What Is Content Creation?
If you’re not creating content, you’re losing out. That’s the bottom line. In this day and age, fresh content is the lifeline of many businesses, regardless of how big or small they are.
While many people believe content creation is limited to blog posts, many opportunities exist. When you update your content regularly, you can build a lasting relationship with your audience.
So in this post, we’ll explore content creation and why your business needs it to succeed.
What Is Content Creation?
Content creation is the process of developing and sharing online material such as blog posts, infographics, videos, ebooks, etc., that does not directly promote your brand but is intended to stimulate interest in your products or services.
It’s a way of providing value to your target audience and positioning yourself as an expert in your industry.
Why You Should Be Creating Content
You’re missing out on a massive opportunity if you’re not creating content. Here are some statistics that show just how important content creation is:
– 92% of marketers say that social media is essential for their business (Adweek)
– 81% of businesses consider their blog to be a top priority (HubSpot)
– 78% of CMOs think custom content is the future of marketing (Demand Metric)
– 60% of marketers are creating more content than they did last year ( Demand Metric)
Content Marketing Connects You With A Target Audience
Creating content is one of the most effective ways to connect with your target audience.
When you produce high-quality material, you can reach more people interested in what you have to say.
And as we mentioned before, by positioning yourself as an expert in your industry, you’re more likely to earn the trust and respect of your target audience.
Content Marketing Helps You Rank Higher on Search Engines
One of the main benefits of content marketing is that it can help improve your SEO (search engine optimisation).
By creating keyword-optimised content, you’re giving search engines like Google a better idea of what your website is about, which can help you rank higher on the results page and connect with an active audience.
Great Content Makes You A Leader, Not A Follower
If you’re not creating content, you’re falling behind.
In today’s digital age, businesses need to be proactive and create content that educates, entertains, and informs their target audience.
You can become a leader in your industry and build strong relationships with your customers.
The Best Types Of Content To Rev Up Your Readers
Now that we’ve gone over why content creation is so important, let’s look at some of the different types of content you can create to get your audience engaged.
Blog Posts
Let’s start at where it all began; the classic blog post. It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is; if you’re not creating blog content, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.
Not only are blog posts an excellent way to connect with your target audience and build relationships, but they can also help improve your SEO.
Perhaps even more importantly, these blog posts last forever, which means you can attract regular streams of traffic to your website without spending money on PPC advertising.
Videos
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million. Videos are one of the most popular types of content on social media and for a good reason.
They’re engaging, easy to consume, and can be highly entertaining. And unlike other forms of content, such as blog posts or articles, they don’t require much effort to create.
All you need is a smartphone and a few minutes to film something interesting, informative, or funny.
Infographics
Infographics are another excellent way to reach your target audience and promote your brand. They’re shareable, visually appealing, and can communicate a lot of information in a short amount of time.
Best of all, they don’t require any design or programming skills to create. A Canva subscription costs as little as £10 a month and has hundreds of templates to choose between
White Papers
White papers are the perfect type of content for businesses that want to position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. They’re in-depth, well researched, and often quite long, which gives you plenty of opportunities to showcase your expertise.
Of course, this also means that they can be pretty time-consuming and expensive to produce, so they might not be the best option if you’re starting.
eBooks
Like white papers, eBooks are also quite in-depth and can be used to position your business as a thought leader.
However, unlike white papers, they tend to be more lighthearted and easy to read, making them an excellent option for businesses that want to engage with their target audience on a more personal level.
Plus, they’re relatively easy and inexpensive to produce, so if you have a limited budget and want to connect with a broader audience instead of a highly specialised group, eBooks could be the best way.
Podcasts
Podcasts are the perfect way to reach busy people who want to consume content but don’t have the time to sit down and read an entire article or watch a video.
They’re also great for building relationships with your target audience as they allow you to connect with them on a more personal level. However, some people find Podcasts too time-consuming, requiring a degree of confidence.
