Here's why pre-written captions suck...
The stories you share online is your chance to draw people under your tent...
...don’t squander that opportunity!
I love all the magical and wonderful surprises that spam email offers me on a daily basis.
If the sarcasm in the above statement wasn’t apparent, let me point out that I was being sarcastic in the above statement, :)
The other day I was steamrolling through my inbox and noticed a random message from a marketing company - I already forgot the name because I couldn’t delete it fast enough.
Anywho…
Before I chucked it in the trash, I did spend 30 seconds reading their pitch, since, you know, emails like this provide inspirational ammunition for me to create articles like this, :)
And boy, what an interesting pitch it was.
For a monthly fee, they would offer me the chance to download pre-written captions for social media posts. They’d also attach a series of “relevant” hashtags for the industry in which you specialize.
Oh boy - where do we start with this?
Although the intention of this service is in the right place, the way they plan to execute is not in the best interests of those they serve.
In fact, it can be harmful to their overall, online presences.
What’s the problem - it’s just a couple posts, right?
Well, when you post your content on social or in a blog article, this is your unique opportunity to present your expertise and thoughts in your own voice.
This content attracts members to your audience based on the way you present who you are, who you serve and why you do what you do. You’re illustrating your expertise and showing off your magic tricks to those who need those magic tricks in their lives to help them get past what’s holding them back.
Your content and engagement on social creates connection, rapport and, ultimately, trust with those who need you most. It’s not a short-term thing. This is a long-game played out over time.
That trust will pay dividends once those people decide to take the leap and invest in your specialized services.
As a result, you’re in the business of building relationships - and canned, generic captions does more harm than help to serve you in achieving these goals.
I’m not sure what types of responses this service provides, but, if it’s not your voice and thoughts, what exactly are you posting anyway?
And why are you posting? Just to have something attached to your name online? Is that the best route to go in order to build visibility for your thought leadership?
Also to consider - what types of people will you attract when other people are putting words in your mouth? Is this how you want to be perceived by those you serve?
BEFORE I GO FURTHER DOWN THIS RABBIT HOLE...
Does this mean that you shouldn’t hire help to create consistent social media content and blog articles?
Absolutely not - business owners are busy people and we need all the help we can get. With this in mind, I completely understand the motivation behind hiring a service like this.
In fact, I know several speakers, authors and coaches who hire a marketing service that helps support them with their online content.
The key difference between their option and the one that was sent unsolicited to my inbox on a random Wednesday morning is that these services conduct lengthy interviews where they repackage YOUR OWN WORDS into the content that you need.
That’s a gigantic difference from being handed a pre-written script and posting them as is.
The canned responses, quite frankly, miss the mark.
Keep that in mind when you seek support with creating social media content and blog articles - look for options that incorporate your voice, insights, and expertise DIRECTLY into the stories that you share, otherwise…
...you’re just burning money and adding to the massive amount of noise that already exists online.
Now, if you’d like help with figuring out how to create endless amount of ideas that can be expanded into social and blog articles on your own, I can help you with that.
I offer a 1:1 service, The Idea Nugget Incubator Program, which helps speakers, authors and coaches to look within their own expertise, businesses and lives to identify interesting ideas, thoughts and moments and translate that to compelling and inspiring content that creates a memorable and referable online presence.
Want more info on it? Check it out here.
PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you, because I care, :)