Do you ever get a feeling of déjà vu on social media?
Sometimes it feels like all blog posts have began to look a little similar. Headlines always promise 7 tips that will transform your company – or else threaten 8 mistakes that will destroy it. No one ever promises tips that will make a teeny, weeny little bit of difference.
Everyone writes in lists. Everyone has a piece of advice. And everyone uses the exact same 10 stock photos of a guy in a business suit, no matter what they’re writing about. Maybe they feel they know him because they’ve seen him somewhere before….
So how do you differentiate yourself and your company, when blog writing (and by extension much of social media, where people link to blogs) has become so formulaic?
It’s a difficult question, because the reason all these gimmicks have become so popular is that they work! (Well, other than the stock photo.) So this is not going to be one of those posts where I urge you to throw caution to the wind, stop using numbered lists and tips, and start blogging about what you had for breakfast.
In fact, I’m going to use numbers and tips right here. But I do think that there are ways to make sure that you do not resemble everyone else out there without completely breaking the formula – and that in an increasingly competitive online environment, it is crucial that you do so.
All of this, by the way, is just as important for Twitter, G+ and other social media platforms as it is for blogs.
Here goes.
1. Go niche. If you’re writing about the exact same things as your competitors, it will be much harder to stand out. By finding your own niche in your sector, you will already be doing things differently.
As I wrote last week, it is counter-intuitive, but the narrower your subject matter, the better chance you have of it gaining a solid following – and going viral.
A great example from my own sector, social media, is Jon Loomer, who writes about Facebook marketing, and nothing else. He stands out because he is an expert on one particular subject in a very broad field. If you want to run an ad on Facebook, he is your go-to man.
If you’re trying to appeal to everyone, you will end up appealing to no one.
2. Develop your individual voice. Some companies are scared of sounding anything other than business-like and proper. This doesn’t necessarily mean that their blog posts are jargon-filled or hard to read. It just means that they lack real personality.
It can take time, but don’t be afraid to let your own style come through. This might mean writing with a particular tone or sense of humour, starting off every piece with an anecdote or preferring video tips. Whatever it is, by moving away from a rigidly corporate style, you will become different from 99% of the other blogs out there.
Take, for example, Smitten Kitchen – a food blog and a model of content marketing (she is selling a recipe book). If you followed the blog, you would never mistake the writing of its author, Deb, for any other food blogger.
She introduces every recipe with a longish story about the way it developed, evoking the tastes and smells of her kitchen, recording the exact moment in which a so-so recipe suddenly felt just right. She writes colloquially, much the way she (presumably) speaks, making readers feel she is talking directly to them.
Although there are tens of thousands of other food blogs, one of the reasons hers caught on was that her writing inspired others.
3. Get personal. This is not the same as the previous point, which is about writing style; nor is it for everyone. What if you actually wrote about yourself – your own experiences and thoughts – and perhaps even put yourself at the centre of your blog?
Take Deb of Smitten Kitchen again. She could have just written about what the food tastes like and what different variations of the recipes she tries. But instead, her blog is full of anecdotes about whether her husband and son like her food, and she constantly relates her own thoughts, likes and dislikes. She is marketing herself and her lifestyle as much as the food.
By making your writing personal, you are immediately differentiated from the competition, because your blog becomes strongly identified with a personality (rather than a product or service). Most importantly, it gives you lots of opportunities to write in an intimate, relatable way.
This works best if you are a founder or CEO and your company is identified with you anyway, or if you are trying to build up a personal following.
It can also work if you’re an employee, but then perhaps your company might prefer to have a team writing in this style, so that their blog does not become overly identified with one staff member (who will inevitably leave just when the blog gets popular).
The downside is that many people do not want to mix their personal and professional lives, nor do they like the exposure.
4. Be opinionated. Don’t be afraid to express strong opinions about your area of expertise. Taking a stand moves you away from bland, towards memorable.
Here’s Jon Loomer, for example, on the ways in which brands “screw up” some of Facebook’s best features. He argues that companies shouldn’t complain when Facebook makes changes they don’t like, because their own misuse is to blame.
The controversial way in which he framed his piece ensures that he stands out, even though his post is actually not so different to many others’, in that it seeks to educate its audience about best practise.
This is also good on Twitter: Instead of just posting links to blog posts, why don’t you tell your readers what you think of the content?
5. Sometimes, break the mould. We all know that lists and how-to guides are popular. But you know what? Not every post has to be like that.
Sometimes it’s okay to write an opinion piece on something topical. Sometimes it’s okay to write a how-to guide that isn’t broken up into a list. Sometimes, your headline doesn’t have to include a number!
You need to mix it up a little if you’re going to stand out.
Take this post I wrote in January about whether commentators took Pinterest less seriously (until recently) because it was regarded as a ‘women’s platform’.
Unlike most of our posts, it isn’t particularly useful for our readership. It’s just a question I thought needed to be aired, which I didn’t see addressed anywhere else. And our readers loved it – it was widely shared.
It’s quite possible that these posts will not get the same traffic as your more conventional posts. On the other hand, you will keep yourself fresh, you might strike a chord with a particular audience, and perhaps discover a wonderful style that is uniquely yours, and that actually works better than any convention.
You must not be afraid to experiment – be individual! As Monty Python puts it so well….
6. Create your own visuals. Stock photography is cheap and convenient, so everyone uses it (yes, guilty as charged).
But the result is that you look just like everyone else, and this is just as important as your style of writing when seeking to attract a regular following.
That chap Jon Loomer? He produces his own visuals for his posts, every single time. They have a particular colour scheme – orange – and usually feature a headshot of himself, staring pensively into the distance or expectantly, directly at the reader.
As a result, his blog branding is extremely strong.
This does take a bit of effort and is perhaps not for every post. But you can produce your own visuals at sites like canva.com for minimal cost, and once you’ve got the hang of it, it really doesn’t take more than a few minutes.
The best part? It’s fun!
7. Be outstanding. You know, even if you stick to every convention in the book, there is still one way you can stand out: be great at it! The sad reality is that much of the content being produced online is not that useful, not that inspiring, not that helpful.
Just by doing it well, you will already be different from much of your competition.
Do you struggle to stand out in social media? What are your tips for not looking just like everyone else? Please share your tricks in the comments!
Miriam Shaviv is director of content at Brainstorm Digital
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- 9 ways to make your content more viral
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