Throughout PUSH 2018 we have plenty of opportunities for creatives to help develop their skills. HOME Digital Reporter Mo Ray headed along to one of our workshops earlier this week…
Ever wondered how you could create a community of like-minded people using social media? Maybe promote that creative project you’ve been working on?
We all have an unrelenting desire to connect with someone be it through our interests, our work or what we had for breakfast. It’s human nature. Enter social media, stage left: a flock of virtual carrier pigeons flying across continents delivering our unique perspectives to people we may not have known otherwise. However, having something to say does not necessarily mean people will listen. So, what will?
PUSH 2018’s workshop on Creating Content to Engage Your Audience took a stab at addressing just that. In a two-hour blink of an eye, Digital Marketing Manager Sian Ediss broke down the four key components of creating engaging content with a strong visual identity:
1) Great Content
What makes great content you ask? Authenticity.
Written, visual, motion or auditory content is more likely to “hit home” if it is honest, educational, entertaining, thought-provoking and, ultimately, useful to your audience. But you cannot provoke thought without first knowing whose thoughts you are provoking – their age, location, lifestyle, personality and preferred media platforms (not in a #StalkerAlert kind of way… well, maybe a little) – as well as what you stand for.
Surveys, focus groups and online resources (e.g. YouGov, Buzzsumo and Facebook’s Audience Insights) are but a few ways to improve your relationship with your audience and in turn better inform your content and marketing strategy.
Say you are a food blogger writing a post on ‘The World’s Best Beans on Toast.’ Your audience? Students who appreciate cheap meals and mostly use Instagram. Your content? Funny and friendly, using witty but simple language for the purpose of educating. Boom!
2) Influence
Proving you are an expert in your chosen field helps build trust between you and your audience. Once that trust is gained, they are more likely to engage in a conversation with you.
So that food blogger we talked about might be a recent graduate with an Instagram account littered with funny, animated food hack videos for easy content digestion (aha?).
3) Value
Researching your audience and topics of interest as well as proofreading your work (Grammarly & Correctica are great tools!) will naturally increase the potential of your content being shared. And analytics reports like Google & Twitter Analytics can be of great use.
4) Efficiency
Presenting your content clearly and concisely is important to overcome potential short attention spans in your audience. Break up blocks of text with visual components, like videos… or extra-large graphics for your headings.
Sian’s workshop only scratched the surface of effective social media engagement, but was enlightening nonetheless. Be genuine, be knowledgeable, be consistent and be clear. Plan, edit and then share your valuable content on platforms where your people are and engage in conversations. If face-to-face engagement is more your thing, why not check out PUSH Festival’s 2018 programme for more events that might tickle your fancy.
PUSH 2018 continues until Sat 27 Jan. Check out the full programme here.