How leaders can master digital content

So you want to make an impact with your digital content and share your expertise with the world, but don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place – doing these four things will help your content shine.

The world is becoming more digital by the day. Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok allow our content to reach potential audiences of millions. In the not too distant future, we’ll be experiencing digital content in the metaverse.

After all, if we can host a fashion week in Web3 there’s no reason we can’t immerse ourselves in a VR blog too, right? In today’s world, digital is the primary way to produce content that makes an impact.

Whilst some industry leaders have been quick to turn digital content to their advantage, many still struggle to realise the benefits or identify where they can add value. And who can blame them? Fortunately, help is at hand.

Be authentic

It’s a simple instruction that many struggle to carry out. Why? Because for many years, conventional branding wisdom held that curated perfection was the way to an audience’s heart. But being authentic – including embracing your flaws – is a crucial factor in building trust with your audience. For certain audiences, it’s the most important thing you can do and they’ll sniff out any insincerity in a heartbeat. 

Being authentic means putting yourself out there, and few leaders do that better than Grace Beverley. The CEO of activewear label TALA and workout app Shreddy uses social media to build connections with her sizable audience of followers through Instagram stories, candid vlogs and behind-the-scenes content.

Grace’s pursuit of authenticity has translated into business success as well as social stardom. TALA secured £4.2m in funding early in 2022 as young gym-goers become increasingly interested in the provenance of their activewear and seek out authentic brands to buy from.

Show your expertise

If you’re a leader in your industry, chances are that you have an expertise in the area and as such, people are looking to you for advice. If you’re sharing your expertise candidly and regularly then you’re showing your audience that they can rely on you: people like reliability.

Peter Lochbihler of Booking.com knows that well. His incisive piece about the travel sector’s relationship to shifting attitudes around globalisation is both informative and consistent in its messaging. It showcases his knowledge of the topic, whilst also being a useful resource for other people in the industry.

Value quality over quantity

It’s easy to get disheartened when you see LinkedIn posts garnering hundreds of comments or TikTok videos boasting millions of views. We’re led to believe that digital success only happens when the big numbers roll in, but that’s not always the case.

The quality of your engagement is more important than the quantity. Meaningfully connecting with 20 people is far more valuable than getting hundreds of likes or page views from bots.

Plus, it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in the digital world without considering the real one. Step back from that Instagram post or that article for a second – if 20 people came up to you after a presentation and earnestly thanked you for your insights, you’d count that as a job well done. So why don’t we think the same way about our digital content?

Show personality, not product

Your audience doesn’t want to have cold facts dictated to them by a faceless company: they want to know you. They want to know your organisation and the values it embodies so that they can establish meaningful connections. You can help them do that by giving them content that peels back the branding to show them the true character of your organisation.

Karin Reiter, SVP Sustainability & ESG at The Adecco Group, gives us a masterclass in subtly showing an audience what lies beneath an organisation’s polished surface.

Her article about the importance of placing people at the centre of organisational sustainability combines emotionally-resonant language with empirical data from trusted sources that lends authority to her piece. There’s no tactless self-promotion in this piece; and yet, it gives us a window into what it might be like to work with The Adecco Group.

Keep these 4 points in mind every time you come to the keyboard and we guarantee that you’ll be dazzling your audience with content that keeps them coming back for more.