Whether it’s for your blog, website, Facebook page or Instagram account, creating meaningful content is critical. Relevant content boosts our ranking in the algorithms but more importantly it builds engagement and relationships with our target audience- the people who make us money. Today Isabelle Durkin from Marketing Loco shares with us her top 5 tips to creating content that matters. – Andrew
Although it may seem simple, creating effective content takes time and effort. It is a skill in itself. Therefore, it is no surprise that business owners often procrastinate, while they focus on their everyday tasks and established skill-sets.
Let me share with you my 5 Steps to help you create content that will engage your audience and establish your brand as a credible source.
1. Identify Relevant Topics for Your Audience
It is essential to find topics of interest for your audience – NOT for yourself. Often, business owners make assumptions with no real validation, or they choose a topic within their comfort zone, without considering the interest level of their followers.
If you are unsure of the topics that will engage your audience – here are some ways to find out:
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Ask your audience about topics of interest or problems they face. This may be face-to -face, email, phone, through social media.
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Create a quick online survey through Survey Monkey. You can email this to your database or paste the link on your social media pages. You can sign up and create a short survey for free. Or you can set up a short Facebook poll on your business page.
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Check out Google Trends to see the popularity of search terms in Google. You can filter by country, region, language and timeframe. This is also a free tool.
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Use Buzzsumo, which is an online tool, that will show you what content is popular by topic, across various social media platforms.
2. Educate your Audience with Information of Value
Once you have selected the topic, provide information that is valuable to your audience, which will establish thought leadership. Use this communication opportunity to promote your value and drive trust and credibility, rather than driving a sales pitch.
Ask yourself the following question, “Will this information help my audience to solve a problem?” If you act as the expert and can help your followers, you will be seen as the expert in your field.
3. Select the Most Suitable Type of Content to Develop
There are so many types of content to choose from. It is important to select the most suitable content type and channel, relevant to your audience. For example, if your audience engage with your brand on Instagram, videos and images are the most suitable types of content for this platform.
Here are a list of various types of content to choose from:
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Images
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Videos
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Infographics
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Webinars
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Blogs
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Case studies
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eBooks
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White papers
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Templates
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Checklists
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Interviews
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Memes
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SlideShare presentations
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Podcasts
4. Create your Content
Once you have selected the topic, determined the valuable information you will provide and identified the type of content – you just need to actually create it. If you have the time, you can create the final content in the selected format yourself. Or you may choose to outsource this task to a specialist. Your decision is likely to be based on the time and skill-set needed for the type of content. For example, if you decide to create an eBook, it may be worthwhile to provide the information to a graphic designer, who will easily and quickly design the final eBook for you.
You can outsource content creation easily and cost effectively by hiring specialists on a project basis through the following websites:
Otherwise, you may choose to create your own content, using one of the many online tools. Below are tools I use frequently:
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Canva: This is an easy-to-use graphic design tool that allows you to design a huge range of marketing and content materials through a drag and drop functionality. Examples of content you can design include: social media posts, infographics, presentations, newsletters and much more.
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Biteable: This is a simple online video-maker that allows you to create your own videos. You can use footage, images and music from the platform or upload your own.
5. Repurpose Your Content
It is common that successful brands will repurpose their content, which just means to recycle the information and supply it in a different format. For example, this blog post can easily be reformatted into an infographic which will briefly describe the 5 steps of creating engaging content. I could also create a video, based on the same topic and or even a podcast.
Repurposing your content provides a number of benefits. You can reach a new audience as different people prefer different formats i.e. some people prefer visuals (such as infographics) to text (such as blogs). In addition, some of your target audience may miss your content when you first post it. Should you repurpose and make it available at a later stage, they are more likely to see and engage with your brand. Plus, repurposing means you don’t have to constantly look for new topics for your content, which will save you time and effort.
Content creation is a crucial marketing tool in the modern digital landscape. And although it can be time-consuming, if you plan ahead, follow these 5 steps and outsource the tasks you don’t have the time (or skill-set) to implement yourself, you are more likely to engage with your audience, which will positively impact your brand.
Learn more about Isabelle and Marketing Loco here:
Website: www.marketingloco.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/isabelle-durkin-3517531a
About Isabelle Durkin
Isabelle has worked in marketing roles on blue-chip brands in the consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. She is no stranger to a fast-paced environment that continually demands results. Isabelle’s skills have been developed over 20 years as a marketing professional so it’s no surprise she runs her own business, Marketing Loco, where she has formed a team of highly experienced and passionate digital marketing experts that specialise in healthcare. She also teaches others as a Marketing Expert at one of Sydney’s leading business colleges.
