Okay, while you might not be able to eat these yummy  ‘top tips’. We think you’ll find them deliciously useful.

Last week we shared three of the top tools to help you create engaging content. This week, we invited BBN experts from around the globe to give us their thoughts for creating engaging content that was, well…. engaging! So here’s a serving of our top ten…

Tip #1 – Know your Audience

You can’t develop content that will resonate, unless you know what your audience wants, how they want to consume it and where you can find them.

Don’t go crazy and get lost in the vast array of channels available, it’s important to be where your audience is.

Avoid providing the same content to your different target groups. Content has to be adapted to the needs and expectations of your different audiences. Your content must be relevant for them.

 

Tip #2 – Do your Research

Without research you’ll be vulnerable and your content ideas will explode! Use panels, interviews, online questionnaires, and implement a feedback loop… you’ll be better informed about what content to create.

 

Tip #3 – Get to the Point

Every single day, you’re competing with more and more content. Attention spans are short. Expectations are high. Deliver something relevant and compelling in a concise, easy-to-consume way. Write it, read it, read it again and then edit and remove everything that’s irrelevant.

 

Tip #4 – Aim for Clarity

Make sure everyone understands – don’t try and outsmart your audience by using long fancy words and techno-jargon… tell it how it is and no Gobbledygook!

 

Tip #5 – Nobody Cares!

The cat obviously doesn’t and they won’t either if it’s all about me, me, me! It’s about their business and not your product.

 

Tip #6 – Strategic Messaging

You might not yet realise the importance of a strategic messaging methodology, or even know that you need one. Think strategically about how you develop your story, drive alignment, and tell it powerfully—whether it’s a large organisational story or whether you want to communicate change inside your Organization. The foundation for all communication relating to a particular topic is your strategic message platform, it’s the blueprint from which you build communications to your audiences.

 

Tip #7 – Call to Action

Okay, so you have my attention, now what? It’s really important to guide your audience through the buying journey using strategic calls-to-action (CTAs). Effectiveness will depend on simple and effective design, click-worthy copy, and balancing multiple CTAs on one page. Here’s some great examples of CTA’s you can’t help but click.

 

Tip #8 – Be Digitally Responsive

There’s a reason responsive web design (RWD) is best practice now a days. It epitomises everything that is User Experience (UX) across multiple devices — from easy-to-use navigation, simplistic and useful design, adaptive orientation and resolution, to lightning fast loading speeds. Put simply, if you are not responsive, you risk losing your audience through frustration.

 

Tip #9 – Emotionally Rational

The decision about whether to base your marketing communication on rational logic or emotional appeal is an easy one… do both! In B2C ‘People buy on emotion then justify their decision with facts.’  in B2B, it’s just the other way around.

 

Tip #10 – Own your Content

You wrote it! So own it!

Of course it’s possible to write content on sites like Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, but that’s probably not the best way to promote “your brand”. So host your own content on your own blog or website, then post links to your content on your social networks.