You know that content marketing is the king, the queen and all the other members of the royal marketing family all wrapped into one. So let’s take a bow, and move on to something you might not have (seriously) considered until now.
Whether your content strategy will be successful or not highly depends on the nature of your content and on the content tools you use.
In other words, on how well you manage the content creation process for your blog’s posts.
Delivering high-quality, targeted (preferably EPIC) content is super hard. Doing it consistently is even harder.
In many ways, creating content is a lot like running an obstacle course. Let me elaborate on that:
- Just like in a race, there are many obstacles you’ll have to overcome when creating content. Lack of time, lack of ideas, costs, too much competition, inability to get traction, finding the best content tools. These are just some of the barriers that can make you lose the race.
- In all cases, success means constantly pushing yourself, and always training to be better.
- Professional athletes spend more time preparing for the race than actually taking part in it. In the context of content creation, that’s called research.
[bctt tweet=”In many ways, creating content is a lot like running an obstacle course.” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
It’s a competition, and we want to help you “steal” the start.
So we’ve asked ten PR experts and marketing specialists about the steps they never skip when creating content.
We’ve pitched in, and included some of the best content tools out there that can make the process easier.
So here they are, the best tips straight from the fingertips of content marketing specialists, combined with our selection of “walkway” tools – all wrapped up into a single post to help you be a better marketer, and create excellent content for your readers.
Here’s a quick preview of what you’ll get to learn by reading this article.
[sqcta text=”
Don’t Go in without a Strategy
Know Your Audience Better than You Know Your Pockets
Keyword Research Is a Must
Topic Research
Writing EPIC Content
Proofreading And Editing: It Might Not Be Sexy, But It’s Necessary
Make it Picture Perfect
Content Promotion” type=”lite” color=”yellow”]
[bctt tweet=”‘Steal’ the start with these expert tips on content creation.” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
[sqcta text=”Don’t Go in without a Strategy” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”1″]
Starting to create content without a coherent strategy and clear goals you want to achieve is like running in circles. It won’t get you anywhere.
Andrew Boer, Founder and President of Movable Media, an agency that recruits influencers to create original content for brands, says there are three crucial questions you should answer before you can start putting together the bones of your buyer persona.
[bctt tweet=”Creating content without a coherent strategy and clear goals won’t get you anywhere.” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
1) Who (besides the reader) does the content really serve?
[sqcta text=”
Content doesn’t thrive with many masters. When it is supposed to serve the Branding team, the Sales team, and the PR team, it becomes very difficult to build a coherent strategy because the function is ultimately unclear.
There are huge differences between the constituencies of a 30-second Super Bowl and a 30-minute infomercial, and the form follows the function. Content Marketing, on the other hand, becomes a catch-all with many masters, and ultimately winds up serving no one. ” type=”blockquote” ]
2) Identify a single metric (choose one) that defines success.
[sqcta text=”If you can identify a single metric that constitutes success (email sign-ups, awareness, leads, engagement), then it is far easier to have a coherent strategy. Many metrics trade off with another one; content that is frequent and attracts an audience (click bait) for example, is likely to be thinner and won’t improve your brand’s reputation for deep, thought leadership. ” type=”blockquote” ]
3) Identify the metrics that define failure.
[sqcta text=”
Everyone has goals for success — but what about failure? Content strategies don’t tend to die; they just wither away. And one of the key problems with content creation is that companies tend to be short-sighted; they treat content marketing like a campaign.
If you can have a discussion around what constitutes failure upfront, then what you are really doing is setting a timeline for the experiment: if we don’t see this kind of engagement after 12 months, we should consider a different approach.” type=”blockquote” ]
How to Do It Faster:
Here are some tools you can use at this stage of the process:
[sqcta text=”Know Your Audience Better than You Know Your Pockets” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”2″]
Repeat after me: “I must resist the urge to cast a wide net!” In other words, take the targeted approach when creating content.
Target research is a crucial step in the content creation process. It will weigh heavily on how much impact your strategy will have.
[bctt tweet=”Know your audience better than you know your pockets.” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
Daniela Arango PR at Doitwiser.com said that:
[sqcta text=”To create great content you need to know who you’re writing for. It’s important to understand what content would catch your readers’ attention. A content creator must know the main likes, dislikes, and interests of their readers. It would be useless, for example, to create a blog post about child safety on a business focused site.” type=”blockquote” ]
How to Do It Faster:
[sqcta text=”Keyword Research Is a Must” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”3″]
Keyword research is fundamental to your SEO efforts.
Daren Low, the founder of Bitcatcha.com, says approaching content creation from an SEO perspective is paramount.
[sqcta text=”What keyword am I targeting and what content is achieving a high ranking for that keyword? This ensures that my piece is congruent with what Google thinks is meaningful for users.” type=”blockquote”]
Of course, you should NOT focus only on the keywords. However, “it is still important to use them in written content, at key “locations” in your piece: the headline, the first paragraph, the sub-headlines, and so on, “ says Alexander Grosu, a Digital Marketer at inSegment, a Boston-based digital marketing agency.
[bctt tweet=”Approaching content creation from an SEO perspective is paramount.” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
How to Do It Faster:
[sqcta text=”Develop Strong Research Proficiency” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”4″]
Don’t wait until the very last minute to come up with content ideas.
[sqcta text=”A step of the creation process that can never be skipped is the research phase. Great, relevant content doesn’t just come from brainstorming – you have to be informed.
You want your content to be informative and cutting-edge, and the only way to achieve that is by staying consistently aware of what’s happening with both your customers and your competition.
