A recent study done by expert Guillaume Decugis, using his new content intelligence tool Hawkeye, reveals that 84% of all articles get LESS than 10 shares.
Only 16% of all articles published on the web get more than 10 shares.
In our industry, this gets even WORSE.
A search in Hawkeye’s Analyze section on the topic “content marketing” reveals only ONE article that’s achieved more than 20,000 shares.
One.
That’s pretty dire, people…
Considering that we’re talking about an industry with over 42 million results in Google for the topic.
Fact:
The ONLY content that earns links and shares today is standout content—content that people in that topic industry/area are attracted to.
It takes a ton of work to create that kind of content.
But with 84% of content falling flat, it is ZERO ROI to create just another “average piece” of content.
That’s why standout content is so important – and so special.
The blogs and articles that leap into that magical realm of shares and links – and, let’s be honest, rainbows – are the unicorns of the bunch.
To identify the unicorn content of 2017, I used Hawkeye myself, a new content intelligence tool from Scoop.it. I looked for some of the best, top-shared, top-performing blogs and articles for the year across various key industry sites.
From Content Marketing Institute to Copyblogger, only a few pieces made it to the very top, most-shared and most-read.
We even took a look at our own site.
This will be the LAST piece published on our blog for the year – see you in the New Year! ? ?
Drumroll, please…
Here they are: the content unicorns of 2017.
The Unicorn Content List: 14 Content Marketing Pieces in 2017 That Brought Magical Levels of Engagement
CMI’s most-shared article was penned by its founder, Joe Pulizzi (of course). In it, he shares the most exciting and interesting trends he sees on tap for 2018.
A few he mentions include:
Original content is gaining popularity – big brands like Apple, Google, and Facebook have made moves to start producing original stuff.
Companies worldwide are increasing their content marketing budgets, but plenty of them are still treating it like advertising.
Some innovative marketing departments could eventually start creating their own revenue streams from monetizing content.
Overall, Joe says this is the most exciting time to be in marketing. His personal insights and know-how in the industry make this piece a must-read.
This CMI piece by Neil Patel flips the coin and tells you what you may be doing to turn your audience off without knowing it.
A few of the biggest sins include focusing on you, you, you and not your audience; overdoing it with SEO (yes, it’s possible); and churning out as much content as you can, no matter the quality.
The takeaway: If you annoy, overwhelm, or discount your audience, you won’t get anywhere with content marketing.
This heartfelt piece, another from Joe, is one of my favorites. It truly is a love letter to the industry as he reflects on how CMI was founded and the people who helped grow it to its current standing.
Joe wrote this piece as a sort of “see you later” as he steps away from his role at CMI, but his assurance that we’ll see him at Content Marketing World 2018 feels a little bittersweet.
We’ll miss you, Joe!
2. Search Engine Journal
Interested in Hawkeye.ai for your own content intelligence research? I’ve partnered with the creator, Scoop.it’s founder Guillaume Decugis! You can get free access to it here – for a limited time. Put “Julia McCoy” in the referred by section for a quick approval on your request.
There are over 200 ranking factors Google takes into consideration when it looks at your site. This article pinpoints the top 4 you can hone in on to optimize your content. Best of all, it’s based on a bunch of data-backed studies – for now, these points are totally up to date and useful.
For the curious, the most important ranking factors are content, backlinks, mobile user-friendly design, and a smattering of technical factors like headings and encryption.
In honor of National Women’s Day, I wrote this piece for Search Engine Journal about notable lady marketers making their mark.
Among the exhaustive list of 50 inspiring women, you’ll find social media marketers, brand managers, marketing agency founders, content directors, and leaders of all stripes in the industry. A few names include Ann Handley, Stephanie Diamond, Pam Kozelka, and Joanna Wiebe.
This SmartBlogger article already knocks it out of the park with the headline. (It makes writers everywhere question themselves about a fundamental part of their jobs!)
As it turns out, the right way to write a paragraph online is totally different from writing for print media. Author Mike Blankenship artfully shows you how it’s done (hint: no walls of text!).
1,000 words per hour?! Sign me up. This article divulges 10 ways to increase your writing speed without losing quality.
It also may or may not talk about using your bladder (the power of pee) to write faster (no lie: I’ve done that, and still do – and I didn’t learn it from this article), plus tons more unique tips you’ve never heard before.
This post is evergreen content… about evergreen content.
It contains everything you need to know about creating timeless posts with an extra-long shelf life. Here are a few of the best evergreen post types to try that are mentioned:
How-to posts
Data and case studies
Lists and listicles
Encyclopedic content (think comprehensive histories, glossaries, and ultimate guides)
Needless to say, this post is packed with suggestions and ideas to help your next content asset go the distance.
This headline is a burning statement that immediately makes you want to know what “this” is.
Well, it’s copy. This article explains what copy is, why you need it, where you need it, and when you need it. It’s very straightforward, but the message hits home.
This Curata infographic has the most shares out of all the blogs on this list.
Why? Well, for starters, it’s an infographic – a well-documented winner for engagement. But, it’s also creative, which helps a ton.
It shows you “the anatomy of a content marketer” and breaks down the skills you need to succeed in this industry. It’s visually fun, informative, and easy to share!
The headline is one of the most important parts of any blog post or article. The folks at CoSchedule took data from their massive headline database and analyzed what makes a headline shareable.
The answer? The more emotional value a headline has, the more it gets shared.
This piece delves deep into the whys and explains how to craft great ones for your own content, too. There’s a ton of valuable information and analysis here, so it’s no wonder this is their most-shared piece.
Facebook’s organic reach potential for brands and businesses has long been on the decline. It’s no longer a given that you can reach your fans and followers with your content for free.
In the face of this problem, Neil Patel offers “hacks” that can help:
Use preferred audience targeting
Post more videos
Only share your best content
Use the “Invite to Like” feature
Of course, in typical Neil Patel fashion, he shows you exactly what to do for each hack with detailed screenshots and guidance. Since this has been a huge topic of discussion for marketers, this post is incredibly valuable.
