You aren’t just posting to your social media to post, are you?

Oh, you are. Well, then this blog post is for you because nowadays, posting just to post isn’t going to cut it. You are competing with millions of other people who are also sharing their creative content. Now, I don’t share this to scare you off. I share this with you because it is essential to remember.

I attended a Pinterest training last week and this is one statistic that she gave when it comes to social media platforms and search engines.

You only have 1.8 seconds to capture the attention of someone who is seeing your content.

ONLY 1.8 SECONDS

Now again, this isn’t meant to scare you. It is meant to show you the importance of planning your content and knowing the objectives you are trying to achieve with the content you are sharing.

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING YOUR OBJECTIVES FOR YOUR CONTENT

Objectives help to keep us on track. Not only that, they give us a focus for all of the things that we are working on and trying to accomplish.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a goal-setter. I absolutely love setting goals. I feel more organized and focused on the things that matter. By setting goals, I am staying focused on the different objectives that my content has.

Why is setting goals so important when it comes to your content?

We can get caught up in the trap of new trends. That we need to constantly show up doing the new thing. When we don’t have goals set, it means that we are continually changing what we are doing.

Now, I am not saying that hopping on the latest trend is a bad thing. What I am saying though is that when you are constantly jumping from new thing to new thing, you aren’t keeping a focus on the goals of your content. You are letting that shiny new thing take over.

Setting goals for your content doesn’t mean that you can’t try new ways to share your content or new ways of creating your content but it means that you are going to keep your focus and keep moving in the direction in which you are going.

3 REASONS WHY SETTING GOALS IS IMPORTANT

1. It shows you what is important to you. When it comes to your business, think about why it is important to you. Why are you doing what you are doing? Keeping that in mind is going to help you to set goals when it comes to your content and also your business.

2. Knowing your content goals keeps you accountable. Goals are a great way to stay on track when you are working on something. There are going to be moments when you feel defeated and just want to give up. Knowing your goals is going to help with this.

3. Goals help us to measure our success. How will we know if things are working if we have no way to measure them? Goals help you measure the actions that you are taking.

Now it is time to compare the different objectives that you can focus on when it comes to your creative content and the different goals that you can set to reach those objectives.

DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES TO FOCUS ON WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR CREATIVE CONTENT

Here we are, ready to dive in on the different objectives that we can create when it comes to our creative content.

If you are ready to create your own creative content objectives, use this planner that I have created to help you get clear on what you are working towards.

OBJECTIVE #1: BRAND AWARENESS

When it comes to your creative content, this is going to be your main objective and goal that you want to work towards. You want people to know, recognize, and connect with your brand. If no one knows who you are or who your brand is, you are going to have trouble with all other aspects of your business.

To build your brand awareness, here are a few ideas you can use to set specific objectives when it comes to your creative content. Here are ways to help you build your blogging brand.

1. Collaborate. Think of collaborating with one to two different people, brands, or businesses per month. This is going to help you to get in front of new audiences.

2. Share your story. To build your brand, you must share the story behind your brand. This is why blogging is beneficial. You can give them a sneak peek into who you are as a brand. You can think of podcast interviews here. This is a great way to connect with people by sharing your story and talking about what you know.

Different goal ideas for objective number one:

• Be on one podcast per month
• Do a guest blog post once per month
• Be a guest speaker on an online summit three times a year

OBJECTIVE #2: CLIENT RESEARCH

If you are anything like me, you think that you know your target audience when you are first starting out. I had my whole avatar planned out and I was talking to her.

Or so I thought.

What I realized through my insights on all my different social media platforms was that who was showing up for my content was someone that was never even on my radar. This makes it objective number two for creative content.

Every business owner will tell you that in order to succeed, you must know who you are talking to. Here are a few ideas you can use to set specific objectives when it comes to your creative content in regard to client research.

1. Check your insights monthly. I find as entrepreneurs, we can get consumed by the numbers so this is why I say check them once a month. This will help to give you an overview of what worked and what didn’t over the past month. Plus you can see who is showing up to your content.

2. Look to see what is working for those also in your niche. This doesn’t mean copying them. It means looking to see what they are doing.

I remember in the small business program that I was in, we were given names of small local businesses and we were told to look them up on social media. We were to compare if they were showing up on social media, compare all of their social media platforms to see if their message was the same and write down where we thought they could improve.

It was a really great exercise to make sure that my own content had the same message throughout and that my brand messaging was actually being made. From the list we made of the small business that we looked at, I was able to use that as my own research and look at my own brand more objectively. Try it with someone in your niche and see what you can come up with and compare it to your own brand.

Different goal ideas for objective number two:

• Research 2-3 brands each month to see what they are doing with their content
• Ask a question to your audience once a week to get feedback from them and to get to know them
• Try new content once a week to see what they like best

OBJECTIVE #3: BUILD A COMMUNITY

I didn’t realize how important a community was until I started blogging. Without even realizing it, I built a community of women who supported me and cheered me on even though I never met them in person. Some of them I did eventually meet in person and they are still in my life to this day.

Community is so important to have when it comes to building a business. Your creative content is going to help you to bring those people to you. Here are some more tips to help build your audience.

To build your brand community, here are a few ideas you can use to set specific objectives when it comes to your creative content.

1. Share your story. Being vulnerable is a great way to build a community. This isn’t the only way but sharing pieces of our story is going to help bring those who connect with us and our story.

2. Be yourself. The biggest mistake I see is when others try to copy someone else. There were moments when I caught myself doing the same thing. It isn’t going to work. You need to showcase who you are and what makes you different.

Different goal ideas for objective number three:

• Once a month reach out directly to a current client and ask how they are doing
• Once a month, feature a current client or customer on your social media
• Create an affiliate program or a reward program for clients who come back

OBJECTIVE #4: ANSWER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Every business has them. Questions that come up time and time again. Your creative content is going to help you give an answer to these questions.

Whether you are blogging and giving an in-depth answer or you are covering an answer in a social media post, this is a great objective for all of your creative content. Here is a blog post where I answered FAQ about blogging.

Here are a few ideas you can use to set specific objectives on your FAQ regarding your creative content.

1. Get to know your followers and clients. This is going to be a starting place when it comes to your FAQ. Getting to know them is going to give you a chance to open up communication.

2. Increase your online visibility. By answering the questions of your current and future clients, you are helping to increase your online visibility. Showing up on your blog and on your social media platforms is going to be beneficial.

Different goal ideas for objective number four:

• Create a series on a social media platform where you answer FAQ
• Go live weekly or monthly to answer questions live
• Create a follow-up with clients to see if they had any questions come up along the journey of working with you

Knowing your objectives for your creative content will help you create goals to reach those objectives, keep you focused on the growth of your business, and create creative content that your audience is going to love.

If you want help staying organized with all of your creative content, grab one of my planners to help you.

If you need help with your content, I would love to help you. I offer blogging services, social media services, and strategy sessions to help you create your creative content.