How to create original content
When I first started out marketing businesses, like everyone else I had to experiment with what worked and what didn’t. It confused me as to why I would post a 20% off EVERYTHING sale in my store, and get maybe 5 or 6 likes, but if I posted a picture of a dog wearing a funny hat playing the piano, I would get dozens or hundreds of likes. What was I doing wrong? Did people not want to save money?

Over time I realised that offering my customers a huge discount, though it felt like a gift from me, was nothing more than another SALE post. And people generally hate that. People hate being sold to. They are bombarded literally every single day with ads for creams, poultices, soaps, food, toys, technology and are now increasingly numb to the prospect of a ‘good deal’. They are wary. There is always a company having a sale or a special, or offering 2 for 1 or percentage off this or that. It’s not new and won’t hold your customers attention for very long.
To grab attention in this digital age and to cut through the barrage of content each of us consumes daily can be a daunting prospect. And while a picture of a cat rollerblading that you share from a page you are following may well garner a few extra likes, the experience is somewhat hollow in the sense that it’s not really your content that people are liking, is it? They are liking somebody else’s content that you are simply providing a vehicle for. There is nothing more satisfying than posting a blog or a photo or quote that you have created yourself and watching people respond to it positively.
So how do you do it? The old saying is ‘practice makes perfect’. And that is certainly true. Inspiration can strike at any time, and there is a broad range of content mediums to draw upon to make your voice heard. Consider making a quote out of that amazing photo you took on your phone. Think about something you are really passionate about within your business and write a blog post about it, then share it to your page. Make a video. Video content by far is the most engaged form of marketing you can offer and people love to watch, particularly the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff they wouldn’t normally see. Write, create, rinse and repeat. Not everything will work all the time. This is an inescapable fact. The key is to not become disheartened because your fantastic blog post about frisbee trick shots attracted a measly 2 likes. Get back on that horse and deliver something new, fresh and original again the next day.
Never give up. You might be surprised at what people will readily consume and like. Just because you don’t think you’ve created your best work, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t share it with the world. If nothing else, you will start to form an idea about what kind of content receives engagement and which doesn’t attract so much. Get yourself into the mindset that almost everything you do, say or think can be used to create content that users will enjoy. Never switch off and always look for that next post.
Shane