It’s easy to see why this was our most-shared post in 2017 on the Write Blog. In it, I take a firm stance on a problem in the industry: copycatting. In the process, the post gets super controversial.
The funny thing is, I also urge you to create and publish your own controversial content.
Along with in-depth, long-form content; building engaged communities; and a firm commitment to consistently standing out, this is how you create content and a brand presence that gets noticed in the best way.
Second-Most Shared: “A Day in the Life of a Remote Team: How We Work at Express Writers”
Current Share Count: 405
Our second-most shared article for 2017 is a big curiosity-satisfier if you’ve ever wondered how a completely remote team bands together successfully.
Along with divulging how our management team works day-to-day, I also talk a lot about the re-evaluating and restructuring I did within our ranks that contributed to better client satisfaction and a more supportive team vibe.
It’s no wonder this “inside look” was so popular with readers.
An Ending Look: What Does It Take to Create Unicorn Content?
If you want your content to be as outstanding as these unicorn content pieces, you have to put in the effort.
Standout content doesn’t just magically happen, no matter how much we wish it would.
Turns out, unicorn content is not a result of wishing.?
Instead, it’s the result of a potent combination of brainstorming, planning, preparation, strategy, research, time, investment, and hard work.
If we all doubled-down on our content game, standout content wouldn’t be so rare.
Take inspiration from the above blogs and strive for better.
Here’s to 2018 – let’s make it the year of the unicorn.
If you want to pull ahead of the competition, you need to go the extra mile. All of the practices on my list today will help you get there.
These are golden ways to make your content marketing work better, faster, and longer.
Add these to your 2018 content marketing resolutions and prepare for a powerful, high-performing year.
Ready?
5 Hot Content Marketing Predictions Every Content Marketer Must Add to Their New Year’s Resolution List
1. Start (and/or Build) a Community
Prediction: Communities, and the power a community brings, will be hotter than ever in 2018.
Starting a community, or focusing on building one if you’ve started but never actually built, gives you a pool of friends and followers who will cheer on your efforts, like and engage with your content, and generally boost everything you do.
Real people, who will take action when you create and publish content just for them.
A good community is based on shared interests, goals, and comradery.
There are many ways to easily start up your own. Here are a few:
Run a Twitter chat
Run a Facebook group
Start a podcast or weekly live show
Bonus: tie multiple communities on multiple channels to each other. I’ll show you how I do that, coming up.
When it comes to building a community, you simply need a place where you know you can commit to showing up regularly, and where people can easily continue to show up and listen to you.
Facebook is one of the best platforms for this. 2.07 billion people use Facebook — 1.15 billion are on the mobile app alone every day.
This ginormous reach ensures you get a real shot at reaching your audience.
And, a Facebook group is perfect for engagement. You can consistently engage, re-engage, and excite your audience just by showing up live in your group, giving away your tidbits of wisdom, and being you.
Real-Life Community Building Example: How I Route 3 Communities to An Active Facebook Group
For over a year now, we’ve been running a Twitter Chat, #ContentWritingChat, and a podcast, Write Podcast. I started the Twitter Chat in January 2016, and the podcast in April of 2016. I’ve run the Write Blog since 2012.
All three communities gain a lot of activity. The Write Blog earns over 1,000 views/day, and the chat has over 200 people joining us during the live hour. To date, I have over 6,000 downloads on the Write Podcast, and the show notes on our site generate a lot of inbound traffic.
In September 2017, I decided to start a Facebook group and start tying CTAs (call-to-actions) to the group from each of my communities. I’d already started a private Facebook group for my course students, but I thought about a general group that I could easily recommend to all of my communities to boost more follow-up engagement. It would be a great way I could “funnel” all my traffic into a real-time channel where I could keep chatting with them, even after the community hour or podcast episode was over.
The idea of my rough traffic funnel was something like this:
My rough traffic schematic drawing (via Canva)
Well, the trio-community-funnel idea was a hit.
We’ve seen huge engagement in the group (Content Strategy & Marketing), and on average, during the live mentions of the group in our Twitter chat, I’ll see 8 new members join. Or, two organic new members find their way in from a high-traffic blog CTA – and I did absolutely nothing but update old content to earn that.
It’s gotten to such an activity point where I’ve seen organic members join just because they saw the group recommended to them on Facebook’s feed – their role title was “content marketer.” Again, that’s using the power of Facebook (remember: Facebook does advertising for you to boost engagement on their platform!). For Facebook group content, I focus on adding value in the posts I share in the group. I share 1-3 posts/daily (M-F). My social media manager, Rachel, posts once in the group on Mondays with a sneak peek at our Tuesday Twitter chat questions. This week, I plan to start live streaming in the group.
So, in just four months, with ZERO paid ads, we’ve grown to 389 members in the group. The real magic? Every single post we publish in the group has engagement! That’s because we’ve routed active communities, that already know, like and trust us, to the group. It’s not just a cold community building.
One of the best things about running, specifically, a Facebook group is that it puts a “name to the face” – or rather, a face to the name. I’m live, right there, in the group — solidifying that I’m a real person, besides being an author, CEO, educator, etc.
It’s low-cost and seriously low-effort to start your own group, but you do need a plan to consistently boost its growth. For starters, think of an easily recognizable name for the group that aligns with what you do, and what your audience does. For me, creating a group called Content Strategy & Marketing was a winner.
One final Facebook group pro tip:
Be sure to set up a new member questionnaire that members must submit before they can join your FB group. It’s an easy way to filter spam and ask for people to sign up to your list (win, win).
Here’s how you can get to that: go to Manage Group > Edit Group Settings, then look for “Membership Requests” where you can click “Ask Questions.”
Here’s what my questions look like. Just two. In one, I thank them for joining my group and ask that they agree to the rules and not spam. In the other, I add an optional area where they can drop their email if they want to receive my new blogs each week.
2. Live Stream
Live streaming takes the power of video and boosts it x 100.
Every time I live stream, Facebook serves my content at the top of people’s feeds and sends my followers a push notification.
