Content and Marketing are an all time great duo. They can stand up against the best pair in any genre from Laurel and Hardy to Morcombe and Wise to Bogart and Hepburn. For both B2B and B2C businesses, content marketing is often a key focus for a well-rounded marketing strategy, which is why the ability to create consistently engaging content is such a vital skill. As a web design and digital marketing agency, we wanted to share “7 Ways to Help You Create Great Marketing Content” to help you become better at creating your marketing content.

Unsurprisingly, many of the habits of successful content creators’ mirror those of highly effective people. While being creative is important when it comes to generating engaging content, just as important are the habits and routines you put in place to help that creative process.

You might think content creation is like other types of writing, but it isn’t. Content creation is a very specific niche which combines creativity with research and structure and as such there are several things that should be done with some consistency to become successful at it.

7 Ways to Help You Create Great Marketing Content

  1. Read regularly – This is variation on a habit from Dr. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. His concept is focused on “sharpening the saw” which entails a combination of a balanced self-renewal program for the body, spirit, and mind. When it comes to content creation, one of the best ways to stay sharp is by regularly reading not only industry news and articles about a particular subject, but also general news and information. Many of the most successful authors, historically, were also avid readers because that consumption of knowledge can provide necessary fuel for creativity. Many writers utilise a systematic approach to their day where they sit down with coffee and then read news, blogs, and feeds for a short while to not only stay current in their industry but also start ideas percolating in the background.
  2. Write to a schedule – Stephen King, the famous and prolific writer of horror novels, is undoubtedly one of the most successful and consistent writers of his generation. One of the tips he regularly gives writers in order for them to improve is to make a habit of writing every single day. King writes 2,000 words every single day when he is working on a project, including weekends. He says he often writes much more than 2,000 words, but he sits down in the morning and makes sure gets at least that many words written. The same lesson should be applied to writing content. Set your writing schedule for each day, then sit down and start banging away. It doesn’t matter if those 2,000 words are perfect, because they very probably won’t be. The point is to get some words on a page and let ideas start to flow.
  3. Begin with the end in mind – This concept is taken directly from the best-selling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. However, that concept is a bit more general compared to the focus used when it comes to content creation. In Dr. Covey’s book the idea is focused on the desired direction and destination, then focusing each day to find ways to achieve movement towards that goal. For content creation the concept is to understand the complete purpose of your content prior to writing it. Is the content going to inform or educate? Will it look to nudge a user towards a specific action? What is the marketing goal behind the piece? Once a creator understands the ending it is a matter of working backwards to the beginning.
  4. Understand your audience – A key aspect of pretty much any form of marketing is understanding the audience. Effective content is geared to the audience, which is something that simply can’t be achieved if there is not an in-depth understanding of that audience. It is more than just simple demographics. Different audiences are going to have widely varying needs, questions, and problems to solve. How can your content effectively do this if you don’t know all of the pain points?
  5. Understand and use analytics – Analytics are a vital for content creation, once you understand how to incorporate them into the overall process. They can help you understand which content performs the best for a specific audience so you can then look at content options based around those topics, as well as identifying opportunities for exciting new content and ideas. Analytics are helpful too for identifying poorly performing content so that you can try and improve it to gain better engagement and increased reach.
  6. Regular review and strategy discussions – Content creation works best when it’s a team effort for the simple reason that two heads are better than one. The most effective content marketing teams meet daily or weekly to review their strategy and discuss ideas, direction, performance and more. It is incredibly easy to stay connected with colleagues by using tools such as Slack or virtual meeting options such as Zoho.com so there shouldn’t be any excuses for not getting together and sharing ideas to help enhance the entire creative process.
  7. Be curious – Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat and it’s often a trait of great writers. Curiosity can lead to exploring new ideas. Learning more about the world provides insights which can be applied to writing. It isn’t always just about understanding existing problems but also finding unidentified problems worth solving in an industry or niche and coming up with solutions, or in some cases fresh solutions to old problems. Asking “why” more often can lead to fresh ideas.

In summary

Creating great content isn’t easy; if it was then great content wouldn’t be as valued and appreciated as it is. Many of the best content creators have won their reputation because of routines that have been developed over many years. We hope our list offers some insight into the methods that can help you be a more effective content creator.

If you’d like to find out how we can help you with your content marketing, call us now on 01548 857774.