If you’re anything like me, you lived for English and Social Studies back in high school and HATED when the bell rang for Math or Science.

While math is still on my “to-be-avoided-at-all-costs” list, I’ve come to love data and analytics.

Show me the numbers…but only if I don’t have to mentally calculate something. If you feel me on this, shoot me a DM on Instagram because I’d love to know I’m not alone with this one.

BUT ANYWHO as a marketer, I’ve learned just how instrumental science and data can be to strengthening your marketing efforts, so I’ve learned to love it. Let’s dive in, shall we?

When your small business produces content that’s share-worthy, you’re increasing the likelihood of people reading, saving, and of course, sharing your content.

With high readability and engagement, your content will lead to increased traffic to your website and ultimately more lead generation which equates to more customers. 

But we all know this already, right? So how do we actually DO it?

We integrate marketing foundations with behavioral science.

Here’s a crash course on how to create content with Marketing Foundations in mind:

• Write for your ideal customer avatar. You should be speaking directly to the people who you know will want to read what you’ve written.
• Use visuals effectively – both in text and on social media – so that your reader can get a better understanding of the information you’re conveying.
• Share interesting facts about your business or product that may not be readily apparent.
• Use testimonials from satisfied customers to bolster your conversion content.
• Offer exclusive insight that no one else in your industry is offering.

Now the fun part – optimizing your content with behavioral science!

• Finding 1: Your customers don’t like to put in effort so writing “Learn” in your title can be discouraging and off-putting. An alternative would be to change it to “Discover” as this taps into the hardwired human quest for novelty.
  
  Maybe that’s why we all loved scavenger hunts as a kid – an inherent need to discover!
  
• Finding 2: People want to follow and learn from people – not businesses. If you don’t trust me on this, let’s look to Donald Miller. This dude has more than 22x the amount of Twitter followers as his company, StoryBrand.
  
  TWENTY-TWO TIMES. I told you I hate math, but these numbers are hard to miss.
  
• Finding 3: Use negations (no, never, don’t) in your sentences. It makes you sound more powerful and people will engage/recommend you 18% more.
  
  Here’s an example of how you can negate a simple sentence: “Remember to buy” changes to “Don’t forget to buy” – easy right?

If this type of research intrigues you, I HIGHLY recommend you grab a copy of Using Behavioral Science in Marketing: Drive Customer Action and Loyalty by Prompting Instinctive Responses by Nancy Harhut.

It was just released this month and WOW, I can’t put it down.

I connected with the author over on LinkedIn (power of social media at its finest) and asked her to recommend her favorite books on this topic as well.

She suggested I pick up a copy of Unleash Your Primal Brain: Demystifying How We Think and Why We Act by Tim Ask (currently on its way to my house – thanks Amazon) and What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: Unlocking Consumer Decisions with the Science of Behavioral Economics by Melina Palmer (currently on my birthday wishlist for my parents to get me LOL).

Needless to say – you and I both have some serious reading to do. 

But let’s get back to that share-worthy content. We’ve created a strategic, share-worthy piece of content and now it’s time to distribute it!

Where To Publish Share-Worthy Content As A Small Business Owner

Once an initial piece of content is produced, you’re going to want to repurpose it and get the most bang for your buck out of it. 

Some of the most common methods for repurposing content is to share it on blogs, social media platforms, and podcasts.

Below you’ll find a few suggestions as to how you should publish and distribute your content effectively. 

• STEP ONE: Write a blog post about a topic that is relevant to your small business. This could be anything from tips for starting a successful business, to insights on the latest trends in your industry.
• STEP TWO: Contribute this content to an online magazine or website that covers your industry. This will give you the opportunity to share your expertise with a wide audience, and find new leads and customers as a result.
• STEP THREE: Take part in online discussion forums – think Reddit, Facebook Groups, etc. – related to your industry to discuss the main topic of your content in greater detail. This will give you the opportunity to connect with like-minded small business owners and gather market research.
• STEP FOUR: Develop video content surrounding the key points mentioned in your informational blog post. Once produced you can distribute the full-length video content to social media platforms such as YouTube and LinkedIn. Then chop the video into segments and share it as an Instagram Reel or TikTok video.

For more content creation and repurposing tips, download a free copy of my Content Creation Planning Kit. It lays out the full blueprint for being successful with content marketing.