Ahh, the time has come again: my Facebook feed is swamped with hearts and clichés.
What is it about Valentine's Day that makes us all so emotional? That makes us publicly announce our deepest and warmest feelings towards our loved ones?
I guess we all want to love and feel loved. Not only on Valentine's Day, but every day.
Emotions help us connect. They help us inspire.
Want your content to connect and inspire? Here are five tips to get you started.
1. Be the first to say "I love you"
Have you ever said "I love you" to someone before they said it to you? Do you remember what that felt like? Scary, right?
If you want people to show you their love by sharing your content and commenting on it, show them some love first! You can show your love in a few different ways:
- Make sure to write in a conversational, easy-to-get way. People don't like to read things that are complicated, so make the effort to keep it simple and help them make the most out of your content.
- When someone comments on your posts or shares it, let him know how important it is to you. Don't just say "thank you for sharing," but go find something they wrote and share it in return. This way you will encourage them to come back and read and share more content in the future.
- Connect with people who might like your content on social media. Follow them on Twitter and flatter them. Look for something interesting they shared, re-tweet it and thank them for helping you discover it.
Want people to show you their love by sharing your #content & commenting? Show them some love...
Click To Tweet
2. Use lovable images
When you go on a date, you always make sure you look great.
Eventually, your date will (hopefully) fall in love with you for who you are, not just because you're good-looking - but it's the look that will make her stay to find out more about you.
Same with your content: draw your readers' attention by using great images (like the one I used at the top of this post - did you like it?). This will make them want to stick around to learn more.
Creating great images is easy. Here are 7 free tools to help you out.
3. Make them laugh
Why did the marketing couple decide not to get married?
Because they weren't on the same landing page.
Humor is always a wonderful way to connect with people. Make them laugh or smile and they will come back for more.
Click here for a collection of jokes that only marketers get
4. Innovate
Like in any relationship, don't expect your readers to stick around if you keep doing the same things. Be creative, introduce new topics, use new tools and include guest bloggers in order to keep your audience entertained and intrigued.
5. Surprise them and give them gifts
We all love gifts and gestures, especially when we don't expect them. The bigger the gesture is, the better we feel!
A few weeks ago I took part in Buffer's Twitter chat. Following the chat I was approached by Buffer's community manager, who asked for my postal address. A week later I got these:
Now I know it's only stickers, but I loved the gesture! Not only it was something I was not expecting, but she added a handwritten card as well.
A few ideas for surprises and gifts that will make your readers happy:
- Tickets for your conference.
- Free subscription to your product.
- A handwritten note.
- A T-Shirt or any other swap.
Did you love this post? Then share it to make me feel the love. Who knows - you might end up getting a surprise from us!
Happy Valentine's!