That’s HUGE, you guys. That’s better than almost any kind of “free perk” you get with any other platform. A push notification?! Directly on my ideal audience member’s phones?? It feels a bit like this…
But here’s the key of live streaming.
Plan your live streams—don’t just jump on randomly.
Why?
Secondly, I’ve seen my live streams work far better with a bit of prior planning.
Take it from me: I “jumped on” and did a live stream without any prior planning or announcement.
Not many people have taken advantage of live streaming, yet.
There is a REAL opportunity here! It would be a shame to miss a chance to stand out, don’t you think?
Live Streaming Pro Tip for Introverts that Hate Going Live
Hate the thought of live streaming? Do it for the first time with a guest!
It’s much more fun. I am an introverted writer by nature, not an on-camera person, and it took five years of doing content marketing before I considered doing live-streaming!
On average, after I live-streamed, I saw my page increase in likes by at least 200 inside a week – every time.
Don’t be afraid to play around with live streaming and find what works for you. The ROI is huge.
Facebook Confirms that Live Video Shows Will Be Hot!
Mari Smith recently said on Facebook and confirmed that videos that a) people search for and visit a page to find, and b) videos that people consistently return to watch from the same publisher or creator week after week, will be hotter than ever and receive quite a bit of traction.
“Engaging videos that not only bring people together, but drive repeat viewership and engagement, will do well in News Feed.”
This is especially referring to planned, reoccurring Facebook Live shows. So, if you’re doing a live show, keep it up! If not, it might be time to think about starting one.
3. Blog Regularly
The power of blogging cannot be underestimated. Done right, it automatically boosts your site in the SERPs, nets you more inbound leads, and even drives sales from those leads.
Plus, it is one of the best foundational content publishing formats, where you can pull from and share your best content in all your communities – and it gives you something you’re excited to email your list about, every week.
Here’s the stats on the real power of blogging:
Via data from 2015, companies who published 16 or more blog posts a month netted about 5x more leads than non-blogging companies.
Plus, 1 in 10 posts are compounding, which means that the traffic they draw over time increases because of organic search.
We certainly don’t underestimate blogging here at Express Writers – our current success is mostly due to consistent blogging with high-quality standards.
Here’s how that works:
We started blogging in September 2012 on the Write Blog. We did it (and still do it) 3/4 times per week without fail.
And, since blogging is a cumulative effort, the great blogs we’ve written that have been out there for a while continue to build momentum.
Today, we rank organically for over 11,000 keywords on Google. Of those, over 400 are in the top 3 spots in the search results.
Needless to say, blogging regularly pays off. Add it to your resolutions and start aiming for the long-term returns.
4. Email Regularly
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to content marketing.
Blogging and emailing aren’t going out of style anytime soon.
But, you have to be REALLY careful these days when you email, because, more than ever, strong filters are set up (think Gmail’s automated Promotional label) to stuff branded emails out of sight.
One way to avoid being canned is to grow your list the right way.
This may seem simple, but… don’t automatically add everyone. Ask for signups in unique, interesting ways.
(How about an old typewriter at your place of business? …Anyone?)
Then, when you send emails, be informative. Fun. Engaging. Most importantly, segment and speak to your audience at their level. Don’t sell someone if they’re already sold (ouch)!
Segmenting + creativity is IN, and both are equally important.
Keep your sender name recognizable (i.e. avoid something like “[email protected]” showing up in the “from” field.
Choose an email service provider with a good reputation (don’t go with that cheap ESP to save a dime).
Get certified as a trusted sender. There are good third-party companies, like ReturnPath, who award certification after reviewing your email practices.
5. Do Online Giveaways
Another activity you need to add to your 2018 resolutions list is online giveaways.
They’re a fun and effective way to build your list. Did I mention easy and inexpensive?
I recommend Rafflecopter for this.
It’s entirely free to do a basic giveaway on Rafflecopter’s free trial plan.
You’ll just need to know a few things:
What you’re giving away (a book, branded shirt/mug, or freebie works well)
How long the giveaway will run
What action you want people to take to enter
We built up our list by 30 new members inside 7 days just by doing a really simple giveaway run through Rafflecopter. The exported list of all entries gave us everyone’s name and email, which we were able to import to our list in ConvertKit for email campaigns.
Bam. That’s how you kill two birds with one stone.
Recap: 5 Predicted High-ROI Content Marketing Activities for 2018
1. Start (and/or Build) a Community
2. Live Stream
3. Blog Regularly
4. Email Regularly
5. Do Online Giveaways
Your Focus: Community-Building Is the Pot of Gold in 2018
I think one of the most important aspects of online marketing in general for brands in 2018 will be focusing on community building.
Here’s why: Content shock is making it really hard for users to keep up with all the published content on the web.
For scope, I did a little investigating for a Scoop.It presentation I did recently. I looked at real-time stats from Worldometers and did the math:
Over 200,000 blogs are published every hour. No wonder people can’t keep up.
As content shock slams us with millions of pieces of content created daily, it is no longer enough to just post, create, and schedule. Marketers must show up for, and consistently engage live with, their tribe.
People are hungry for help sifting through the content noise. That can be a huge role for you in your community.
That’s how you build a strong community with members who listen to you.
Communities are powerful and worth their weight in gold for any brand. Anyone with any kind of budget can develop one, over time. No excuse is good enough to avoid building your own community in the coming year.
Take inspiration from a strong community we’ve built: #ContentWritingChat.
From lively discussions during the weekly chat, it’s grown to include a Facebook group. Most participants engage with us ALL WEEK – not just during the chat sessions.
That’s a great takeaway from our experience: Get your communities to follow you to various hubs! Providing more ways to engage often snowballs, especially if you dedicate yourself to slow but steady growth in your community.
Check Off These New Year’s Resolutions and Make Your Content Fly
Yes, you should keep creating the best content you can in 2018.
Your other New Year’s Resolutions, however, should be all about helping your content reach its highest potential.
When your supporting actions serve your content, all of a sudden, you have a formula for major success.
