I have heard it and some of you have said it, “Our company is too boring to be online.” This is not true. Every company has the opportunity to produce quality, engaging content. In my opinion, companies that are in “boring” industries who utilize content marketing and social media are the most interesting brands to follow online. Why? Because they need to get creative.
Of course, I enjoy following animal rescue centers on Facebook because puppies are adorable, but nothing they post is creative. Every rescue center posts the same kind of content every day. And then there are brands in insurance, manufacturing, building supplies and other industries that don’t have it that easy. You can’t take pictures of insurance forms or a pile of wood and get an online following. These brands need to dig deeper to understand their customers’ needs, desires and motivations and in doing so, they discover the formula to amazing content.
Conversation starters for the not-so-glamorous industries
Still don’t believe your company can be a content marketing success? Here are just a few conversation starters:
- Think local – Connect with your local community. People love to know what is going on in their area and are more likely to pay attention if someone they trust (you) is suggesting an event. Roger Fazendin REALTORS® does a great job at connecting locally. Their Facebook cover photo is an ode to their local home-town baseball team and they attend and promote local events like the Wayzata Chilly Open and #AP4J (free apple pie for the 4th of July!) throughout their social media channels
- Be helpful – The reason many industries are considered boring is because they are difficult to understand. For example, accounting. No one understands taxes as well as an accounting firm, so take advantage of that! Share how-to videos addressing common questions or create some worksheets to help people through certain tasks. Think outside of your industry and get rid of jargon. Showcase easy-to-understand content and examples to build trust with those who are already a bit stressed about numbers.
- Give back – Donate your products and services to those in need. Share this online and ask for your customers’ help in making a bigger impact. For example, if you are in the construction business, donate some of your time to Habitat for Humanity and ask your customers to do the same. You will be creating a connection with your customers beyond sales and that will earn you a lot of respect (and exposure).
- Keep people up-to-date – People do not have enough time to keep up with all the news they want to, so help them out. If you are in the insurance industry, write blogs about new laws, ordinances or rules that will affect your customers. They will appreciate your help especially if you summarize it in a way that makes sense and address why it matters to them.
- Justify your services – Let people know why you matter. What are the benefits of your services and working with you? For example, at Allee we justify our services all the time because many companies struggle to grasp that social media isn’t free. Check out this article our CEO Melissa Harrison wrote to show people why we matter.
- Get people involved – There is no need to make all the content yourself! User-generated content is a great way to connect with your customers and save yourself some time. The Live SunSmart Foundation has benefited greatly from their followers’ help. Earlier this year they wrote a blog article using their followers’ input and recently they launched a campaign asking for their followers to submit selfies of themselves being sun smart (#SunSmartSelfies).
Feeling the inspiration? I hope so! Just know that all of these ideas can be made better when you personalize them to meet your customers’ needs, desires and motivations.
Now that you know there are unlimited opportunities for your company to create engaging content, download our Best Practices in Social Media eBook; it is a blueprint for getting your content strategy together and implementing it. Then contact us; we can help!
Bonus for those who are still reading – use the code BLOGSAVE5 and get $5 off the Best Practices in Social Media eBook!
Leave a Reply