Content Strategies To DISRUPT Your Marketplace.
When is the last time you purchased something because you read a snooze fest of a blog? When’s the last time you shared a boring infographic with all of your friends on social media? Perhaps you saw a non-compelling video on youtube and decided to embed it on your website to make it that much more boring. You get the point. Life’s too short to read, share or create digital nonsense.
How is that some blogs spread like a virus? Why do some infographics get talked about and shared across the digital world? How is it that a cat video is being talked about so much on Facebook and shared on cat loving walls all across the planet? That’s easy. They are remarkable. They are NOT like the others. They are DISRUPTIVE to the digital world.
So many companies come to me and my companies asking us to create a viral video for them. Make it go viral they’ll say. We want 2 million shares on this one… This stuff simply can’t be forced. Things get shared online because they stand out like a sore thumb. They stand out because someone did something REAL and captured it on film. They weren’t trying to make something go viral, they were simply being real. People like real. People on the Internet like to see real, and share real and celebrate real.
Take the recent rant by Fox 35 anchor John Brown regarding the Kardashians. He had a bit of a Kardashian meltdown on live TV. It was humorous, it was lively, it was real… and it got shared, and shared again, and televised, and featured on Mashable and talked about by hundreds of thousands of people. He was real.
So, how can your social media, website, SEO, content and digital marketing in general stand out? Be a DISRUPTER. Do something to take your marketplace off center. Do something that no one expects or sees coming. I’ve compiled a few content strategies that can help your business DISRUPT your particular marketplace.
1.) BE REAL.
I talked about this above, but being real is oftentimes very unexpected. Share real life stories in your blog content and how they relate to your customers, products or services. Don’t be afraid to show frustration, joy and other real emotions through your content. It’s imperative that you add a personality to your brand. The bottom line, your marketplace doesn’t expect your content to be real, make it that way and you’ll stand out and shine.
2.) BE THE EXPERT.
I’ve had the great fortune and have been blessed to be featured on Fox 35, CCTV, USA TODAY, CFNEWS13, NBC and more because I constantly present myself as an expert. The media wants experts. Your customers want to buy from experts. Your social media tribe wants to follow experts. As you create your blog, infographic, video, etc., do so with authority. Create as if you and your business are the LEADERS of your industry. We don’t all like to brag about ourselves and our accomplishments, but, I encourage you to make your expertise known.
3.) BE DIFFERENT.
If you aren’t be different online, why bother? Why post that snooze fest of a blog? Is that infographic you are posting of your ordering flowchart really going to take the Internet by storm? Create the unexpected. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of not playing it safe. Sometimes it’s simple doing something no one saw coming. Sometimes it’s as simple as creating a value add for your clients, a tool, a gizmo, a new report, a weekly tweet about the office dog, a story about that one time that your factory worker rescued a bird from the warehouse. Be different and stop talking about the same ole, same ole. Be that purple cow standing out from all of the NORMAL cows.
4.) ONE LAST THING.
Proceed with some type of boundaries. I’m not encouraging you to create anything that doesn’t represent your brand well. I’m not encouraging you to go out and be a jackass. I’m simply encouraging you to start creating stuff that no one in your industry would see coming. I’m encouraging you to build value by providing your prospects, clients, website visitors, social media followers with an expert insight that no one else is sharing. I’m encouraging you to INTERRUPT the current way that your industry is doing business. If you can’t be different, why bother at all?
Now, go forth and DISRUPT.
Thanks for reading and sharing.
@TomJelneck