So, jot these resolutions down and make them a priority in the new year.
The festive lights go up, holiday music starts playing everywhere, and the Christmas spirit comes alive.
It also means a giant wave of holiday campaigns arriving on our social media feeds.
Every business has a holiday campaign, and it can feel hard to compete – especially if your time or budget is tight.
The thing is, though, these holiday promotions are totally worth it.
The Christmas season of cheer is a perfect time to engage your list of email subscribers, boost traffic, increase sales, and more. According to HubSpot, shoppers give back to retailers who help them get through the season of giving (think useful and timely content marketing). Plus, holidays are a huge time for sales. In 2015, 74% of retailers said at least 20% of their total sales for the year happened over the holidays. That’s nothing to wink at!
To start our guide, we’re going to take note from some brands on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram doing it right.
The one thing they all have in common?
They set out to delight their audiences first, and boost their bottom lines second.
[bctt tweet=”Brands with holiday campaigns should set out to delight their audiences first, and boost their bottom lines second. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
For our creative Christmas infographic, we’ve pulled ideas and inspiration you can use to brighten up your own feeds and holiday campaigns, taking inspiration from the 12 days of Christmas lyrical piece. Enjoy. Let’s dive in!
Add Holiday Spice to Your Christmas Social Media Campaigns with Our 12 Days of Christmas Campaign Ideas (Infographic)
Just like the holiday tune “The 12 Days of Christmas,” we’ve got 12 festive ideas for your Christmas social media campaigns.
Try one (or two, or three, or all 12!) to get your holidays rolling. Read below the infographic for more how-tos, example, and links straight to free tools you can use to craft holiday-focused content.
Decorate Your Christmas Social Media Campaigns with 12 Days of Christmas Campaign Ideas
1. “Decorate” Your Social Profiles
Take a page from Penguin Books and spruce up your social profiles with some festive graphics. Theme them around your brand’s purpose to make it even more impactful.
Note that Penguin updated their header image with a festive photo that features some of their books. It looks like they’re about to get wrapped in pretty holiday paper and ribbon. Note that the images they post to their feed have a matching look, which helps tie it all together.
Another good example is how Starbucks jazzed up their Twitter page with a photo of their new “coloring book” holiday cups:
Some of the cups even look like a kid scribbled on them, which is endearing and sweet. That sets a perfect tone for a family-friendly holiday.
Another perfect example:
Ulta, a national beauty chain, gave their Twitter page a holiday twist with a bunch of women showing off festive holiday party looks:
Follow suit with your social media accounts, but try to make the “décor” relevant to your brand. (Hint: Don’t just put up a random picture of Santa – tie it into what you sell or offer!)
How to Use Canva to Easily (& for FREE) Add Some Festivities to Your Profile Images
You can do this super easily.
Canva, for instance, has customizable templates that are professional-looking and already perfectly-sized for your Facebook cover image or your Twitter header. To find festive templates, use the search bar to narrow down your options.
Or, if you love to DIY, first check out these sizing guidelines for creating images for your social media profiles.
2. “Santa Hat” Your Profile Pictures
A quick, fun way to inject some festive flair into your social media presence is to add a Santa hat to your profile pictures.
Check out these leading brands who did it to great effect:
If you go for the Santa Hat, just be sure it doesn’t look tacky (i.e. you don’t need anyone thinking your brand could only afford imagery thrown together with amateur Photoshop skills).
All of the above logos use Santa hats that mesh well with their graphic style.
To get the perfect Santa hat for your logo or branding, enlist the help of a graphic designer. (This could be a great project to hand to a graphic design student looking for some experience!)
The best part about this tip: Once you update your profile picture(s), all of your posts automatically get a touch of holiday pizazz by association. Can you say “ho, ho, ho”?
3. Host a Holiday Giveaway
There’s no better time to host a fun giveaway than the holidays. Everybody’s already getting into the gifting spirit – you should definitely join in and offer delightful prizes for your followers.
Plus, giveaway posts are massive magnets for engagement (who doesn’t like free stuff?), which could help you widen your following and earn some leads.
Luckily, a giveaway hosted on social media is much easier than it sounds.
Your 7-Step Guide to a Great Holiday Giveaway
Here’s a general, quick 7-step guide:
Gather a few covetable prizes. They can be your products, something fun that’s related, or a prize pack with goodies from some other affiliates thrown in.
Make sure you choose goodies people will actually want to win (preferably with some cash value).
Create a post that explains your giveaway. Use an eye-catching image of the goods you’re giving away to help draw attention to it.
Post your giveaway with the rules (for instance, ask that people follow you and like the post in order to enter the contest). Make sure you set an end date for accepting entries, and specify when winners will be announced.
Pick your contest winner(s). To do it, use a free tool like The Good Luck Fairy to help you randomly choose them. This type of tool comes in handy if you have a huge list of entrants. Or, if you use social media management software, check to see if a social media contest feature is built-in.
Announce the winner(s) in a new post. Tag the winners and send them a direct message to make sure they get notified. Don’t forget to ask for their address!
Send off the goods (and feel a little bit like Santa’s secret elf in the process).
Here are good examples of holiday giveaway posts from the lip balm brand, Lipsmackers (they’re cleverly calling it the #12Daysof KISSmas):
A post shared by Official Lip Smacker (@lipsmackerbrand) on
4. Create and Share a Gift Guide
If you sell products, you’re perfectly positioned to highlight them for gift-giving during the Christmas season.
How do you do it in a way that benefits your audience? Gift guides!
Look at this gift guide post from Uncommon Goods for inspiration:
The gift guide works in a few ways:
It promises to help alleviate gift-giving anxiety (a real thing!)
It promises to help you find a unique gift
It promises to help you stay stress-free (“cool as a cucumber”) during this hectic season
And, finally, it does all of the above while highlighting the brand’s products (note that this is last on the list)
To do it, create a round-up-style blog post with lots of images and links. Include your own products based on how well they fit the list, along with products from other brands. (By the way, this is a great opportunity to plug some of your favorites and potentially get them to share your post.)
