Our friends at the YEC asked twelve entrepreneurs to share how they created engaging content for their brands. Here’s what they found:
Take readers behind-the-scenes
“Even in a “dry, boring old industry,” your blog readers will be fascinated to see the hidden, behind-the-scenes vantage point of the company. Incorporate photos or video to enhance plain text blog posts, and use a variety of writers to bring in diverse perspectives from the team. And of course, post regularly to keep your audience engaged.”
– Doreen Bloch | CEO / Founder, Poshly Inc.
Go pop culture
“Using pop culture references can be a great refresher. For example, my company blog focuses on the subject of presentation and video. When Coachella featured a Tupac hologram earlier this year, the web went abuzz with questions asking if this was a new feature of presentations. Of course, we jumped on the discussion, explained some costs, and our opinions on the matter.”
– Kenny Nguyen | Founder/CEO, Big Fish Presentations
Video
“We liven up our blog by periodically creating a video-based post. Just use the webcam on your computer to speak openly about a specific subject that’s relevant to your audience. Our readers feel more connected to us when we create video posts, and the responses have been overwhelmingly positive.”
– Bhavin Parikh | CEO, Magoosh Test Prep
Stock up on case studies
“I learned the importance of stories through the book, Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath. Even when a topic is boring, people love to hear about the emotional struggles that people faced when implementing something new. For example, if you are in the concrete industry, talk about the joy your customer had when they got their driveway paved. Think about both the product and the people behind it.”
– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers
Showcase clients
“Interview your best clients for their stories about how your company gave them value, and inject some personality into the blog. Ask these clients to explain how their perception changed from boring and stuffy after working together. Even if the process is boring, get them excited about the results and share those with perspective clients on the blog.”
– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems
Become the expert
“My target market for RewardMe was restaurant and franchise owners. We were in a dry and boring industry — the customer loyalty space. Instead of exclusively blogging about customer loyalty, I decided to become an expert in local marketing. We wrote about local social marketing, restaurant hardware, and customer loyalty. We were so good that we now rank very high on search engines.”
– Jun Loayza | President, Ecommerce Rules
Shake it up!
“If you think your industry is dry and boring, you need to shake things up by coming up with ways to make it worth paying attention to. Why does it matter to you? Get personal, share success stories of people in your industry or your clients, and don’t be afraid to turn what you’re “supposed” to sound like upside down.”
– Nathalie Lussier | Creator, The Website Checkup Tool
Create internal excitement
“Get employees to blog about something that excites them. We created the “Prolific Innovation Fund” which allows everyone to purchase a mobile accessory and write a review on it. It is creating team excitement, innovation and a lot of great relevant content for our company blog.”
– Bobby Emamian | CEO, Prolific Interactive
Be unique, yet consistent
“No matter what your company does, there’s information, inspiration, and/or entertainment customers are looking for in the space. Provide something consistently valuable — and something people passionate about this space couldn’t get elsewhere — and you’ll engage your current users while finding new ones.”
– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist
Think visual
“For the average American, the crowdfunding industry and the JOBS Act may seem like an alien concepts filled with complicated, dry details. We’re currently working on an infographic to feature on our blog that will detail the impact of the JOBS Act and the widespread change the implementation of the act will bring. The visual representation of the change makes it approachable and engaging.”
– Eric Corl | President + Co-Founder, Fundable LLC
Stay up to date on trends
“Tie your business into the hottest trends. For example, anyone in any industry can blog about, ‘What Fall TV Previews Teach Us About [your industry]’ since you can take elements of fall TV previews — promotion strategy, engagement, specific show themes — and spin it for your own business. It’s all relative!”
– Melissa Cassera | President and CEO, Cassera Communications
Make others participate
“A counter-intuitive approach is to invite the other “dry, boring” players to participate in your fun. Get them excited at what you’re doing in the industry, and encourage them to participate in your blog. Feature your competitors! Be the source. Great players make the players around them better. (At my first company, I had the job of blogging in the vending machine industry. Yes, it can be done.)”
– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer
The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.