are the key ingredients.
Here’s a checklist of how to keep your online (and dinner party) guests happy;
Stick to what YOU know
The age old advice for preparing for a dinner party is “don’t experiment on your guests”. This means always stick with the safest bet. Use a trusted recipe that you know will give you guaranteed success.
The same goes for your online content. Don’t be controversial and don’t share articles or posts that haven’t been thoroughly checked for relevancy and proper citations.
Know your guests
Before preparing a meal for a group of friends or colleagues you would always check for any irregular dietary requirements. Vegetarianism can often be catered for with just one or two tweaks of an existing menu, if you weren’t aware beforehand. A peanut allergy however, can be lethal. You need to know whom you are catering for.
Online content is no different. People have personal sensitivities based on race, culture, age etc. If you don’t ask relevant questions about whom your content is for and cook up whatever you feel like serving them, then you might just kill off your following.
Measure, and measure again
There is a science to creating the perfect dish and it’s by closely following a recipe with tried and tested quantities.
In the same way, there is a science to online marketing. Don’t ever get lazy about metrics. Impressions, growth and engagement trends provide vital insights into what’s working and what isn’t.
Mingle and make conversation
The worst type of host is the one who is invisible. If your menu is so complicated that you spend most of the time slaving away in the kitchen instead of engaging with your guests, the chances are that they won’t feel sorry for you, instead they’ll just feel a little put out and neglected.
So don’t get so wrapped up in researching and writing the perfect content that you don’t leave any time to engage with your followers, because they will feel less inclined to engage with you.
Add colour for fun
Is there anything more boring than a colourless meal (other than a tasteless one)? People respond emotionally to being visually stimulated.
Likewise, don’t simply post links to your blogs if there are no visuals to entice people to take notice of them. Be bold and attention grabbing – with social media in particular because there is a lot of competition and if you’re serving up colourless content it will be passed over for something that looks more appetizing, without a second thought.
Let your creation speak for you
You wouldn’t start a meal by giving a speech about what a fantastic cook you are and how much your guests are going to enjoy their meal. Instead you share the meal and let the look, taste, aromas and emotion that these elicit, do the sales talk for you.
This is your goal with your online marketing as well. You shouldn’t have to sell yourself and beg your followers to tell their friends about you. If your content looks amazing and emotionally connects with others, then word will spread all on its own without the bad taste of unflattering self-promotion.
Variety is the spice of food
Often the most interesting thing about a cocktail party is the variety of canapé’s on offer. If the same dish came around over and over again, people would head home early to find something else to eat.
Always consider this when planning your online content strategy. Make sure there is enough variety to suit different viewpoints as well as personalities. Just because you take your business seriously, doesn’t mean that your posts should all be academic articles. (Almost) everyone has a sense of humour or enjoys watching TEDTalks, which can be just as educational but often delivered with an added twist. Variety keeps things interesting and people are likely to stay longer to see what else you are serving up.
