What is Content?
The phrase “content is king” is the phrase most marketers are aware of, yet the importance continues to be underestimated for content marketing. Customers’ interaction with businesses and brands has changed digital and online marketing.
An important role in the field of marketing which creates an impression in the audience’s mind is the content. Content related to information sharing and sales can make a lot of difference.
Now, this content comes in forms and sizes, from website content, blogs, newsletters to video content, podcasts, emailers, and so on. Content is, therefore, the beating heart of any digital marketing strategy. It’s essential to success, and it has the potential to deliver on that success every day.
25 Tips to Create Amazing Content
Here are some tips that will help you in churning out better content:
1. Never Ever Compromise Quality for Quantity
This point can really not be stressed enough. Content for content’s sake won’t do you any favors. Half-hearted work won’t bring visitors back to your site.
Consider just how much content is being added to the internet every second of every day. If your content isn’t as good as or better than most of the other content out there, it’s highly unlikely to get noticed.
So a pro tip: invest your time in one brilliant piece of content rather than ten pieces of average content.
2. Include UGC in Your Strategy
UGC is User Generated Content and not only is it a great way to fill your feed with community-made content, but it’s a surefire way to attract new followers, make sales, and convert your existing audience into customers.
This is because you’re learning right from the people you wish to impress. It’s kind of like cheating but without actually cheating. So your audience itself becomes a valuable resource when it comes to finding awesome content.
According to a survey, 90% of consumers trust UGC to help influence their purchasing decisions. That’s a pretty big number, won’t you say? Enough to make all the difference.
3. Conduct Regular Brainstorming Sessions
Coming up with as many ideas as possible is the essential part of a productive brainstorming session. You can have daily or weekly brainstorming sessions with your team, even play games to exercise your creative muscles.
Work can be fun too. You just need to know how to make it fun.
4. Ensure the Content Adds Value to Your Customers
Each piece of content that you put out there should have something of value and enrich your audience’s lives in some way. It could be informative, entertaining, or both.
The main takeaway is that they shouldn’t leave feeling that they wasted their time on your content. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, you should:
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Know your audience as well as you can
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Decipher what your audience needs
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Provide solutions wrapped in creative content pieces
5. Enhance Existing Content
As a creator, you must be creating all sorts of content. From emails to blogs to social media posts. It is possible to improve upon existing blogs and add new information.
This will showcase your passion for the subject and how committed you are to providing quality information to your audience,
6. Determine Your Purpose Behind Creating the Content
There should be a reason why you are creating a piece of content, a purpose. Your objective should affect the type of content you create and who you choose to target with it.
Before you do anything else, simply assess what you want your content to achieve.
7. Know Your Target Audience as Well as You Can
Another point that can’t be stressed enough. You need to know everything you can about your target audience. Because unless you can describe your ideal customer in as much detail as possible, you are doing something wrong.
8. Use Profiler Tools to Get More Demographic-Centric Info
There are tools out there that can help you in understanding and identifying your ideal audience. You just have to input your competitors’ names or even the product you’re wishing to sell.
After that, all sorts of useful information about the average consumer for your search term will be made available to you. However, make sure you’re using the most suitable information.
9. Try the Personal Angle
You could even try writing articles about your personal story. In fact, it’s highly recommended to do so. A post describing and explaining some personal struggles and triumphs can be a welcome addition to your blog.
10. Research and Find Out What Content is Being Shared Most
Just as the title suggests, you can easily look up what sort of content is doing the best in your industry and try to come up with ideas along the same lines.
Obviously, you shouldn’t plagiarize, but you should use what you come across to inform your own decisions about what kinds of content will interest your audience most.
11. Look Up Trending Topics on Reddit
Considered a content creators’ goldmine, Reddit is one of the busiest online communities with virtually any topic covered in depth. All you need to do is type in the keywords and browse through the endless discussions that happen on the platform.
You can get tons of content ideas as you comb through the different threads and subtopics which will keep getting added to your list. Also, don’t forget to pay special attention to so-called hot topic pages for sourcing fresh insights.
12. Make Good Use of Google Tools
There are several google tools at your disposal. One that stands out in particular is the Keyword Planner. With its help, you won’t just get keywords but also content ideas that go along with it.
You will also be boosting the long term visibility of your content by crafting it around a popular key phrase (or phrases). Once you input your topic and are satisfied with the targeting settings, you can also make other changes, just click on ‘Get Ideas’.
Just remember that the default setting on the results page is “Ad group ideas.” You’ll want to change this to “Keyword ideas”.