Finally, create social media posts on each of your accounts to share the guide. Remember to tag or mention any other brands you included in the blog.
5. Publish a Series of Gift Guide Posts
Another way to share a gift guide is to do it exclusively on social media. Here are some suggestions:
Choose products around a theme that’s targeted for your followers.
Round up links and pictures to share.
Space out your gift guide over a number of posts.
Do one post a day that highlights a product in your gift guide (any more might seem spammy).
Explain why each gift idea could be perfect for that particular person on your followers’ lists.
Tie it all together with a relevant, catchy hashtag (#12DaysofGiving, #GiftIdeasforMom, etc.).
6. Get Your Products in Other People’s Gift Guides
Similarly, getting your products featured in others’ gift guides is a great free plug for you. Look at how Club Ride and Apparel got one of their products featured in a blogger’s cycling gift guide:
To do it yourself, reach out to bloggers/influencers you love to read who are relevant to your business.
Note how the above brand reached out to a cycling enthusiast – they knew their products would be a perfect match for that influencer’s audience.
Never reach out to someone cold with a line that reads, “Hey, I think my product would be great in your seasonal gift guide.”
Instead, think about people you know, with whom you’re already networking or relationship-building. Reach out to them and offer them something in exchange for the plug.
7. Speak to the Emotions of the Season
This time of year, people want to draw their loved ones close and feel that sense of togetherness, especially if they live far away from each other. They also want to cozy up inside with family and feel warmth, peace, and joy.
If you can speak to the emotional side of the holiday season, you can draw on those feelings to boost shares, traffic to your site, sales – whatever your goal may be.
Here’s another example from Uncommon Goods that speaks to holiday emotions. In this post, they highlight one of their products that has an emotional pull for the holiday season:
The engagement on this post (over 1,000 likes and nearly as many shares) shows how much it has resonated with people.
Note that this post/video doesn’t sell the product. Rather, it focuses on the benefits: you can show people you’re thinking about them, no matter how far away they are.
During the holidays, that’s something that mightily appeals to just about anybody. The fact that Uncommon Goods just so happens to sell the product isn’t even secondary; it’s tertiary.
However, based on the engagement for the post, it’s safe to assume that the company boosted their sales for this one product. That’s a powerful post.
8. Share Recipes
Even if you aren’t in the food industry, recipe-sharing is a fun way to shake up your posts and offer something a little personal to your audience.
For example, sharing your favorite recipe for holiday dip, rolls, or even a festive cocktail is a warm way to connect with your followers over food – and isn’t that what the holidays are all about?
Here’s a good example from Yoga Journal:
And, here at EW, we recently shared our favorite pumpkin pie recipe on this Thanksgiving-themed infographic:
You don’t have to get fancy with this. It can be as simple as linking to your favorite recipe and adding a few personal lines explaining why it’s a hit with your family around the holidays.
The point is to send warm wishes to your followers with a simple personal gesture.
9. Ask for Your Followers’ Favorite Recipes
Along with sharing your own recipes, you can also dedicate a post (or two or three) to inviting your followers to share their favorites. Ask for Christmas cookie recipes, recipes for holiday drinks, or recipes for holiday dinner dishes.
Check out the engagement on this post from Mrs. Claus.
She asked for recipe favorites and got a great response:
Here’s just a small sample of the discussion it started:
People love talking about their holiday traditions. Invite this type of fun discussion in your own holiday post comments and see what happens.
10. Hold a Mini Contest in the Comments
Taking inspiration from recipe-sharing, why not hold a mini contest and reward the person who submits the best one?
Ask for your followers’ favorite holiday recipes, like in tip #11, but up the ante and offer a prize or personal coupon code for the best recipe submission shared in the comments. To get more traction on the post, tell followers they must also tag a friend who might want to join in.
11. Create Your Own Holiday Hashtag
An even easier way to get festive and inspire your followers is to create your own holiday hashtag.
Ideally, this hashtag will be one your followers can use to show off their holiday cheer in a way that ties to your brand.
For example, if you’re an online shop selling products, ask your followers to show how they’re wrapping gifts from your store using a hashtag like #[YourBrandName]Wrapped or #[YourBrandName]UndertheTree.
Check your tag and choose one submission to repost and feature on your feed daily. Remember to tag the person featured!
12. Align Your Christmas Social Media Campaigns
Your holiday social media posts will get more traction if you tie them all together.
For example, if you create a gift guide to share, like in tip #4, don’t just share the same link + picture to the post on all your social accounts. Take it a step further and highlight individual products from the guide in separate social media posts. Spread these posts across your different accounts.
For example, highlight one product from your guide on Facebook, another on Twitter, and post a fun image or video of one of the products getting used on Instagram.
These posts all tie to the same piece of content – the gift guide – but offer value in different ways to different sets of audiences. As a result, you could pull in more traction for the blog overall.
Look at how Birchbox aligned their posts on different social accounts for their own gift guide:
They didn’t use the same image or wording, but the posts tie together. Try your own creative ways to tie together your different social posts for the same campaign.
For Best Results, Sprinkle Your Christmas Social Media Campaigns with Cheer
The keys to a great Christmas social media campaign are posts that speak to the best parts of the season. Tap into the spirit of giving, the emotions the holidays evoke, and the festive flair that makes people feel a corresponding warm flare of joy.
Even if their hearts resemble lumps of coal, people won’t be able to resist your Christmas cheer.
After all, the best way to spread merriment during this special time of year is to feel it yourself, first.
If you still can’t help feeling like a Grinch about your social media campaigns, we can help you write cheerful, merry posts that get you noticed. Check out our done-for-you social media posts!
The company additionally raked in well over $8 billion in revenue during 2016.
And, according to Tech Crunch, over 75% of U.S. households subscribe to the streaming service.
Netflix’s success has been staggering. Some have even touted that the company is changing movie culture as we know it.
Think of one streaming service that competes nose-to-nose with Netflix. Which ones have the same amount of quality shows? Which ones offer original content at the same level?