As you can see, you can create various content types to reach your target group, and you can utilise one or all of them — depending on your needs and confidence levels.
The Content Creation Process
Now that we’ve established why content creation is so important let’s look at how you can get started.
Identify Your Goals
What do you want to achieve with your content? Once you know this, you can start planning your strategy.
Some common goals include:
- Increasing brand awareness
- Boosting website traffic
- Generating leads and sales
- Improving customer retention
Choose Your Platforms
Now that you know what you want to achieve, it’s time to choose which platforms you will use to reach your target audience. The most popular options include:
- Blogs (WordPress, Medium)
- Social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
- Video sharing sites (YouTube, Vimeo)
- Amazon for eBooks
Plan Your Content
Once you’ve chosen your platforms, it’s time to start planning your content. This includes everything from the topics you will write about or film to the keywords you target.
It’s important to remember that not all content types are suitable for all platforms. For example, if you want to use Instagram to increase brand awareness, you’ll need to focus on creating visually appealing content that is easy to consume.
But if you’re using a blog to generate leads, you’ll need to make sure your articles are well-researched and contain calls to action that encourage your readers to sign up for your newsletter or download your white paper.
Create a Content Calendar
Once you’ve planned out your content, it’s time to start creating it! But before you begin blog writing services or filming, it’s crucial to create a content calendar. This will help keep you organised and consistently publish new content.
There are many different ways to create a content calendar, but one of the simplest is to use a spreadsheet. You can find templates online or create your own. Just make sure to include the following information:
- Title
- Topic
- Target keyword
- Publication date
- Platform
Now that you have all the information you need, it’s time to start creating!
What Do Successful Content Creators Have In Common?
When it comes to creating content, some people are better than others! Every business should invest time and money into the content creation process, but few understand the importance of planning and strategising their blogs, videos, social media posts, etc.
Here are some traits successful content creators have in common.
We Know The Importance Of A Content Strategy
Creating content without a strategy is like walking around with a blindfold on. These strategies serve a distinct purpose, and they help us refine our content ideas, stripping them down to individual topics.
A content strategy also makes the SEO side of content marketing more manageable. We have a list of keywords and an internal linking plan laying the foundations for a successful strategy.
Would you like a 100% free content strategy? You can access our free template here.
We Understand That Digital Content Creation Must Be Original
There are so many blog posts and YouTube videos around, but the key to creating high-quality content is to make sure you offer an original spin on everything. Instead of looking at other blog posts and rewriting them, we always find a unique perspective that highlights the important points but still manages to be interesting.
Any content creator will tell you that the key to their success is combining the functional elements of website content creation with creativity. When these two combine, great things happen.
We Take Our Social Media Platforms Seriously
Social media platforms are the most valuable tools a business can use because they act as distribution channels for your content. As content creators, we know that each platform has its benefits, and using the right one can result in more leads and a faster ascent to the coveted ‘industry authority’ status.
For example, LinkedIn is, without a doubt, the go-to platform for B2B companies, while Facebook is more of an all-rounder. Instagram is perfect for e-commerce industries, and Twitter can help a business establish itself as a brand.
We Get The Perfect Mix Of Content Quality and SEO
Most people know that a successful content strategy will move a website up the search engine results pages, but quality will always come first. The balance involves using keyword research to ensure each piece of content is found and maintaining originality and creativity.
At the end of the day, we all want our content to rank highly, but this isn’t always possible — especially when there’s so much competition. However, the key to success is consistently posting because every piece of content contributes to the bigger picture and your ultimate goal — more rankings.
Would You Like Some Help From A Content Creations Specialist?
Hopefully, this post gives you some excellent ideas about how the content process works and you can take this information and use it for your business. However, if you’d instead focus on the other areas of your business and leave the content creation process to the professionals, please feel free to view my work.
I’d love to help you refine your content strategy and create fantastic blog posts that cut straight through the noise.