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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Creating Content That Builds Your Brand Authority with Maria Duron

by | Apr 6, 2018 | ContentWritingChat

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Creating Content That Builds Your Brand Authority with Maria Duron

It’s no secret that content is important.

What we publish on our blogs and anywhere else online plays a role role in building our authority as a brand.

That’s why we need to take it seriously and put the effort into creating content that truly shines.

And in this week’s #ContentWritingChat, we’re showing you how to establish your authority with the content you produce.

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Creating Content That Builds Your Brand Authority with Maria Duron

Our guest host this week was Maria Duron. She’s a marketing coach and speaker.

Q1: Why does content play such an important role in establishing your brand?

To kick off the chat, we asked everyone to share why content is so important for our brands. Here are a few of the responses we received so you can see just how valuable content can be:

As Maria pointed out, your content is an opportunity for people to sample your character. They get to know who you are through your blog posts, videos, and social media posts.

Jason said content is your voice, your personality, how people will judge you, and how they’ll decide whether or not to follow you. It’s essential for building your brand online.

As Bill said, your brand is the perception others have of you. You’re truly missing out if you aren’t publishing content that showcases your expertise.

Content helps readers understand what you do, while also building trust with them.

Lexie pointed out that content helps build authority and trust when you can provide content your readers find useful. When you do this, they’re more likely to come back time and time again.

Amanda agrees that content is all about trust!

Through the content you produce, you can position yourself as an expert in your industry.

Megan said content is how your target audience gets to know you. They can learn all about your brand’s personality and values this way.

Q2: What does it mean to have content that builds your brand authority?

So, what exactly can content do for you? Here’s what you need to know:

Maria’s advice is to know what your unique promise of value is. Determine what makes you unique and incorporate that into the content you publish. Think about why people go to you and how you can help them.

As Julia said, you can’t build your brand with crap content. You need to put your best work out there to build a loyal audience.

Lexie knows that great content is going to stick with your audience for a long time.

Sarah also agrees that great content will stick with people and help them remember you.

Your content is also an opportunity to showcase your skills. Amanda said the work you publish should also move people to act, to think, and to change their own lives for the better.

Content is essential in helping your brand emerge as a leader in the industry.

Q3: What are the key elements every piece of amazing content should have?

Now that you know the importance of content, we need to talk about what makes your content truly great. These are the key elements that everything you publish needs to have:

As Maria pointed out, your content needs to be spoken or written in your brand’s voice.

Gaby feels great content serves a purpose, offers value, is consistent with brand values, is relevant, communicates the brand’s USP, and generates engagement.

Maria knows that content is all about providing value to your audience. Her trifecta consists of consistency, value, and relevancy.

Jason knows it’s important to educate your reader. You want them to take something away from the content they’ve consumed.

Your content should provide value to your reader. You can do this by educating them on an industry topic, providing a how-to on a product or service, or giving them a solution to their problem.

Make sure you’re giving people an answer they’re searching for, while also being relevant and tapping into their emotions. As Sarah said, your work should inspire readers to take action.

Great content should be helpful, thorough, visually appealing, and easy to repurpose.

Lexie knows that good grammar is important! Your blog posts should also be easy to read.

Make sure your content is always actionable and scannable. Amanda knows that wasting your readers’ time is a big no-no.

Q4: How can storytelling play a role in creating content that establishes your brand authority?

How does storytelling come into play for your brand? Check out these responses from the chat:

As Maria pointed out, stories sell. That’s why they’re worth incorporating into your content strategy.

She suggests using the children’s book formula. “Once Upon a Time” sets the stage for something that happened where you were able to save the day. “Suddenly” addresses any obstacles or issues that were experienced along the way. “Luckily” details how you were able to save the day or solve the problem.

Instead of focusing on what you do, your story tells the audience WHY you do it.

Gene feels storytelling is an opportunity for transparency and vulnerability.

You can use stories to give your audience more background to provide them with a better understand of your brand. This can be key in building a relationship with them.

Storytelling is a great way to keep your audience engaged.

Even Julia sees the value in storytelling, as she uses this tactic to start off her blog posts.

Q5: What does your brand-building content marketing strategy look like?

We asked everyone to share what their content strategy looks like and here’s what a few of them had to say:

It’s all about getting to know your audience first! As Lexie said, you need to determine what your audience wants from you and how you can help.

Researching your target persona is an essential first step in creating content that’s relevant to them.

Julia’s content strategy includes a number of steps, which all starts with surveying her audience.

Carla shared some great advice about reviewing questions your audience has been asking. You can then provide answers through your email newsletters, blog posts, etc.

Honesty and delivering what your audience wants are two key features of great content.

Q6: Once you’ve published new content, how can you spread the word to get more traction on the work you created?

Your blog post is live, now what? These tips will help you get more traffic to your posts:

Maria’s advice is to use your established social media networks to spread the word. Think about where your audience is and share your work there.

One great way to get more traction is to send your new blog post to your email list.

Social media, email campaigns, and guest blogging are just a few great ideas that Narmadhaa shared with us.

Make sure you’re choosing the right social media platforms so you can actually reach your audience.

Don’t be afraid to share your content again shortly after the first post. You want to get as many eyes on your post as possible.

You can even go live on Facebook and do a little teaser of your new blog post. Share a few tips from the post to entice them, then lead them to your post to read the rest.

Don’t forget to contact anyone who was featured in the post. Odds are, they’ll want to share it with their audience too.

Share your content repeatedly to spread the word. You can also experiment with different hashtags to see what gets the best results.

Q7: How will you know if you’re seeing the desired results from the content you create? What does successful content actually look like?

To determine whether or not you content is a hit, keep this advice in mind:

What’s your end goal? As Maria pointed out, you need to know what you’re working to achieve in order to track the right metrics.

Kathryn’s steps include defining your goals, taking action, measuring your results, and then seeing how your content performed.

When you know where you want to go, you’ll be able to understand if you’re getting closer.

Keep an eye on engagement, as this can be a great indicator of success if your mission was to spark conversation.

For many people, they want to see those conversions rolling in.

As Jade said, many times it’s all about the sales or leads you’re generating.

Every piece of content you produce can have a different view of success. Eddie said it could be page views, comments, email sign-ups, etc. It all depends what you’re working toward.

Q8: Which brands create stand-out content in their industry? And what can we learn from them?

These brands are worth watching to draw inspiration from! Make sure you check them out:

Disney and Cinnabon are two brands that stand out to Maria.

Lexie kindly mentioned our team here at Express Writers!

Amanda is a fan of Buffer, ConvertKit, and Teachable.

For Julia, some of her favorites include BuzzSumo, Content Marketing Institute, CoSchedule, and Smart Blogger HQ.

Narmadhaa reads content from Buffer, SEMrush, and Express Writers.

Some of Terry’s go-to brands include Gary Vaynerchuk, Pat Flynn, and Marie Forleo.

Come join the fun! #ContentWritingChat happens every Tuesday at 10 AM Central on Twitter! Just follow @ExpWriters and @writingchat for all the latest.

Tags: brand authority