There are competitors (like Hulu and Amazon), but let’s face it: Right now, there is no competition. Not for content, not for content delivery, and not for content promotion and engagement.
Nobody says “I’m going to stay home and watch Amazon” when asked about their plans for the night.
Instead, the following phrase has become part of the cultural consciousness: “I’m going to watch some Netflix.”
So, how do they do it when it comes to marketing?
You might be surprised to know that Netflix heavily relies on content marketing, and key brand engagement strategies that every content marketer can implement.
Read this guide — all the way through — and be inspired with your content efforts.
Let’s delve into Netflix’s brand content strategy.
How a Blazing Brand Content Strategy is the Formula for Netflix’s Dominance
Netflix’s brand content strategy is obviously strong.
But why, exactly, does it work so well?
Let’s start with a look at their history.
The Early Beginnings: How Netflix Became an Original Creator
Let’s explore their history first, a bit.
Netflix used to merely offer up a buffet of movies and TV shows created by others. Now, they’ve got their own table groaning under the weight of shows cooked up in their very own kitchen.
For example, look how many of these shows have the Netflix logo stamped proudly above their titles:
Note the ratio of “Netflix originals” compared to the amount of off-brand content in these feeds. Every other option – more than every other option – is from Netflix’s own studio.
The thing is, nobody is complaining. People are eating up Netflix’s original shows and asking for more.
Some shows have reached beloved, cult-status territory. Think Stranger Things, House of Cards, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Others have been outright hits – Mindhunter, The Keepers, Orange Is the New Black, and The Crown come to mind.
6 Ways Netflix is Killing It With Their Brand Content Strategy
Now, let’s piece together how it all ties up into a neat bow (a red one, naturally).
1. Using the Data at Their Fingertips (Can You Say “Content Audit”?)
Netflix’s success didn’t come from lucky guesses or half-hearted research about what their audience wants.
Think about it: Before it started producing original content, the streaming service already had tons of data to work with from looking at their customers’ habits. This included how people watch TV and movies, what they like to watch, and when they prefer to watch.
This was undeniably a huge advantage for them.
A giant amount of information about user preferences was ready and waiting to be turned into audience-specific content gold.
They looked at what was winning with viewers, and they ran with it. This kind of content audit proved vital to the success of their fresh content ventures going forward. And, there’s no doubt looking at the data will continue to do so.
2. A Defined Target Audience
Let’s backtrack and look at Netflix’s current roster of new shows out right now.
You may notice a bit of a pattern appearing:
Are any of these shows for children or families? Would they appeal to the average teenager? What about seniors?
No, no, and no. Netflix quite obviously has their target audience cornered.
Over and over, they target their shows to the 18-49 age bracket. Of course, there are always exceptions, but most of these shows will only appeal to adults looking for smart plots, escapism, or nostalgic escapism (Stranger Things is arguably a love-letter to ‘80s movies, while Godless is a modern take on Westerns that still has all the hallmarks of the genre).
Here’s the key, though. They’re sitting at the intersection of knowing their target audience and understanding that audience’s preferences. What Frank Sinatra sang about love and marriage applies here, too. You can’t have one without the other.
Netflix knows their customer and what they want to see. (The aforementioned content audits/data analysis helps, undoubtedly.) The content they produce reflects that to a tee.
3. The Brand Content Strategy Crux: High-Quality Content Pushed Out Consistently
Part of Netflix’s success is the quality of their shows. They keep putting out binge-worthy, good stuff.
Just look at this list Thrillist put together of the top TV shows of 2017. Many lists like it are out there, but they all have one major similarity: Netflix is overwhelmingly the top media producer represented.
Others make appearances, like HBO, NBC, and FX, but Netflix beats them all for the highest number of shows on the list.
Out of 42 total, 11 are from Netflix. That’s over a quarter of the pie.
Their commitment to quality is part of the reason viewers come back for more. It’s additionally why Netflix is practically a household staple.
However, the way they deliver their content is of equal importance.
Strategic Release Dates
Instead of releasing new shows and new seasons of shows randomly, Netflix does it strategically.
Look at the release of Stranger Things 2. In the U.S., the streaming service dropped all episodes on October 27, which happened to fall on a Friday. For the show’s creepy, ‘80s-monster-movie-adventure vibe, the weekend before Halloween was a perfect launch date. Plus, to make things more perfect, the show’s action in season 2 took place around Halloween.
Don’t forget, the weekend is the best time to binge-watch a new season of your favorite show. (Around the release date, Time even proclaimed “Stranger Things 2 Is Your Halloween Binge.”) You can bet that Netflix banked on all that.
It totally worked, too. During the first three days the episodes were available, the show pulled in over 15 million viewers from the target demographic, 18-49 year-olds.
This is a great example of how publishing your content at the right time can have dramatically awesome results.
I’ve tied content pieces to strategic publishing dates: this Thanksgiving, for example, we launched a holiday-specific infographic on how to map your content marketing strategy out like a perfected Thanksgiving feast. It had far more shares and traction (including in our Facebook group) than many of our non-seasonal pieces of content. So, this particular content strategy can work for any size business – not just a brand as big as Netflix.
The Netflix App: A Superior Viewing Platform
High-quality content served to viewers consistently and strategically is huge, but what else contributes to Netflix’s content dominance?
Answer: their viewing platform, including their apps across devices. Netflix delivers content only on their own turf, and they do it very well. Here’s what Venture Beat says about it:
“…it can take eons to scroll through a category of shows or movies on Amazon to see what’s there. In contrast, the Netflix app lets you glide through with nary a hiccup.”
The Netflix Tech Blog describes why the design works, but it really boils down to a few basic ingredients:
It’s clean, readable, and stylish
It’s tailored for users
It highlights the content, especially the original content
It helps you find what to watch with mini trailers, descriptions, and screenshots – which essentially sells the content
Netflix doesn’t just nail content, they also nail how that content is served to their customers.
On-Demand Streaming vs. Live Streaming
Another brand content strategy choice that works well for Netflix is staying true to their commitment to providing ad-free, on-demand streaming to their customers.
