Let’s talk about something I think we have gotten completely backwards when it comes to social media.
Not every post needs to go viral.
Actually, most of them won’t.
And that’s okay.
Somewhere along the way, we started measuring the success of content by how many people saw it, how many people liked it, how many times it was shared, and whether or not the algorithm decided to give it its fifteen minutes of fame. Of course engagement matters. Of course we want people to see our content. And yes, there are times when a viral post can do amazing things for a brand.
But going viral cannot be the strategy. Because what happens when the viral post is over? What did it actually do for your brand. Did it tell people who you are? Did it tell them what you offer? Did it give them a reason to trust you? Did it move them closer to becoming a customer? Or did it just give you a really big number to look at for a few days?
This is where I think the purpose of content gets lost.
Your Content Is Building Something
I don’t look at a brand’s content as individual posts. I look at it as pieces of a much bigger story.
Every reel, every photo, every caption, every educational post, every behind-the-scenes moment, every product feature, every opinion, every little piece of content is telling your audience something about your brand.
Some posts are going to get a ton of engagement. Some are going to get a handful of likes. Some might reach thousands of people. Some might only be seen by the people who already follow you. And some of the posts you thought were going to do amazing will completely surprise you and do absolutely nothing.
Welcome to social media.
But that doesn’t mean the post was pointless. Because content isn’t only about the numbers attached to that one post. It is about the collection of everything you are putting out into the world.
That collection is what starts to create your brand voice.
Think About the Brands You Remember
When you think about a brand you love, you probably already know what they feel like. You know the kind of language they use, what their visuals look like, what they care about. You know what kind of experience you can expect from them. You may not be able to point to one specific Instagram post that created that feeling.
And that’s the point.
It wasn’t one post.
It was all of them.
Over time, those pieces created something recognizable. That is what I want brands to understand about content. You are not just posting. You are building recognition, trust, and the voice of your brand. You are giving people little pieces of your brand until eventually, they understand the bigger picture.
This Is Where The Content Arc Comes In
This is the reason I created The Content Arc. I don’t believe a brand’s content should exist as a collection of random posts. I believe it should come full circle. Your brand has a story. It has something it wants to say. It has people it wants to reach. It has a goal. The content is how we connect all of those things.
Your Content Should Have a Job
Not every post needs to be a sales pitch. That would get exhausting pretty quickly. But I do believe your content should have a job. One post might introduce your brand to someone who has never heard of you. Another might establish you as the expert. One may show the personality behind the business. Or answer a question your ideal customer is already asking. Individually, those posts might not look like they have much in common. But strategically, they are building the same thing.
Your brand.
And when they work together, they create a path for your audience to follow. That’s when content starts becoming more than content. It becomes part of your marketing strategy.
The Viral Post Is Not Always the Most Valuable Post
There is a funny thing about social media. Sometimes the post that gets 100,000 views doesn’t bring you a single customer. And sometimes the post that gets 700 views brings you the person who becomes one of your best clients. Which one was more successful? The answer depends on the goal. If your goal was awareness, maybe the 100,000-view post was a huge win. If your goal was generating leads, maybe those 700 views were far more valuable.
This is why I don’t want brands chasing numbers without understanding what those numbers are actually doing for them. Because a big audience isn’t necessarily a qualified audience. And a viral post isn’t necessarily a successful post. The goal is not to make every post famous. The goal is to make your content matter.
Content Strategy Starts With the Goal
If you’re trying to grow awareness, your strategy is going to look different than a brand whose biggest priority is generating qualified leads. A business focused on sales may need content that educates, builds desire, answers objections, and makes taking the next step easy. A service-based business may need to spend more time establishing expertise and showing potential clients what it is actually like to work with them. A new brand may need to focus on recognition and introducing people to its story.
There isn’t one magic content formula that works for every business. That’s why strategy comes before posting. We figure out the goal, the audience, the message, and the voice. Then we build the content around it.
Ready to stop posting just to post?
If you’re a brand or business owner who knows you need content, but you’re tired of wondering what to post, chasing trends, and hoping something sticks, that’s exactly where strategy comes in.
The Content Arc was created to help brands take all of those individual pieces of content and turn them into something intentional, a recognizable brand voice, a strategic content plan, and a story that leads your audience somewhere.
Because your content should be doing more than filling your feed.
It should be helping build your brand.
