Evolution is the essential ingredient in any marketing plan. The content you produce should constantly be changing and adapting to what it is your audience wants to see. That might mean you hold content back as a result of a political situation, or stop producing a certain style altogether. The important thing is that you give yourself space to make mistakes, evolve, grow and experiment.
After all, if you’re standing in the same place all the time, then you’re… well you’re a tree. Except no, not a tree because trees still grow… you’re a building! A building that looks shiny and cool and new but eventually is gonna look old and weird, and maybe a little bit cringe.
We don’t want that now, do we?
What type of content should you produce?
The type of content you produce does depend on what kind of marketing you’ve chosen to focus on, and what your goal is for your blog and social media. And the strategy you produce for each channel can totally be different, which is where experimentation is so beneficial.
Simply put, the type of content you produce on your blog may not translate as well to your Instagram and vice versa. But how will you know until you give yourself permission to make those mistakes?
For example, now my marketing style is largely relationship based. This means the content I produce for me and my brand is a bit more chatty, personal and relatable. My social media is very focussed on building real friendships and relationships with people, and adding value throughout.
My blog posts still use the same language style, but they’re much more informative (I hope) and I see them as an extension to the relationships I’ve built on Instagram.
But, if you’d asked me that a year ago, I definitely would have said the opposite. I always wanted to be relaxed and relatable but fear and my own corporate background held me back.
Back then my content was more focussed on search engine marketing. This meant my blog posts were very structured, keyworded, and easy to consume; think listicles and ‘how to’ guides. There's a lot less story behind the content and very little personal anecdotes littered through.
What Content style is best for me?
Neither style is wrong, they’re just effective in different ways. This is exactly why it’s OK to experiment with different types and styles to find out what works best for you, your audience and your business. In fact, I encourage it.
If you’ve experimented with the really corporate, structured, keyword heavy kind of content and it’s not working for you, that’s OK. Whatever anyone tells you, ranking number one on Google isn’t the be all and end all of being in business.
Now that I’ve redefined my business goals, I know that I want to work with people I relate to and get along with, towards a common goal that lights us both up. I want to work with people who think like me, and I want to have good relationships with my clients.
That means I’m less interested in working with whatever guy typed “web designer Brisbane” into Google. Those people may still be the right fit for me, but it’s just less likely. This is how I know the style of content I produce now is the right thing for me to do. And that’s something I never would have figured out if I hadn’t given myself permission to experiment!
Until next time, look after yourself!
Laura x
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