Many other streaming companies are looking at (or have already moved into) live streaming territory backed by ads, but not Netflix.
Many critics and competitors have questioned this decision, but the company has stubbornly stuck to its guns. It will continue to commit to quality rather than changing its core service just to compete. This is definitely a differentiator for them.
Forbes puts it this way:
“Netflix is aiming to build a portfolio of movies which will attract and retain viewers and optimize the cost of licensing these movies in relation to the number of subscribers who watch them. The company has categorically stated that its focus is on ‘on-demand commercial free viewing rather than live, ad-supported programming.’This should help Netflix to stand out from its competitors and attract more subscribers.”
4. A Distinct Brand Voice
Now that we’ve covered Netflix’s content creation strategy, we can move outward to how the company presents itself across the web and promotes its own content.
To start, Netflix has a distinct brand voice that fits with the main audience they serve and the content they create.
FOR THE LOVE OF STEVE, DUH! So hold tight baby darts — season 3 is officially happening.
The humor is a little dry, a lot witty, and plenty snarky. The key, though, is that it’s consistent across all their social channels.
5. Seriously Engaging Content Promotion
Netflix also promotes its own content in a compelling way. They regularly post videos to Facebook with mini trailers of their newest or upcoming releases, like this one for Mindhunter season 2:
They also do video posts that show you ideas for what you can watch right now to get into the current season.
Here’s a good one with suggestions for what to watch with your family around the holidays (with their customary dry, witty brand voice adding that these films are “safe to watch with your parents”):
Note the engagement on these posts.
It’s always high:
But it definitely helps that Netflix engages back.
They tweet at and retweet their followers and celebrity fans:
The result is they’re a fun company to follow. They engage and promote in equal measure while retaining their brand voice, which helps boost their overall success.
6. Little (If Any) Traditional Advertising
One thing you may or may not have noticed about Netflix is its lack of advertising – at least, traditional advertising.
Can you even determine the last time you saw a Netflix ad for its services, or one of its shows?
That’s because it doesn’t run many of them, whether that means Facebook ads, TV commercials, or other spots.
Instead, the company mainly relies on content marketing to get the word out. Their subscribers grow, and their audiences binge new shows, based on high-quality content, social media engagement, and the resulting word-of-mouth.
In other words, it’s an organic brand content strategy.
AdAge even named Netflix their 2016 Marketer of the Year, and specifically attributed the company’s success to content marketing:
“Ultimately, Netflix’s content is its biggest marketing tool, said Michael Goodman, director of digital media strategies at Strategy Analytics. The company has managed to turn out enough high-quality content to satisfy subscribers and pique the interest of non-users.”
Netflix is one of the only major, global brands doing this, too. On top of that, it seems to be working quite well for them (which may be the understatement of the year).
The One-Two Punch for Netflix: A Killer Brand Content Strategy
Netflix seems to be doing everything right.
They have seamlessly transitioned from exclusively serving other people’s content to dishing up mostly their own.
Granted, they started small, and they had years to hone their game plan. (Remember when they rented DVDs out by mail?
Unbelievably, that service is still available.)
However, there is much to learn and take away from their current brand strategy. We can look at their successes, understand how they happened, and apply them to our own content marketing.
From their content, to how it’s delivered, to their social media presence and their brand voice – all of it is worth analyzing for inspiration.
If you’re smart, you’ll take note.
As for me, this blog is done…
And now I’m gonna go relax and watch some Netflix.
It’s not a coincidence. Content marketing and blogging are successful, proven ways to earn leads, conversions, and increase sales and revenue.
More and more marketers are focusing on blogging in particular as the keystone of their efforts.
According to stats Impact shared, marketers consider blogs “critical” to success.
It’s all because one of blogging’s main goals (and successes) is building the consumer’s trust. Once you build that trust, it’s much easier to get them on your side and turn them into customers.
Take a look at these numbers from the same study:
These are great stats in favor of content. People generally feel more comfortable learning about companies through informative articles. After they consume a brand’s content, they feel better about the brand.
The problem?
You can only enjoy the benefits of content marketing and blogging if the stuff you create is good.
Unfortunately, for people in specialized industries who want to take advantage, that’s not exactly simple to do.
If you’re a lawyer or law blog writer who creates content for a legal blog, it may be even harder.
Why Is It So Hard to Write an Interesting Law Blog?
Niche, high-level topics are not easy to write about for the everyman (or everywoman). Often, with the wrong approach, your content can be just as dry and boring as the contracts you draft or the briefs you compose.
Look at this example of a contract between a company and an independent contractor:
Nobody will touch writing like this with a 10-foot pole unless they have to. Unless the law requires it, it’s not happening.
Quite frankly, writing like this looks scary and daunting to read. It may even fill your audience with anxiety.
If you’re tapped into writing like this 24/7, we have a problem.
The thing is, you already know law blogs are inherently boring, but you may not know how to write any other way. Years of law school probably drilled most of those down-to-earth writing skills right out of you.
It’s time to re-learn some writing techniques to make your law blog intriguing and readable. It’s time to pick up some tips so you can craft a great, informative, personable blog alongside all that legal writing you do.
Law blog writers, here are the keys to banishing boring, blah posts from your content roster forevermore.
How to Be an Interesting Law Blog Writer
Law is a notoriously hard topic to write about in a way that’s engaging for the average internet surfer. If you want to make non-law experts and potential clients interested in your blog, give these tips a whirl.
1. Research Post Topics That Fill a Knowledge Gap or Have Built-In Interest
If you’re currently flooding the internet with posts that delve into nitty-gritty aspects of your law specialty, let me ask you one question:
Why?
If you’re trying to attract business with your blog, your audience isn’t law students. It’s not lower-level members of your team or fellow law professionals, either.
Your audience is your clients and potential clients.
These people don’t care about deep-dives into new legislation. They don’t understand legal jargon.
However, to connect with them, you can’t write another post that other law blogs have already discussed hundreds of times.
