So you’ve been told that you need to create a constant stream of high-quality content across all of your channels. Sounds daunting, right? Well, here are a few tips and tools to help you consistently create conversation with your target audience.
Start with a plan.
An editorial plan helps you map out clearly and concretely what you need in terms of resources, budgets, types of content, etc. Firstly, what is it you’re trying to say? What’s the message? Once that’s clear, identify whom you’re talking to. What are their genders, ages, interests, and specific needs? Your constant stream of content must be targeted specifically to inform and engage your target audience. Lastly, which type of content should be used for your targeted audience, e.g. short articles, tweets, podcasts, etc.?
It’s helpful to have a prioritized list of topics too. Brainstorm topics with your marketing and sales teams. You might even glean some topics from customer comments.
Once you’ve finalized your topics, create a content calendar that maps out your planned topics. A content calendar is key to consistent content. That calendar should include a prioritized list of what you’re publishing, content producers and/or editors assigned to each task, which channel that content will be delivered through, meta data (to track content types and topics), and publishing dates. It doesn’t hurt to add a timeline for each phase of creation and production to help your content producers meet the targeted deadlines.
You might also consider creating a master calendar that shows deadlines that your staff can see at a glance. Separate editorial calendars for each type of content can be used to provide more detailed information.
Mix it up.
Once of the best ways you can create a steady stream of content is to fill your editorial calendar with varied content creation strategies. In a Content Marketing Institute post, Mike Murray writes about ways to leverage your content marketing strategy.
Use evergreen content.
Content marketer Heidi Cohen’s “evergreen content” is timeless content that you can use as the core of your content marketing to help create links. For example, it could be holiday content that you use every year. Darren Rowse of Problogger calls this “pillar content.”
Curate content.
A quick way to add content to your site is to curate content from third parties. It’s essentially sharing the best content available in your niche. You will have to frame this third-party content with commentary that shows your audience why it’s important to them. And be sure to attribute ideas to the original author and link to the original article.
Recycle old content.
Turn your old content into new content that can be used in a new format. You’re not using the exact same content and merely placing it in a different place. But reworking it. There are innumerable ways that you could recycle content. Heidi Cohen enumerates a few of them in her article “56 Ways to Reuse Content Marketing.”
Get a little help from your friends.
If you identify that you don’t have enough in-office resources to create the content you need, it might mean you need to look outside your company in order to meet your business goals. Hiring an outside firm to create awesome content for your brand can be an invaluable investment.
Use the right tools.
There are several tools out there that can help you with anything from creating a newsletter with curated content to delivering original content. Constant Contact outlined a few in a recent post about finding email newsletter content. Here’s a brief breakdown:
• Flashissue helps you design emails containing curated content that you think will be of interest to your targeted audience. It’ll also let you create a list of contacts from your Gmail account, send your newsletter, and track who reads it.
• Qwiqq is an app for your iPhone that lets you share your wares directly with followers. Just snap a pic, write a brief description, note your location, add a photo, and share. It’s a great way to create quick, quality content about your products and services.
• Looplogic helps you create videos and then publish and track to see who watches them. It’s great for sharing webinars and other presentations.
Looking at the level of the website, you might consider using a Content Management System (CMS). A CMS can be a very useful tool to create, edit and update your content on your own with limited technical knowledge. Plus, a CMS allows more than one person to add and edit content on your company website. tuts+ offers a list of easy-to-use content management systems that can help you get started.
The task of creating unique and useful content is ongoing. All the same, know that consistently offering quality content has wide-reaching effects for your business. You can attract customers by getting them to willingly engage with you, and that requires content. Hopefully, some of these tips and tools will help you down the road to creating a conversation that your customers want to join in on. One final note as you go forward: Don’t forget to measure the response to your content. You’ll want to refine your content creation strategies and content marketing strategies as a whole as you see what resonates with your target audience.
What content creation tips and tools can’t you live without? Share them in the comments section.
Contact Filament for more information about strategic content creation that will help you get found and grow your business online.
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