Gary Vaynerchuk On Creating the Best Content Possible

LinkedIn Influencer, Gary Vaynerchuk, published this post originally on LinkedIn.

You’ve heard me talk a lot about how every company needs to be prepared to be a media company. I am big on this right now. I really mean it. I’ve talked about over and over and over (yes, you should read all those articles too). But with this comes a few questions, namely: how do you make good content? When I tell all of you to start putting out content relating to your brand that your consumers can enjoy and interact with, I know what I’m talking about. That’s why I’m here to give you some more advice.

To start off, the bigger question here often isn’t “how do YOU make good content?" it’s “how do you get YOUR TEAM to do it?" It’s a tough question. Think about it. You’re trying to spread your POV on marketing and your various ideas to your entire organization. How do you do that? It’s about organization and education, BUT I would actually say that for me, scaling and getting my team there has a lot more to do with osmosis. Putting it all into the water stream versus having an internal class that teaches it. Sure you can write emails or host learning segments for your staff, but you’ll run into problems there. Do people really attend? Are they interpreting things differently? Does everyone come out of meetings with varying levels of understanding?

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What’s really working for me at Vayner is we start thinking about this all the way back in hiring. You need people who are smart and work hard. And that starts with hiring. You need to hire people who are ready get into that osmosis I was talking about. The best way they will learn is by being around you. Surround yourself with your team as often as you can, talk to people one on one, make sure they know your values. You won’t be sorry.

Now, the nitty gritty of the content. For me, when it comes down to it, making good content is all about RESPECT.

What do I mean by that?

Two things.

First, you’ve got to respect your platforms. Respect the psychology of what people are doing when they’re on the platform. I know a forty-year-old woman is in a different mindset when she’s on Facebook than when she’s on Pinterest. And that is how I storytell to her, because I know on Pinterest she has intent to shop, and on Facebook she’s keeping up with her world. So I strategize around that: the psychology and the platform itself.

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Secondly, respect your AUDIENCE. You have to put out content that she will like rather than content that you will like. Yes, I’d like to sell a bottle of wine. But if I put it in a way that is more interesting to her, I can make huge strides with her as a consumer. “Five Bottles Under $10 that Help You Get Through the Day When you Have 8 year old Kids.” When you do that, you’ll get into a game that gives you a better chance.

That’s really all there is to it. Respecting the platform. Respecting your audience. And finally, taking your agenda, and making it third.