Instead:
Look at your law specialty. Look at the services you offer. Simplify these topics and do basic searches to discover what’s already out there on the web about them, as well as what people want to know.
Use keyword research tools like BuzzSumo or Google Keyword Planner to find out what interests people right now and what opportunities you might have to fill in knowledge gaps.
For instance, a common legal topic the average Joe searches for online is “DUI law.” Plugging “DUI laws in California” into BuzzSumo shows what people are sharing. It also shows how some law blog writers are addressing narrower topics, like “Green DUI” and how to contest a DUI in court.
Doing research like this shows you where the interest is hovering and empty spaces that you could fill with good content.
Never neglect research when coming up with legal blog post topics. Neil Patel calls keyword research “the most important part of digital marketing” for a reason. It shows you how to reach the right people online with your content – the people who need it, and the people you have a better chance of turning into clients.
2. Cut Your Sentences in Half
Wordy sentences have their place. You’ll find them in legal documents, in some forms of pretentious fiction, and in technical manuals.
Where do they have no business showing up? In your blogs.
Online writing is different from any other type because of how people read it. Think about it: They’re staring at screens of all sizes, scrolling, clicking, and browsing.
It’s not like settling down with a book and giving it your full attention. It’s like sitting in a darkened room while hundreds of pieces of content fly past your face. Ads, blog posts, articles, images, social media posts, links, videos, and more.
Which ones make you want to pause?
According to Buffer, the internet is doused in trillions of ads per year and hundreds of billions of tweets a day. That’s not to mention the extra few billion Facebook posts created daily.
The result is that most people get pretty schizophrenic when they’re online. They skip from content piece to content piece and post to post without drawing breath. They scroll through their feeds like speed demons.
Hence: Online writing must cater to short attention spans. If your sentences mirror the ones in that contract you just drew up, stop. Think again.
It’s time to ruthlessly edit yourself. Cut your sentences in half. Insert periods instead of commas. Trim out useless adjectives.
Here’s a great example:
Both of these sentences say the same thing. Sentence #1 is 16 words long. Sentence #2 is 8 words long. In half the time, you can say the exact same thing.
Guess what. The American Press Institute even did a study on sentence length and comprehension. Now, guess how long a sentence had to be for readers to 100% understand it?
That’s right: 8 words long.
And, it turns out the longer the sentence got, the harder it was to understand.
Bottom line: For better blogs, trim the fat from your online writing. Snag attention, don’t divert it. Keep your readers on the same page: yours.
3. Talk TO Your Reader, Not at Them
Writing and talking TO someone looks a whole lot different from talking AT them. Observe:
One sounds formal and stuffy, like you’re reading a textbook. The other sounds conversational, like friendly advice.
The first example, #1, is written in the third person. This type of writing sounds formal because it is – it’s reserved for academia, professional papers, and other formal settings. Legal writing is also always in the third person, but you knew that.
The second example, #2, is written in the second person. It directly addresses the reader as “you.” The writer is talking to you on a one-to-one level.
That approach is huge for readable, interesting content. After all, who wants to feel like they’re reading a textbook? That’s no fun.
Meanwhile, having an informative yet friendly conversation with an expert, on a topic you care about, IS fun. You get the picture.
4. Write in Plain English
According to research, to write an interesting, readable blog post, you always need to use plain English. This means using language that anyone can understand, and by extension, enjoy.
For ultimate reader comprehension, avoid using legal terms and jargon. You should also use fewer complicated or rare words in general.
Forget sounding smart. Sound understandable.
Writing tools like the Hemingway Editor will find the complex words lurking in your writing and suggest simpler alternatives automatically. You can also root them out yourself and avoid using them in your future blogs.
For instance, instead of “utilize,” say “use.” Instead of “comprehending,” say “knowing.” Rather than say “mitigate,” say “lessen” instead.
Don’t think of this as dumbing yourself down. Think of it as getting on the same level as your readers so you can effectively teach them, help them, and add value to their lives. What could be worthier than that?
5. Don’t Be Afraid of Empty Space
When you’re writing about potentially complicated or complex topics for the common person, don’t forget to embrace the empty space on the page.
This means a few things:
Shorter paragraphs, and more of them
More headers breaking up the page and organizing ideas
Long lists with commas converted to numbered or bulleted lists
When you embrace the white space, you give your readers’ eyes a rest. They can easily scan the page. As such, readability and comprehension will improve, especially for topics that need a lot of explaining.
On the other hand, if you fill your page with walls of text, this is HubSpot’s top reason why your blog might be hard to read.
Their blog on this very subject has great white space, naturally:
Look at all that room around the content! That’s ideal.
You should follow suit. Break up your ideas visually as well as contextually. They’ll be easier to understand and more interesting by extension.
6. Get Excited
If you’re not excited about your blog topic, how will your readers get excited?
If you want people to be interested in what you’re writing, you must first feel that interest.
There’s a huge difference between a writer approaching a topic with excitement, and a writer approaching a topic between bouts of falling asleep at the keyboard. One of them will naturally infuse their post with their enthusiasm. Their readers will glom onto that tone, pulling them into the post.
The other writer? Well… Their results won’t be pretty. They’ll be lucky if they get a handful of reads. Mostly, it will be crickets.
Of course, the right direction to go is the one with excitement. When researching post topics and keywords, follow the ones that make you excited to get researching and writing.
Yes, abide by the cliché and “follow your passions.” It will make your readers want to follow along with you.
Law Blog Writers, You CAN Write Epically Interesting Blogs
Any topic can be interesting with the right approach.
Research law topics people are looking for and knowledge gaps you can fill. Keep your sentences on the short side and your language plain and simple. Talk to your audience on their level, like a friendly chat, and get excited about your topic.
There aren’t really any super-star law blog writers out there, yet, writing for everyday people. There’s an even bigger lack of quality posts with good information that are also interesting.
Are you ready to fill the gap?
Writing an authoritative yet engaging legal blog for average readers is hard. If you need a little help, check out our legal writing services and expert blogs.
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