13. Answer Questions Most-Asked by People Using Quora
Quora is another great platform to search for content ideas. It works because the platform is built for people to ask questions and then get those questions answered.
As people from all walks of life ask questions aimed at solving their problems, content creators and content marketers can take insight found there for creating well-researched, full-fledged articles and blog posts.
14. Keep Switching Up your Plan
There is evergreen content (the type that always works) and then there is newsworthy content (a topic that’s on everyone’s mind and current). While both work in different ways, the ideal strategy should contain a mixture of both.
You should, however, put a heavier emphasis on the evergreen content that will support your business in the long-run.
15. Repurpose Failed AND Successful Content
Blogs can be visually represented using infographics or emails can be turned into blogs, and so on. There are endless ways in which your good content can be repurposed.
Not just this, but even your failed content can be repurposed. Not all failed content did so because the idea was poor, or because the research was lacking. It’s just that the execution went wrong.
If you have faith in your idea, try presenting the information in a different format. You might be surprised by the results.
16. Work on Your Storytelling Skills
Studies have demonstrated that using your marketing to invoke positive emotions has a significant influence on customer loyalty. Turn your data into a story, and you can turn your readers into brand loyalists.
Just remember that while facts inform, stories change how we feel, what we think, the way we behave, and what we do.
17. Before You Start Creating, Write a Detailed Brief
The best content begins with a detailed brief that outlines how you’ll organize your content piece, including what each section will contain and which specific information points you’ll include.
If you’re outsourcing your content, this bit is even more important. Don’t assume a freelance writer or designer knows what you want. You can’t read minds. Chances are they can’t either.
You should also provide samples of work in the style you want if there is some source of inspiration, for better understanding.
18. Try Being Original, If Not, Then Be Better
With content, you can only go two ways. You work on something completely new or something old but presented in a new and more interesting way. Most content isn’t based on new information. It’s old information presented very well.
The main takeaway here is that you need to create something amazing, even if it’s not something groundbreaking or unique.
19. Brand Your Work But Don’t Go Overboard
Content branding is key to boosting brand awareness. You’ve created something amazing, and you should be recognized for it.
However, while content marketing is a form of advertising, it shouldn’t be confused with advertising in its rawest, most brand-focused form.
Just don’t overdo it and start branding your work from the get-go. Try to subtly incorporate it in your work so that it might seem natural and not forced upon the content you have created.
20. Know When to Stop Working on Something
We’ve all been there – you’ve been working on a piece of content that you were certain would change the world, but it’s just not coming together as you expected.
It’s a tough decision – why quit when you’ve invested so much time? But you should know when to quit. You don’t need to unnecessarily spend your time and resources if the content is not running.
So just know when to stop working and move on to better ideas.
21. Highlight Your Employees’ Journeys
Consumers love seeing the humans behind their favorite companies. It gives them a chance to relate to the brand on a more personal level. This is why showing employee stories is a good option.
22. Unearth Quality Keywords Using Ahrefs
Every SEO content creator’s essential tool of trade and Ahrefs is a treasure trove of keywords, phrases, search suggestions, and questions generated by users online, as they look for them in search engines.
Each keyword is measured with a use volume and keyword difficulty (signifying how competitive it is) and other valuable data such as Clicks and CTRs (Click-Through Rates).
23. Click Creative Snapshots of Your Products
Think about new ways to share product photos. You don’t want your photos to look like simple photos you’d find on any generic online store.
Your photos should fit in seamlessly with your brand aesthetic. Your product shots should blend in with your other content, while still standing out as your audience scrolls your feed.
Pro tip: You don’t have to overboard with your spending. All you have to do is use a little bit of creativity and maybe some DIY (Do It Yourself) skills.
24. Throw in Some BTS Clips Now and Then
Your social media channels are the perfect place to post videos or photos that show off the inner workings of your company.
On occasion, give followers a sneak peek into your brand’s daily processes. It’s always interesting to see how products get packaged for shipping or how events are prepared.
25. Come Up with Fun Games and Giveaways
Creating “games” on social media is an easy way to stay on-trend and to up your engagement with followers. Further, hosting giveaways is another great engagement option.
Because who doesn’t like gifts and games and the thrill that comes from both? So, organize them and see how your engagement rates go up.
Final Words
Creating content is just like putting a piece of yourself out there. So make sure that each time you do put out or publish something you create, you give your all and try to make it as amazing as possible. Reading this list is a great place to start.
