Content production is a crucial part of any organization’s digital marketing strategy. Content producers are responsible for creating content that will be used to attract and engage consumers.
The problem with most organizations is they do not have the right people in place to create high quality content consistently. Most companies produce low quality, uninteresting, and irrelevant content that does little to help their cause or generate leads.
This blog post will guide you through the process so you can create quality content for your organization without the need for a content specialist.
Deciding your content goals
Before we start the content production process, you need to understand the importance of creating great content. It is important because content can be used in many different ways to achieve specific goals.
Three common goals most businesses use are:
1. Attracting people who may be interested in what you have to offer
2. Engaging existing consumers
3. Educating consumers about your products or services
There are many different ways to use content marketing to help achieve these goals.
Content producers need to be creative and develop ideas that will make people want your products, keep them happy, and spread the word for you.
Content creation process
The process of creating content is made up of four steps.
Step 1: The first step in the process is to find an idea for a topic that people are interested in and want to learn more about.
It would be best if you chose something broad enough to write several articles on it, but narrow enough that people will be interested in reading about it.
Step 2: The second step is to write a detailed outline of the idea before creating your content. You should include things like what you want to say, how you will say it (tone), and how many articles you plan on writing, not to waste time writing your content.
This will help you to stay focused and create high quality content instead of just throwing random ideas together without any direction.
Step 3: The third step is to start writing your first piece of content once you have created your detailed outline. You must stick with the outline or risk losing track of what you want to say.
If you feel like more information would be helpful for the reader, then add it in the form of a sidebar or a tip box instead of getting off-topic.
Step 4: Finally, once your first article has been published, determine which platform it should be posted on (social media, blogs, website) and figure out how long it takes for people to find your post so they can engage with and share your content.
Repeat the second and third steps as many times as necessary, so you can create a full series of content for your chosen topic.
Types of content to produce
When creating digital content, it is important to remember that there are three different types you need to be aware of:
1. Informational – this type will educate consumers about your products or services in a way that does not pressure them into buying anything.
2. Entertainment/Educational– the purpose of this type is to entertain your audience while still educating them about your product in an indirect way.
It should also have some educational qualities because people are more likely to take action when they have been entertained AND educated at the same time. Optimizely recommends using entertaining, educational content to increase conversion rates.
3. Promotional – this type is all about selling your products and services. It should clearly explain what the consumer will get by purchasing from you and why they should buy it now instead of later.
How to create informational content
The first step in creating informational content is to come up with a detailed outline or plan for what you are going to say using an editorial calendar tool like Google Docs. This works because you schedule all your posts and then use the editorial calendar as a reminder, so you don’t forget when they are supposed to be published.
Once you have created your outline, write a rough draft before moving on to editing your finished product and formatting it for the platform you are posting it on.
The hard part is getting through this process, but once you have created content for informational purposes that converts well, you will easily create more.
How to create entertainment/educational content
In order to create entertaining content, make sure your target audience will actually enjoy reading it. You also need to ensure that it contains a good balance of education and entertainment, so people get something out of it.
Use tools like Google Analytics to try different headlines and find the one that works best with your specific audience.
Run experiments, test things out, and measure what works well instead of just assuming what you think will work based on your assumptions about your target audience won’t.
It is also important to keep in mind that you don’t want to over-educate people and turn them off to your business by being too “preachy.”
Remember that you are trying to sell a product or service, so focus on educating the consumer but do not forget about entertaining them at the same time.
One way to avoid getting into any boring educational content is by writing articles with tips and tricks that provide value instead of just trying to teach something directly. In addition, tips and tricks can be used for promoting products/services indirectly while still providing value for an audience through entertainment and education.
The last piece of advice I have when it comes to creating this type of content is to never force yourself into doing anything you are not interested in or passionate about.
You will be able to put a lot more passion into the content if you have an interest in the subject matter, so it is important to choose something that makes you feel good while writing it.
How to create promotional content
It’s easy to write your own promotional content because all you need to do is come up with a specific product and write about why that product is useful.
Keep in mind that promotional content does not have the same rules as other types of content.
For example, you can be a lot more salesy and overtly ask for sales than you can with other content types since it’s not intended to educate or entertain; it is all about trying to sell the consumer on your product/service.
The other thing that works well with promoting products/services is giving away free stuff, like eBooks and lead magnets.
Giving people something will make them feel good about doing business with you because they feel like they are getting something out of it. This will result in future purchases when someone buys from you based on prior relationships built with giveaways.
The important factor to remember when writing promotional content is that you should always provide value and attempt to sell a product/service.
Obviously, you want to sell a product or service, but you also want people who visit your site to feel like they gained something out of it if they didn’t buy anything from you right away.
Content platforms
The platform you choose is very important because it can affect the type of content you produce and how effortless it is to create the content.
Some social platforms are better for educational and entertaining content, while others are better for promotional content.
For example, if you create educational content, then Google and Youtube are probably good platforms because their audiences seek solutions to problems.
However, if you want to write promotional content, then industry marketplaces or running adverts might be better.
Content formats
The format you choose to deliver your content is just as important as what platform you’re using for distribution purposes.
The main three content formats are:
Blog posts – These are the most popular type of content, and they’re easy to create.
This is a great format for information and education content because you can rank them in search engines like Google.
Youtube videos – This is a great option if you’re creating educational and entertaining content because Youtube has a ready-made audience of people searching for content like yours.
Podcasts – This is a great chance to create promotional content because people can listen to it while they work or drive. Platforms like iTunes and Spotify make it easy for people to find your content too.
Conclusion
Content is tremendously important, and it helps you to build relationships with your audience, which leads to more sales.
The first step in creating content is deciding what format will work best for you and then choosing a platform that makes it easy for you to deliver the content in whatever format you choose.
This article will give you a content creation workflow to use, and this will give you the best content marketing channels to use.