People join AVIXA® Xchange to learn, be inspired, belong, share their expertise, find AV technology solutions to their problems, and connect with those providing the solutions. AV/IT Buyers and end users, along with industry pros, want to stay informed of trending technologies and enjoy exploring use cases and articles highlighting audiovisual technologies that help them achieve their business goals.

As a thought leader and services or solutions provider, how can you reach your desired audience within our lively digital community?  What types of posts are deemed valuable, how do you optimize your content, and which rooms and channels should you post in?

We’ve pulled together best practices and tips to help you write content that will quickly be discovered and pique interest, navigate Xchange’s many channels and rooms, and cultivate deep connections with community members. Below is a quick checklist for you to reference. It captures the highlights of the full article, “How to Write Compelling Content to Engage the Audiovisual Community.”

1. How can Xchange help you reach your goals?

• Demonstrate AV industry expertise and increase brand awareness by sharing informative and inspirational content and engaging with community members.
• Post with consistency and respond quickly to questions and comments. 
• Complete your profile as readers who find your content valuable click-thru to learn more about you/your company

2. What’s your story?

• Clearly and quickly convey what your product or service does, what it solves, and why it’s needed. 
• Wrap your audiovisual technology solution in a story and get it in front of your focused audience. Share examples of how it solves problems, improves efficiency, or saves resources. Case studies are ideal as they highlight a project's objectives, walk through the AV/IT solutions implemented, and describe the business outcome. 

3. What are best practices for SEO?

• Provide a clear, search-friendly title.
• Craft a short introduction, offering insights into your post. 
• Optimize your summary and first paragraph for relevant SEO keywords.
• Optimize for user search intent by including images, facts, videos, etc. relevant to their search query.
• Use keywords, synonyms, and partial keyword matches throughout your article.
• Utilize the Headings featured in the content editor to add visual interest and guidance.
• Use outbound links set to open in a "New Window," allowing the reader to navigate back to your post.
• Author a meaningful article with a minimum of 500 words. 
• Write concisely and use a tool like Grammarly to ensure your content is grammatically correct.

Pro Tip: Alert readers to posts containing a video or podcast by bracketing that information in the title. Example: “[VIDEO] How to…..” 

4. Who are you talking to?

• Members range from those manufacturing products to those specifying, installing, and servicing them and those responsible for purchasing or using Which member segment are you speaking to? Focus your content on that member bearing in mind you may also be influencing other segments, including AV/IT end users.
• Write specifically to your targeted market segment, including references such as healthcare, education, or finance in the title to pique interest.

5. Where can you reach them?

• Channels feature big topic areas of interest Rooms drill into refined micro-communities based on user segment, region, social interest, or trade
• Posts can be designated to multiple spaces to maximize your opportunities. For example, if you wish to reach those interested in digital signage in Australia, you can select the Digital Signage Channel and the APAC Forum R

Note: Not only will registered and non-registered users visiting the community see your content, but everyone subscribed to (Watching) the channels and rooms will receive it via their Xchange Digest directly to their inbox! 

 6. How can you enhance engagement?

• Be an active, engaged member of the community. Monitor discussions across the community to discover users’ interests.
• Like and comment on others’ posts and thank those who took the time to engage with your content.
• Ask a follow-up question to engage them further!

 7. Have I got your attention?

• Select an image to quickly convey your topic and allow quick recognition if they wish to return to the article.
• Reduce pictures as needed to no larger than 1280 x 960 is ideal.
• Include keyword-rich text in the image’s filename and image ALT text. 

Pro Tip: Keep your reader engaged by including “Related Content”. This feature is located in the right-hand column of the editor and allows you to add the URL of the next piece of content you wish to direct your reader to. It can be to another Xchange post, a page on your website, or a social media post, etc. This is a valuable feature that garners a substantial number of clicks.  

 8. How are you doing?

• Designate your post to a channel(s) and/or room to reach a targeted audience of registered and non-registered users.
• Non-technical content will get a higher number of views, technical content will likely garner more engagement. Check “My Analytics” to discover your posts’ performance for informed strategies.
• Gain additional views by sharing your content on your social media platforms. Here are some tips: Share it on social media.

 9. What do you want them to do? 

• Close with a clear and concise call to action.
• Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? …Provide them with a link. 
• Do you want them to share their experience or opinion? …Ask them to comment below. 
• Do you want them to contact you to schedule a demo? …Invite them to click your profile's “Start a conversation” button. 

10. Engage!

Xchange offers myriad opportunities to establish your brand and thought leadership, reach new audiences, and deepen connections across the audiovisual community. Read the full article for additional context and to access a list of helpful resources: How to Write Compelling Content to Engage the Audiovisual Community | AVIXA Xchange

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