Creating and developing Good Content is only the beginning. The New Functions of You require that you think about the timing of a piece, too:
- Timing. When do your readers want to hear from you?
- Frequency. How often do they want to hear from you?
There’s an art to this and it makes a huge difference to how your content is received. The secret is that it’s not up to you. Again, it’s about your audience.
Timing
Good Content is not just about what you create—it’s also about when you deliver it. The right information, delivered at the right time, is powerful. The opposite is true, too. Trying to connect at the wrong time will yield weak results and may actually damage the authority that you are trying to build.
This goes for any type of content. You can probably think of a time when you’ve read a book, listened to music, or watched a movie—one that you knew that everyone liked—and you were just not into it. Maybe your instincts were correct and it really wasn’t for you. But, what about those times when you came back to it a few years later, in a different state of mind, and you enjoyed it?
The differentiating factor? Timing. What hit the wrong note yesterday is suddenly compelling today.
Timing is everything. It’s a cliché for a reason. Your audience has to be in the right state of mind to connect with you. The frustrating part is that it’s not up to you to decide when that happens. You don’t get a say in it. Your audience calls the shots.
As an educator, this is one of your biggest challenges. You often function as a guide and you face an audience with varying skill levels and prior experience. Your job is to sequence the content so that a student can gain from a linear progression. Content in context. If you are guiding students in a physical classroom, you have some control over the timing, flow, and pace of the information you deliver. On the Web, you have less control.
How do you know when and how often your audience wants to hear from you? If you’re just starting, you probably don’t. So, you experiment. Try launching pieces at different times. When do you get the most engagement? When are the “dead zones?”
There is a lot of research about the best time to post to social channels. These suggestions can serve as a good set of guidelines. But, you will begin to find your own optimal times as you engage with your audience.
Of course, if you have developed a nice, bi-directional connection with your core audience, you can always ask your readers directly about their preferences.
Frequency
There’s one simple rule here—exercise restraint. With every piece of content you share, you are developing your brand. Social media provides an unfettered platform, but some people treat that as challenge to pump out as much content as they can. No thought goes unexpressed.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Post too much and you will actually start to disadvantage your content. It becomes noise. Noise won’t get you noticed—even if it’s Good Content.
You’ll have to find the rate and frequency that works for you. Again, you’re writing for your audience, not yourself. Try different strategies, but settle on something that works for your readers, not you. It will build trust, reliability, and strengthen your connection to your audience.
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Timing and frequency are an important part of your overall content strategy. Have a plan. Build your authority by being reliable.
For help in planning your content strategy, please see the rest of the Good Content Series at http://bit.ly/GoodContentSeries.
About Michael Boezi
Michael Boezi is an Independent Advisor and Content Strategist, specializing in helping authors and publishers make the Shift to Digital. He is a longtime publishing veteran who has always been at the forefront of the industry by applying the lessons of the traditional to the process of innovation, mixing the ideal with the practical. He was Vice President of Content and Community at Flat World Knowledge, where he was responsible for all aspects of content acquisition and development, and built a catalog of 100+ peer-reviewed, openly licensed college textbooks across various subjects. Prior to that, he published history books at Pearson Education. He writes a blog about current issues and trends in the EdTech industry, which you can find at http://michaelboezi.com, along with a full portfolio and more detail on consulting services for content creators, content owners, and investors. Connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+.
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