How to create compelling content for social media

You may have heard that the new rules of marketing demand that you blog, tweet or amuse your Facebook friends with a continuing stream of articles that stirs interest in your products and builds deeper relationships.

But if you're like most entrepreneurs, you have no idea what to do with that information. What kind of  information should you write? How do you create copy that fans and followers want to read?

The answer is different for every business. Your best bet may be to look at what your competitors are writing about, and then steal (I mean, improve upon) their best ideas.

If that fails, CopyBlogger.com offers a solution. Entrepreneur and consultant Danny Iny, co-founder of Firepole Marketing, has written a blog post entitled, “21 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue.”

Here are five of his best suggestions for creating sticky, readable, relationship-building content:

• Curate content. Pick your 10 favorite websites, then identify your favorite post on each of them. Write an article listing these Top 10 posts, with a sentence or two about why you like them. “Curating’ is the new buzzwords that refers to managing content, not necessarily writing it.
• Ask your audience what they'd like to read. This can be done in several ways. It can be as simple as running a “what would you like me to write about?” post, or you can make things more interesting by asking for your readers’ input on a problem.
• Do an interview. As Iny points out, “It’s a lot easier to write a handful of interview questions than it is to write an entire post!” Plus, you can use this tactic to connect with industry opinion leaders and build valuable connections.
• Write a review. Pick a product or service that you like and are willing to endorse. Explain what you like about it, and why. For the sake of balance, mention one or two ways it could be improved. Don't forget to say why your audience should be interested in this product or service—after all, every reader's first thought is, “What’s in it for me?”
• Get newsy. Find out what’s trending on Google or Twitter (visit google.com/trends, click on “More Hot Searches,” and pick a topic from the list).

Read 21 more great blogging ideas (yes, 21; count them yourself).