Side x Side Creative

Six Ways To Get Your Content Noticed (2014 edition)

Content strategy and content marketing is ever-changing, no more so than right now.

The most recent news is that Facebook has slashed the number of “organic views” on posts from pages, which means that links to blog posts or great photos are seen by a fraction of the people who like your page. Some reports suggest it’s going to drop even further. In other words, Facebook will become “pay to play” for any page, whether you are Coca-Cola or a small business.

So if Facebook starts charging for pages to get noticed, what then?

Here are six ways businesses can adapt.

1) Pay the man. It’s not the cheapest option, but it’s not the most expensive either. For most pages, paying Facebook $5 per post will (at least right now) get you a good chunk of views. If you’re managing a page with multiple thousands of page-views, then paying $20 for each post is going to get expensive in a hurry. But keep in mind–that’s an exceedingly reasonable price to pay to reach those multiple thousands of people who know and like you.

2) Spend some time elsewhere. It might be worth brushing up on other sites like Twitter and Pinterest. Twitter Cards are an interesting new opportunity to reach people in the timeline. And Pinterest has added some new map options that might be great for a local business. There are new trends or opportunities on these sites, or others, that you hadn’t noticed while you’d been focusing on Facebook.

3) Ramp up your email list. And then email really good stuff! Save the best you have for your email, and include a few links to your content on the web. We’ve seen a real re-thinking of email in the last two years and there’s a strong reason for it: no matter what happens with Facebook or Twitter or Google, you know you can reach the people who want to hear from you. It is the most delicate content marketing there is, because people are so protective of their inbox. But done right, you will find it to be invaluable.

4) Sell your content. From the Kindle Digital Platform to iOS apps, leveraging the might of the Apple and Amazon stores to distribute your work–often for a profit–is well worth considering. (Check out Creativist for an interesting solution for creating a branded app for your content or email Side x Side if you want to talk about publishing options.)

5) Use video and audio to tell your story. An audio podcast or a video series on a YouTube channel is going to be less affected by these changes from Facebook. Use new ways to tell your story and you can build a new audience of direct subscribers.

6) Create or share amazing things. It’s worth reiterating this basic point, but it’s true: great content–whether photos, blog posts, events, videos, whatever–will get noticed. Spend time making sure what you’re posting is really really good. That means more time upfront as you choose what to post, but it also means more time dedicated to the presentation, too. Look for ways to surprise and delight with your content.

Good luck out there!