When my husband and I were on our honeymoon we decided to visit the Monte Carlo Casino. We didn’t plan on gambling much, we really just wanted to see it. But… we knew we had to do something before we left, so we made our way to the Roulette table. I mean, if you’re going to gamble, why not REALLY gamble? We put the minimum down and crossed our fingers.
No joke, we doubled our Euros in minutes. It was so unbelievable that I still remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was twelve years ago. I also remember how quickly we got out of there and put our newfound Euros toward a fancy dinner.
So why am I talking about gambling on a marketing blog?
Before social media came along, all content marketers were essentially gamblers. We tried our best to make educated guesses based on focus groups and other consumer research tools, but we could never really be sure what worked. We often felt like we were at that very Roulette table, putting content out there and hoping that it resonated with our ideal customers enough to get a big return.
Social media analytics changed the content marketing gamble into a sure thing, but I continue to be amazed at how many people don’t use one of the most important pieces of data that our social media platforms give us about our businesses: Organic post reach insights.
On any social media platform, you can go to your insights or analytics tab (depending on the platform), click on “posts” and get data about how many people saw a specific post. While this information is somewhat useful alone, if you look longitudinally over a longer time horizon (I recommend three months), you can start to notice patterns by asking yourself one important question:
What attributes do my past posts with the most reach have in common?
Once you find the answer(s) to that question (try to find least at least three common attributes), you never have to gamble with your content again. You can put out high-performing content again and again by using the attributes you identified. This is such a gift (and simple to boot)… yet as mentioned, I find that in practice it’s the most overlooked tool in a marketer’s toolkit.
Not only does knowing the attributes of your high-reach organic posts help you create more organic posts that are effective, but it also carries over into other areas as well. For example, I never try messaging in a paid ad that hasn’t had a high organic reach. Again, why gamble when my post analytics are right there in my insights?
In addition to creating better ads, you can use the lessons you learn from your high-reach content to create better marketing collateral from your website to your brochures, to your e-blasts, and more.
Now before you run off and figure out the attributes of your high-reach posts, keep these two things in mind.
- Do not mix paid content with organic content to compare reach. Obviously, your paid content will have a bigger reach but it may not have been that way had you not monetized that content. Apples do not equal oranges.
- Remember that people and their preferences change. Don’t take one longitudinal look at your post analytics and assume that you’re done. Make a habit of doing a longitudinal check once every three months and updating those common attributes if needed.
Don’t get me wrong, seeing the Monte Carlo casino was the experience of a lifetime, but it would have been even more fun had I known a win was guaranteed. When you bet on your content in the age of social media using the right tools, you can actually have that guarantee… which is “so awesome” (as my five-year-old son would say… in his cute squeaky voice).
