Our lives seem to be becoming more digitalised and interconnected by the second. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, whether it’s skiing in the French Alps, cooking scrambled eggs, riding a roller coaster, or getting our nails done, we are likely to want to share the experience with our friends—at least digitally. (Who needs real-life fleshy friends when you have the Internet?)
Sometimes you’re the person posting a photo of your coffee mug, and sometimes you’re the person looking at a photo of someone else’s mug, thinking: “I could not care less about this right now.”
If you have an online friend who is constantly bombarding you with gym selfies and #inspirational quotes which, to you, are at least borderline maddening, you may very well consider unfollowing them. “I don’t need this,” you think to yourself, trying to ignore your worsening hangover while eating last night’s leftover Chinese takeaway for breakfast.
So what can we learn from this?
Put simply, it seems like not every experience or story is worth sharing or half as profound as we initially think. Not only that—you could be sharing the most fascinating, motivational, life-changing, disease-curing piece of content under the sun, but if your audience isn’t interested in that particular topic or shebang they’re simply not going to listen.
You may be wondering now how to get people to pay attention to what you have to say. Should you highlight your text in bright colours like fuchsia or neon green? SHOULD YOU CAPITALISE EVERY SINGLE LETTER IN YOUR SENTENCE? How about exclamation marks—those are sure to attract attention!!!
My suggestion is to keep the unnecessary neon and punctuation to a minimum. Instead have a think about:
- What you’re trying to say
- Why you’re trying to say it
- Who you’re addressing
Keeping in mind who your audience is and what you want to achieve is crucial in effectively communicating your message.
Who is your ideal customer? What age group do they belong to, what do they do? If you’re a clothes shop trying to appeal to young adults keep your language casual and to the point. Maybe give it some attitude. Go crazy with emojis 😃—but not too crazy. 👎 If, on the other hand, you sell life insurance, knitting kits, or IT services, slang and GIFs could do more harm than good to your online engagement.
Think about how your content can educate your consumer instead of making it all about your business. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a one-man band or a gigantic enterprise; devote just as much time and effort creating helpful content as you do promoting your products or services. If you own a travel agency, do a blog post on top travel destinations. If you run a delicatessen, share your favourite recipes. Inspired customers are happy customers—show them that you’re informed, approachable, and eager to help!
I hope this read has been useful. If you need more advice, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Now get out there, start creating, and…
!!! IF ALL ELSE FAILS YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO !!!