“If you get out-communicated, over time you will lose.” — Gary Vee

So how do you avoid getting “out-communicated”? By sharing content that brings value and serves your audience, aka Content Marketing.

Here’s 5 simple topics you could try covering to serve your audience well:

1. Lend your expertise. Host a Q&A session via an Instagram post, Stories, or IG live and offer to answer any questions at all that could help your audience. 

2. What is something people don’t know about what you have to offer? There’s always a part of what we do that’s hard to explain or we never give enough time to. Now’s your chance.

3. What’s the most frequently asked question you receive about your product or service? Answer this in detail.

4. What has been your most popular Instagram post to date? Reshare this image and tell more about the story behind it, why it resonated with people, are there other things similar to it that you can share? 

5. Who’s the face behind the business? Yes, that probably means YOU. Let people know more about the person whose business they’ll be supporting if they decide to work with you or buy from you.

Similarly, think about the types of things you typically DON’T show on social media, and ask yourself WHY?

In the same way we add a filter to our images and stories when sharing on social media, we often also filter what we share.

Sometimes that’s a good thing; for example you might decide to not share images of your children, or to refrain from expressing political views. Having solid brand rules or guidelines to help you determine what to say on social is really important.

But how often do you hold off on posting because the subject matter or content doesn’t feel “perfect” or “polished” enough? 

What if I told you much of what you hold off on posting is what people actually want to hear about, see and read the MOST?

Think about your favourite accounts you follow. I bet you love them because of their HONESTY.

Here’s 5 topics to cover to help connect with your audience:

1. Being yourself; letting people know who you are, quirks and all—the person behind the business. Let your client or customer in on whose dream it is they’re supporting by investing in you!

2. Your process; all of the work it really takes to deliver your service or product. (Remember: The easiest way to justify PRICE is through sharing your PROCESS.)

3. Your failures; be human and share your fails and let it be a lesson to your followers on how to overcome challenges—while also showing your resilience.

4. Your team; no one expects you to do it alone! Celebrate the village it takes to help you do what you do, whether that’s your employees, partner, child carers, mentors and so on.

5. Life beyond the laptop; as an entrepreneur you no doubt spend endless hours sat with a cup of coffee and a computer screen, but you also have a circle of influence you engage with. Celebrate these people and you’ll inadvertently find it’s also a great marketing strategy! (If you want to understand what your “circle of influence” is, I’ve linked to a previous blog post I’ve written on this topic in my bio.)

My challenge to you: Next time you go to delete a piece of content you considered posting ask yourself WHY? Are you deleting it because it doesn’t align with your brand values? Or are you deleting it because it’s not perfect enough?