Creating content is essential to business success in the digital world that we live in.
We live in an unprecedented time where we have access to virtually unlimited information at our finger tips at any point in time through our smart phones, tablets, and laptop computers.
Up until 15-20 years ago, knowledge was power. Today, sharing of knowledge is power.
In order to dominate your industry, you or your company must be and produce that information that people can access in their pockets. You must create content that can be found by the people who are looking for you — your potential clients & customers.
Not only do you need to be found, but the content that’s found has to be great!
If you’re asking, “what is content?” or aren’t exactly sure what ‘content’ is, I’ll explain so we are all on the same page. Content is any vehicle or platform that allows for information to be delivered. Content can be created and consumed in many different ways: blog post, print article, newsletter, video, audio, press release, etc. There are literally dozens of different ways to create content.
Don’t get overwhelmed though!
You don’t have to do them all. Focus on creating quality content using platforms that you enjoy using and, most importantly, platforms that your ideal customers enjoy using.
If you are unsure about WHY creating content is essential to your success, click here.
Otherwise… keep reading for my tips on how to create kick-ass content!
Today, I will be focusing on how to create kick-ass content and will be covering several key things that you must focus on whenever you create content for your business.
Unique
The most important component of great content is making it unique. People are sick of consuming boring, bland content so make sure your content doesn’t fall into that category. Find creative ways to add personality, offer new insights and share unique perspectives with the people who engage with your content.
Relevant
Your content has to be relevant to your target market. Relevancy isn’t just what you say but it’s also the timing of when you publish your information. If I write a blog post about how the world is going to end on December 21st and I publish that post in November 2012. That article is relevant. However, if I publish that post just a few weeks later, on December 22nd. 2012, that post is completely irrelevant. Does that make sense?
No one wants to or actually will read information that is not relevant to them.
Useful
Have you ever watched a video online and thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish I had the last 60 seconds of my life back?” Yeah, me too. Have you ever thought that someone might be saying that about your content?
The best way to avoid making people regret consuming your content is to create content that adds amazing value! All of your content should add so much value that the people consuming your content just can’t get enough of it!
Get to know your target market and their challenges, then create useful content that is helpful and adds value to them.
Quality
The quality of your content is far more important than the quantity. In the business world, people don’t have time for fluff. Unlike your college term papers, your content does not have any length requirements; so, write clearly and briefly, adding as much value in the shortest time possible.
Make sure that your blog posts are formatted in a way that is easy to read and written in a way that is easy to understand.
Strategic
Writing content for the sole purpose of adding value to the world is great and the majority of your content should serve that purpose; however, you also must be strategic about how you write or create your content. If you are going to write a how-to book, you must consciously write that book in a way that positions you as an expert in your field and maximizes back-end sales from the book. The best way to do this is casually tell stories about your products, services, and success stories.
Call to Action
After every piece of content you MUST have a call to action, even if it’s just to subscribe to your email list or to visit your website. You are wasting a huge opportunity and letting dollars fall through your fingers every time you create content without a call to action.
Calls to action let your reader know what to do next. Nothing could be worse than having a potential customer read your e-book or watch one of your videos and not know what to do next. If you don’t tell them what the next step is, they will end up looking elsewhere and doing business with your competition.
Helpful Links
In some cases, when you are creating content you will use other resources to help support your points and argument. In other cases, the topic you are creating content around has a wide range of information available online and you are just talking about one area of that topic. In both situations, it’s important that you provide links to other sites that you believe will serve your audience.
If you’d like some more information on how to create great content, here are some other blogs that I thought had some great insight and information:
How to Create Consistently Great Content for the Long Haul — Beth Hayden
22 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue — Brian Clark
The Nine Ingredients That Make Great Content — KISS Metrics
Taking it one step further
The most important factor to creating a content marketing strategy is making sure that each piece of content you create is in alignment with the big picture objectives for your business.
For more information on what you need to do create a content marketing plan that’s in alignment with your goals, check out my blog post on creating a strategic marketing plan: Introduction to the Strategic Marketing Compass
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