There is no substitute for thorough research on industry news and trends as part of the creation process.” type=”blockquote” author=’Simon Slade, the CEO and Co-founder of SaleHoo.’ ]
[bctt tweet=”Procrastinating until the last minute can prove to be a disaster. Do your research. ” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
Angela Stairs, Content Marketing Specialist at seoplus.ca, recommends looking at industry news sites and reading the blogs of competitors in the industry.
That will help you “get a feel for the current ‘hot topics,’ and [you] may even find opportunities for great content where there seem to be gaps in readily available knowledge and tips online.”
How to Do It Faster:
[sqcta text=”Creating EPIC Content” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”5″]
You’re already better equipped to devise excellent content and be more efficient by going through the steps above.
Now it’s time to pump up your creativity muscle.
Once you actually sit down in front of your computer, ready to face that dreaded white page, it would help if you remember these words of wisdom.
Here’s what works for the best in the biz:
- “Include outside resources; supplemental content users can benefit from. These resources add a fantastic benefit to the reader that not only provides a source but allow another viewpoint on the topic to be considered.” – Elizabeth Jenkins, the Marketing Manager for Source Capital Funding, Inc. and Texas Hard Money [sqcta text=”” type=”list” color=”gray” size=”18px”]
- “Promotional content is lame. Do not make your content too promotional or else the user will skip over it.” – Elizabeth Jenkins, the Marketing Manager for Source Capital Funding, Inc. [sqcta text=”” type=”list” color=”gray” size=”18px”]
- “Think about an example to support your ideas. Whether it is an example from [your] own experience, or an abstract use case, it will help to illustrate [your] statements and to make [your] text more actionable.” – Anastasia Sidko, the Senior Public Relations Manager at SEMrush. [sqcta text=”” type=”list” color=”gray” size=”18px”]
- “Segmenting your text. After I’ve created the initial draft, I reorganize it to make it more skimmable and easier-to-read. I try to keep paragraphs and sentences shorter and follow the rule “one sentence – one idea.” – Anastasia Sidko, the Senior Public Relations Manager at SEMrush. [sqcta text=”” type=”list” color=”gray” size=”18px”]
- “Format use: Tapping content format additives. Today’s content creation process must take readers’ short attention spans and social sharing habits into account. Choosing an engaging format to add to editorial content or even sponsored content campaigns can do just that.” – Nogah Senecky, Content Marketer at Playbuzz. [sqcta text=”” type=”list” color=”gray” size=”18px”]
- “Try not to make the headline too complicated or too lengthy, Keep it about 50 characters long. It can also be practical to make up few headlines and then choose one that seems most effective. ” – Anastasia Sidko, the Senior Public Relations Manager at SEMrush. [sqcta text=”” type=”list” color=”gray” size=”18px”]
How to Do It Faster:
[sqcta text=”Proofreading and Editing” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”6″]
It might not be sexy, but it’s necessary. You content should be flawless. Noticed that typo? I’m sure you did. There’s nothing that can distract readers from the content you post faster than a misspelled word.
Proofreading errors:
[sqcta text=”
Make your work look sloppy and unprofessional.
Undermine your credibility and authority.
Lower the value of your ideas.
” type=”lite” color=”yellow”]
Ouch, right?
Double, triple check your content before you put it out there.
[sqcta text=”At Playbuzz, every piece of content is being edited by at least one content professional, who very literally makes sure to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. It would be a shame if our message were lost due to poor grammar and silly typos.” type=”blockquote” author =”said Nogah Senecky, Content Marketer at Playbuzz“]
[bctt tweet=”Double, triple-check your content before you put it out there. It’s necessary.” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
How to Do It Faster:
- Grammarly
- Microsoft Word
[sqcta text=”Make It Picture-Perfect” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”7″]
Here are some stats for thought:
- Researchers found that colorful visuals increase people’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80%.
- Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without corresponding images.
No wonder professional make visuals a priority when it comes to content creation.
[sqcta text=”Once a post is written, our graphic designers create custom images for it. These images give our content a recognizable, original style that’s totally unique to our site.” type =”blockquote” author=’said Vladimir Gendelman CEO of Company Folders.’]
How to Do It Faster:
[sqcta text=”Content Promotion” type=”bullet” color=”yellow” cnt=”8″]
The final step of this entire process should be promoting the content, as “there would be no point to creating content if no one were to consume it“, says Elizabeth Jenkins at Source Capital Funding, Inc.
It’s a smart idea is to promote your content to influencers and bloggers in your industry, not just your followers on social media. “Email Outreach is best in this scenario,” says Muhammad Asfand Yar, a tech blogger at listenthusiast.com.
[bctt tweet=”‘There would be no point to creating content if no one were to consume it’.” username=”SquirrlyHQ”]
How to Do It Faster:
Ready, Steady, Content Creation!
Treat content creation like an Olympic event – and not a last-minute project – and you’ll get that gold medal. And make your business’s anthem be heard.
These tips and content tools will help you cross that finish line— and feel unstoppable doing it. It will be worth it every single time, even if all the muscles in your body will ache the next day.
Because, when done right, creating content is highly addictive. And highly effective.
Acting on this information will turn you into a professional content creation athlete. So are you ready to put your race face on?
If you enjoyed this article, make sure to check out our blog. You’ll discover plenty of information-rich articles to get you ready for other “events” within the marketing competition.
We like to keep our subscribers constantly informed on the latest marketing tips and tools to help them work smarter, not harder.
If you like working inefficiently and coming in last, DON’T click here. I’m serious, don’t do it.
On another note, I’d like to know: what content tools do you use?
Let me know down in the comments.
