Content is at the heart of marketing strategies these days, but sometimes getting started is difficult. For smaller businesses without a dedicated marketing professional or team, it can be especially daunting to sit down at your computer and open a social media app only to wonder, “What do I say?”
For title professionals looking to increase their company’s brand awareness and reach more potential clients, dedicating some time to writing content is an important part of telling your brand story.
To help you with the how and the what, here are some tips on where to find inspiration for your content from my interview with Wayne Stanley of Bowe Digital. Whether your title company has a dedicated marketing professional or if you’re going it alone, try adding some of these suggestions to your company’s routine for better content creation.
How to Make Great Content
Pumping out great content doesn’t happen overnight, even for the most creative people. Stimulating creative thinking with writing prompts, cultivating a culture of sharing, and designing processes to recontextualize content can help overcome creative blocks.
Writing prompts
Title agents love what they do, but it can be difficult to explain all the complexities and legal jargon to others. Clearing a title defect may be exciting and satisfying, but it may not seem so exciting to friends at a dinner party. So, when Wayne starts working with a new client he gives them some writing prompts to think differently about what they do.
Prompt 1: If we were going to put what your company does in a fortune cookie, what would it say?
This prompt helps you inject some personality into the traditional “elevator pitch.” The responses should be short and witty.
Prompt 2: If you were going to explain your company to a pirate, how would you talk about it?
This exercise is a fun way to infuse some metaphors into your brand story. Title agents and real estate attorneys become the swashbucklers guiding (homeowner)ships across the treacherous waters of title defects.
Other ways to think about title work include the agent imagining themselves as a property detective uncovering clues in the chain of title or an archeologist digging for the missing piece of a title commitment.
It may seem silly but it’s a great way to unleash your creative thinking skills and reframe the monotony of day-to-day business activities into something memorable.
“Working Out Loud”
No matter how big your company is or if you have a team of marketing professionals, Wayne encourages professionals to make content creation a group effort. “Working out loud” means consciously building a strong collaborative culture.
The idea, formalized by John Stepper from Deutsche Bank in his book, contains five pillars:
- Make your work visible
- Lead with generosity
- Build a social network
- Make it purposeful
- Have a growth mindset
This concept can be applied to all businesses and work to strengthen the relationships between employees, especially in a remote work environment. For content creation, working out loud means the experiences of everyone on the team can become the spark for a great blog, email, or social media post. If people remain in silos with their heads down, those stories may never be told.
Repurpose content
One secret to marketing success is repurposing content. Helpful information or engaging stories shouldn’t remain stagnant in one form. Rethink about how and where you can reuse it. If a blog performs well on your website, turn it into an infographic or multiple social posts.
When thinking about repurposing, you want to consider both your content mix and the channels you use to distribute your content. For instance, what performs well on social media may not make sense for an email or even on another social media platform, but the only way to know that is to experiment!
Traditional channels include your website, email, and your social media posts. Some lesser-known or used channels to promote your content include:
- Google My Business (important for local SEO)
- LinkedIn Articles
- LinkedIn Groups
- LinkedIn Live Video (See the criteria for access)
- Medium Articles
- Instagram and Facebook Stories
- Instagram and Facebook Live
- Instagram Reels
- Pinterest (a huge platform for real estate agent activity)
- TikTok
Some of the easiest pieces of content to get started with are interviews with subject matter experts in your office or industry to educate your audience. Video almost always gets the biggest engagement, especially on social media. Experiment with setting aside a few minutes a week for a Facebook or Instagram Live Q&A session.
If you’re more of an introvert, turn your industry insights, thought leadership, and professional anecdotes into a blog for your website, email, long-form social post, and LinkedIn article.
When repurposing or syndicating existing content found on your website on channels like LinkedIn Articles or Medium, take care to make some changes to the title, meta description, and feature image. Always remember to add a link back to the original piece.
Don’t limit your content based on what you have done in the past or what your competition is doing now. Instead, take the time to rethink how you describe what you do, inspire your team to share their stories, and experiment with content and channels. If you want more tips on building a brand in the title industry, listen to our Title Talks interview with Wayne Stanley.
