Emily Cagle's Communications — Thoughts on public relations, marketing, copywriting

Creating conversation-worthy content

by Emily Cagle on August 13, 2010

In this age of social media, companies are slowly waking up to the fact that it is no longer enough to ‘broadcast’ a message to an ‘audience’. Today, a successful web presence is all about engaging people in dynamic, multi-way dialogue; driving and contributing to key conversations; influencing, participating and responding to the buzz around emerging trends.

So what makes content ‘sharable’? What turns a site visitor from passive reader to active participant in a conversation around your brand?

Here’s my take on the key requirements for conversation-worthy content.

Offer value

It hardly needs saying that sharing is a big part of social networking. If the average user sees something interesting, controversial, enlightening or funny on Twitter, the chances are they’ll want to re-tweet it, or perhaps Stumble or ‘Like’ it. Even more so if they feel that it’s something their friends/followers will like, too.

Conversation-worthy content is often that which amuses, breaks news, surprises, or sheds light on a known but otherwise complex subject.

What are you doing to ensure your content brings a benefit to your audience, well beyond simply learning more about your brand?

Create investment

We know by now that user generated content isn’t just a way to keep copywriting overheads down – where users have a vested interest in the content on a site, they are more likely to return, more likely to engage, and more likely to share that content with others.

From relatively simple site additions such as guest blog posts or caption competitions, to more technical or time consuming additions such as user forums or content that crowd-sources advice or opinions from customers, the more a user feels they have contributed to content in some way, the more invested they are likely to feel, and therefore the more likely to continue, and indeed share the conversation.

What are you doing to encourage user contributions to your content base?

Track and monitor

When visitors hit your site, where do they come from? And where do they land? Once they’re there, what do they do next? Which types of content are the most ‘sticky’, holding attention for the longest? Which content drives the most ‘shares’ on social media?

Whether you’re part of a large company with the funds to purchase highly detailed analytics software such as Omniture or a small company with access only to a free tools such as Google Analytics, tracking and analysing user response is essential and not to be overlooked.

At any time, you need to be able to confidently answer the questions: What does your customer base respond best to? And what generates the highest level of engagement?

Listen; gather feedback

Of course, key information isn’t only to be gleaned from visitor behaviour. The real action is probably happening far beyond your blog post, news update or shiny new home page; it’s happening on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Again, whether you have deep enough pockets for an all singing all dancing social mention tool such as Radian 6 or Meltwater Buzz, or whether you are sticking firmly with free tools such as SocialMention.com, the big questions here are:

What content is being shared, and how? What are people saying about your brand? What are you learning from the conversation? And what are you doing to drive it forward, positively, by being visible and responsive where appropriate?

Stay relevant

Clearly, social media monitoring has applications far beyond collating mentions for your own brand. By tracking key words and phrases, you can answer a whole raft of questions that will help keep your conversation relevant to your readership.

What is interesting to your target markets right now? What questions, concerns or excitement is growing around your industry?

And, most importantly, what are you doing to track, analyse and predict these emerging trends, so that they can be reflected in your own content?

I’ll leave you with a final point to note. The answers to all of the above questions will rarely remain static for long. It could be weeks, days, hours or even minutes before the conversation shifts, turns or otherwise develops, throwing a whole new light on your content strategy.

The conversation is ongoing, dynamic and exciting. Your content strategy must be, too.

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Advertising for a freelancer – getting the right replies

by Emily Cagle on August 9, 2010

in Copyediting,Featured,Freelancing,Marketing

Get noticed

For many companies – particularly startups – contractors offer a vital resource for keeping things running smoothly. If you have a job that requires a specific set of skills, but can’t offer enough work to constitute a full-time, in-house position, freelancers offer the perfect solution.

But when looking for a provider, often it isn’t practical to go through the same rigorous interview and assessment process as you would for a permanent employee, so how do you get quality work without the HR headache?

In my opinion, word of mouth recommendations are great when you can get them, but otherwise, advertising online (via your website or a job site) is the way to go, and then it’s all in the job description:

Make the title count

The first step to attracting quality bids is to make the most of your post title. Whether it’s on a general job site like Reed.co.uk or a site specifically for freelancers like People Per Hour, front page listings tend truncate titles to around 30 characters, so it’s wise to keep your title below this mark and get straight to the point. For example, rather than writing ‘Help needed with sales letter for accountancy firm’, you could write ‘Sales letter (accountancy)’.

Write clearly

As a provider on several freelance job sites, I read dozens of job listings per week where the project description is so vague, it’s almost impossible to fathom what the advertiser is looking for.

While this might present a challenge to the service provider looking to place a bid, the main victim of the vaguely worded project listing is the buyer themselves, who not only risks receiving dozens of irrelevant bids, but might even go so far as to accept a bid from a provider who has a false notion of what is required.

Be specific

When it comes to the project description, bidders will find it much easier to price up a project if you are explicit about what’s involved. So, for a web design project, for example, aim to explain how many pages are needed, what functionality the site must have, whether you will need a logo and so on.

Outline required skills

If you any specific skills requirements, such as being able to work with a particular piece of software, you should list them and state whether they are essential or preferred. It is also worth mentioning what industry your company operates in, as this can attract bidders with useful experience. For example, an accountant who already understands the typical transactions of a firm in your sector might be better placed to give industry specific tax advice.

Sell yourself

To attract strong bids, you should also consider giving some details about your company’s achievements and reputation. Just as with any job, people may be more inclined to apply if the company has an appealing profile.

Set a realistic budget

It is also important to be as realistic as possible about your project’s budget. If your budget range is very low, you may not attract the standard of provider you are looking for, and if it is unnecessarily high, you might find people bid higher than they otherwise would. If you have time, research what constitutes a realistic budget before submitting your listing. Alternatively, mark the rate as ‘negotiable’ and judge what constitutes a reasonable price based on the bids you receive.

Clarify with bidders

Finally, remember that you are not bound to agree to work with someone based on their initial bid alone. If a bid looks great, but doesn’t answer those last minute questions that have arisen since you posted the project, ask them. A good provider will be happy to discuss your requirements in more detail before asking you to accept their bid.