Think Your Content Should Be Getting More Love? Give These 4 Tactics a Try…
Whether it’s across social media, blogging, or your small business — chances are you’d like to be heard by more people. It’s what we all want. It’s what humans want — recognition for hard work.
Nowadays, there’s so much noise and content online to compete with. It can get extremely daunting.
It’s easier than ever to have accessibility to a network, but harder than ever to have visibility within that network.
So how do you stand out? How do you differentiate yourself from others?
There are a million answers to this question, which is exactly why it’s so difficult. Good news is, if you do have “what it takes”, then the rest is hard work, a mindset shift, and learning some strategies to increase your online visibility.
1.) Learn Copywriting
Copywriting should be near the top of the “things they should’ve taught you in school” list. Especially in the business sector.
Copywriting links up consumer psychology with fundamentals of what amazing content truly is. Yet, not many people learn it or talk about it.
If you want to become an expert copywriter, I’d recommend looking into these resources:
- Joanna Wiebe’s content as well as her company: Copyhackers.com. Her newsletter is always very informative.
- Another resource is Len Smith’s Udemy courses. Check them out! I’ve taken two already and there’s no way to get the ball rolling.
- Copyblogger
- Inbound.org
I could write many articles on copywriting, and will in the future, but for now I’ll give away some basics since I am no master yet either:
Headlines are extremely important
They’re also extremely difficult. Some copywriting experts, like Mike Dillard, say they spend 50% of their time on an article/newsletter typing up the content and the other 50% thinking of a good headline!
Well damn…why don’t they teach us that in business classes? Or on those Coursera courses or that $60 ebook?
Here are some basics to keep in mind when it comes to headlines:
- Don’t use “round numbers” (such as 10, 20, 5, etc.). Instead, use numbers like 11, 13, 17, 6, etc. This automatically triggers a sense of specificity. Of accuracy. Of data-driven results. Round numbers imply forcing the list to be as long as it is.
- Appeal to Emotions, not rationality. For example, if you’re writing about unemployment, don’t write about unemployment. Write about the fear associated with it.
- Set limitations (“only 3 days left”, “24 Hours until…”, etc.) — this causes a sense of urgency within us. With less supply comes more demand. In copywriting and social psychology, this is called the Principle of Scarcity.
The Principle of Reciprocity
When someone goes out of their way to help you, as a human, you’re naturally inclined to help them back.
This is called the Principle of Reciprocity.
The Principle of Reciprocity is the reason we feel bad when we don’t send that “Thank You” card we were supposed to. It’s why we feel terrible if we haven’t bought our favorite Podcaster’s book yet. It’s why we get pissed when we hold the door open for someone and they don’t say “Thank You”.
We all know the Principle of Reciprocity. It’s natural to us. But being conscious of it while writing your content will help you get way more eyeballs on it!
So you might ask how it applies to content? The answer’s simple. People have great Bullshit Radars.
People can tell when someone has put their heart and soul into a piece of work. They can tell when someone has spent hours created something of value in which they’re passionate about.
On the other end of the spectrum, they can tell when you half-ass something and whip it up last minute. Or when you’re inauthentic.
Your content is MUCH more likely to get shared, Liked, Recommended, Repinned, Favorited, or Double-Tapped when others can tell you spent immense effort on the project.
Simple, right? Well, then live by it. Too many people are entitled and think their work deserves more love when they’ve only spent 45 minutes working on the damn thing.
Put your heart and soul into it. Learn some tips and tricks to get more visibility. Provide value to others. And the rest will take care of itself if you are gifted in that area.
2. ) Mindset Shift — “Limit” Your Competition
I’m not speaking about poisoning your competition’s cheeseburger here.
A ton of people don’t start on their projects because they feel there is too much competition. I hate when people say this shit!
That being said, I think this mindset will help 98% of your woes on the matter: you aren’t up against as many people as you think you are.
Let’s say you want to be a comedy writer for television. You’ll hear endless chatter and doubt about how the dream is too big. How the numbers don’t stack up. To a certain extent, these people are correct. But let’s take a closer look…
How many aspiring comedy writers want to be comedy writers for TV? A little less.
How many of these people know the correct format, fundamentals, etc. to be a TV writer? A little less.
How many of these people have actually finished writing a script? A whole lot less.
How many of these people keep pushing and have finished writing three scripts? A whole lot less.
How many of these people have gone above and beyond to network with people in the industry? A whole lot less.
And lastly, how many of these people are willing to continue this for over a decade to achieve what they want? Almost none of the original group of people.
The real truth is, if you’re willing to go 120% into your passion year after year, take the right steps, constantly improve, and realign when necessary, you’re not competing with many people.
If you add having a very specific niche to all of that, then you’re pool of competition is even smaller. In terms of occupying a niche, this podcast by John Lee Dumas hits the nail on the head. If you’ve got five minutes to spare, give it a listen:
This mindset of limiting your competition will help you weather through rough times on your journey of content creation. It will allow you to press forward when you feel like there’s no point in doing so.
3.) Know What Works on Your Medium
At Arctiphi, my brother and I are surprised at how many of our clients haven’t taken the time to study what actually works on the platform they’re wanting to grow on.
When it comes to resonating with a wider audience, studying what works is both vital and simple.
All you need to do is find the top 10 influencers on the platform, go to their page, and see exactly what they’re doing. That’s it!
Observe the nuances of the channel. What words are they using? How are they marketing their content? How often are they posting?
This does not mean you should copy these influencers, just learn from them. Then, find your unique voice/niche, mold your material to match the medium, and work your ass off.
4.) Be Timely
This comes down to being a student of your platform. For me, I’m always reading Medium articles. I love doing it. I know what people are talking about in the Medium community.
Do the same thing for any social channel. If you love LinkedIn, keep up with LinkedIn. If you love Twitter, then keep up with Twitter. If you love Tumblr…well, then it’s time to move on ;p
This will enable you to be up to date on any and all trends, which will allow you be timely and relevant.
My last Medium article resonated well with people, and ended up reaching the Top 10 List for a day and the Top 20 List for three days. This was because I listened to what others were saying in my industry. In this case, it was Snapchat.
Once you identify a trend, research it for yourself and decide whether YOU agree or disagree with it — and why. This does not mean you should be obnoxious or condescending to others like a shit ton of Medium writers are to each other, but it does mean your content will be more relevant.
Closing Thoughts
What this comes down to this: People are drawn to what they don’t expect. And they always will be.
This is the reason why Pop-Up Ad’s don’t work like they used to. This is the reason why open rates for email marketing were once ~80% and now hover around 30%.
This is the reason why Influencer Marketing is the hottest form of marketing right now. 10 years from now, it’ll probably be a different story.
This is the reason everyone is losing their minds over Facebook Instant Articles.
All of this doesn’t mean you should click-bait audiences. Instead, it means you should incorporate the tips outlined in this article and beyond to be sure your authentic content gets seen by the amount of eyeballs it deserves to.
Make people care about something. And make that something the thing you care about most.
You deserve it. So do it.
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Have a great rest of the day!
