How to Share Timely Content Even When the Stories You Share Aren’t Recent
Do you struggle with finding the right stories to back up your brand story? Do you struggle with finding the best time to share those individual stories?
Does sharing timely, current, or “straight from the headlines” content feel like you’ll be working on it last minute—making it harder for you to plan ahead?
In 2017, I joined a business mastermind at a local women’s community. Joining this group was a huge turning point in figuring out what I was doing with Love U Too (my self-acceptance and color therapy brand).
I remember struggling with finding current event-related content to share besides the annual Pantone Color of the Year announcement. My goal was to think of events to tweet about while the event was happening.
The woman who ran the mastermind made a smart suggestion to add my own commentary to award show red carpets by giving my thoughts on the colors of the outfits.
I loved the idea and started listing award shows to watch once award season came around. I even tried to find award shows that happened throughout the year so they wouldn’t all be between January and March.
As I made the list, it hit me…
I don’t even watch award shows or the red carpets!
Sure there are celebrities I love to see because they always look amazing or because I love their work. And I do enjoy viewing the photos afterward.
But trying to watch these events would take up more time I didn’t have because it wasn’t something I’d normally do. This also meant if I did start doing it, it would feel inauthentic and forced.
So I decided not to do it.
(I still love the idea and have tried to see if there are other events I may be more interested in instead.)
Since you’re reading this, I’m willing to bet you’ve run into a similar issue.
How do you show you’re up to date on the latest news related to your niche without having to create content last minute (or that feels inauthentic to you)?
The solution is to share evergreen content that feels timely to your audience using your story!
First, it’s important to remember that timely content is content relevant to current events, public interests, seasons, or trends. The topics and their relevancy change over time.
Evergreen content is content that can be posted anytime. The details rarely change and are always relevant. (Via SEO Design Chicago)
With that in mind, as you review the stories and content you planned to share, you’ll want to make sure you can answer the following questions!
Who does the experience help? Who is the audience for this message (and story)?
In relation to your business, what life stage are they in?
Depending on your audience’s background and how they found you, there may be multiple groups of people within your larger audience.
Each group may be in different places as far as how much they know about your niche and how emotionally ready they are to work with you.
For me, it means most of my audience is made up of small business owners. Most of those small business owners are not marketing professionals or ad creatives like me.
(But the ones who are may want to learn more about how they can use storytelling for their clients.)
With all of this in mind, I tailor my own content and the stories I share to focus on small business owners who likely have a basic to intermediate knowledge of marketing their business but want to dig deeper.
For many small business owners, the natural next step for growing your business is to grow your audience. Sharing your story is the most common business advice given when it comes to growing your audience!
I know you’re finding my content at similar but slightly different points in your business and research. I also know there is confusion around certain terms based on how people in different fields use them.
So I found it worthwhile to spend time defining the terms I use so we’re all on the same page.
To find timely stories to share with your audience, consider
- the life stage your audience is currently in,
- the stage they need to be in to work with you,
- and what it felt like when you were in those stages.
What do they need to know about you, your business, or your industry in the near future?
What do people need to know or do to prepare to work with you?
My Transformative Helpful Content method includes 4 steps, but I included one more step when it comes to my own content.
In this “prequel” step, I discuss everything you need to know about brand storytelling and marketing before I start sharing my actual framework.
To find timely stories to share with your audience, consider
- useful terms and phrases you (or others in your industry) use frequently,
- well-defined entry points they can use right now to start making progress,
- and any shifts they may need to make or beliefs that may be holding them back.
Where do you plan to share this story? Where are you speaking to your audience?
What platforms and formats do you use to reach your audience?
Remember how I said there may be multiple groups of people within your larger audience? Depending on how long they’ve been following you, there may be a few more groups to consider. This matters because every story isn’t going to be right for every segment of your audience.
Instagram and speaking engagements have been the two places where people tend to learn about me and my business.
The stories I share on Instagram tend to be short so I can get to the point quickly while still connecting with small business owners like you who are interested in sharing their stories.
The stories I share during my speaking engagements tend to be much longer and include more opportunities to educate and emotionally connect with my audience throughout.
This is extremely important when the audience is made up of a wide variety of people. They may not relate to your entire story but they can relate to pieces of it!
For both, I like to show my face.
Even if the story happened years ago, showing where I am now both physically, emotionally, and in relation to their end goal means I can share something that happened in the past while showing the present.
Some of these stories are the same but with more or less details based on the purpose, platform, and what I’d like you to do next!
To find timely stories to share with your audience, consider
- how you can build emotional connections in a way that’s relevant to the platform,
- how you can bring people up to speed in a meaningful way,
- and how you can visually represent stories in a way that feels current.
Why is this story valuable to your audience? Why should they care?
How does this story relate to their goals in a way that’s relevant to your business?
When it comes to sharing your story, most people are only looking for what you can do for them in relation to the solution you present them with.
They don’t need to know your entire life story and they definitely don’t need to know all your business!
The truth is oversharing can actually turn people off if the information isn’t getting them closer to something they need, want, or desire.
To find timely stories to share with your audience, consider
- the goal they want to achieve,
- the emotional reason behind the goal,
- and the method you use to help them.
Before you share anything with your audience, always make it your goal to share something valuable with them. That value needs to be relatable to your audience and relevant to your business.
Just remember that value is maybe anything that helps you educate, encourage, entertain, or emotionally connect with them in some way.
Ready to learn how to use the power of your story to grow your audience no matter where you share it?
Download my free guide so you can learn:
- 7 practical approaches to sharing your story,
- Why each technique is so powerful (& why it works),
- How to use them effectively for your needs,
- And my 4-step method for sharing your story.
