The key to growing and maintaining an engaged audience is to make sure you post relevant content. As obvious as it may sound, it can be all too easy to get into the routine of sharing the same kinds of information relating to your business, products or what your staff have been up to. While this is great content, there is still the opportunity for you to create content which can piggy-back onto what’s already in discussion at the moment.
For example, imagine you owned a furniture shop and news came out that a celebrity couple had moved in together. You could create an ‘edit’ styled to the celebrity couple, which may be better received by audiences than a generic style suggestion. Relevant content can thrive if you strike while the iron is hot, so to say.
Whether the news of the moment is nationwide or within a very niche industry, if you have the connections and audience, then there will be a reader out there who will appreciate the fresh and relevant content.
Regular Updates
Remember that whatever you are writing about for your website or digital channels, consistency and timing are key. Yes, it is recommended to get involved in discussions and exciting news stories, but alongside this, you need to make sure that you are sharing fresh content regularly.
Regular new posts on a blog, for example, can be identified by search engines and will be part of what contributes to your website’s scoring from the ever-changing algorithms.
Plan a content schedule to factor in brand stories and known events which are scheduled, such as holidays. On top of this, your readers and followers will appreciate and be intrigued by what you have to say with content relating to discussions in wider society or the industry.
Sourcing Relevant Content in Current Affairs
It is relatively easy to keep up with national and regional news through the TV, radio, internet and so on. Current affairs, big news stories and often international news will contain something that brands can tag on to, for which they can create relevant content for the brand and readership.
Remember, not all content needs to be long-form in the style of web pages or blogs.
Sometimes, a simple emoji response in a retweet can have the desired effect. Be creative, but remember, the news is usually quite time-sensitive, and what is big on Monday morning might not be so big by Thursday.
To ensure that any news which is directly relevant to your industry doesn’t slip through the net, you can get up Google alerts for whenever your chosen phrase is mentioned in news articles. This also means that any kind of unusual but relevant content can come straight to your inbox for you to decide whether it is worth shouting about.
Social Media
Social Media is a fantastic platform to find out more about the hot topics of discussion, right when they are happening. From a business perspective, if you are trying to find fresh content to write about and look into, there are top names in many industries active across Twitter and LinkedIn who have plenty to say about a particular subject.
Look up influential figures and top names within your industry and see if they have a Twitter account. Sometimes, these leaders will share their thoughts and opinions on topics in their industry and beyond. Occasionally, there will be a golden nugget of information or a discussion point which you feel needs discussing or explaining.
If you feel like joining the conversation, you could have your say with a response to their Tweets, too!
You can use any key information you find to help you broaden your research, whether it be into the creation of new marketing materials or white papers, or even to start a discussion amongst your own followers.
There is likely to be an abundance of Hashtags linking to Twitter discussions from industry leaders, so have a look through what’s being said and find out people’s perspectives on it. Even just by looking through a couple of these, you can find a wealth of information to work with and stem other ideas from.
On LinkedIn, you can look up hashtags of topics relating to your interests and industries, and follow them. This way, you can keep abreast of activity across the industry and beyond your current connections.
If you particularly enjoy content from a particular person, then you can follow or connect with them. Plus, if you feel like you would like to develop a discussion further, you could then chat with them.
The great thing about LinkedIn is that there are professionals from all levels of endless industries. In fact, by the end of 2018, there were 590 million LinkedIn users worldwide, so whatever the niche area is where you are seeking fresh and relevant content, you are likely to find some, or at least someone to chat to.
Listen to Podcasts
Podcast listening has exploded recently, and with a look through any available podcast library, it is clear to see that people will sit and chat about almost anything. Both in business and just for fun, the better-renowned podcasts often feature guests who are industry experts or well-known.
With this in mind, it may be worth looking for some podcasts which are relevant to your interests, or the industry you work in, and finding out if any big names are guests, or hosting them. You may be pleasantly surprised and come away with a little more insight into topics of interest. Similar to talk shows on the radio, most podcast content is fresh and discusses what is happening in the present, so they are a great tool for sourcing relevant content to power your fresh content strategy,
Thriving with Fresh and Relevant Content
In this blog, we have provided a selection of easy ways to identify new areas to help with the creation of relevant content that your audiences will be better inclined to interact with.
Stand out by reacting as efficiently as possible to news and announcements, and stay on top of new and changing trends to stay at the forefront of the conversation.
If you have any long-form content which you need proofreading fast, at Express Proofreading, we can turn around a document in as little as 6 hours. This way, you can be sure that the content you are sharing is not only fresh but spot on with grammar, spelling and syntax. As much as you need to be keen to get your perspective on the latest news, it is equally important that the quality of your communications doesn’t drop, so obtain an instant proofreading quote today and we can work together to get your content out there fast.