Have you been hesitating about creating content for marketing your business? Have you made a start but then given up? It’s not easy to commit to content marketing and it really is a commitment you need to make. Here is how to know if you are ready to commit to quality content creation:
Take my quick quiz
- Do you want to build brand trust with your target audience?
- Do you agree that advertising messages aren’t what people want to engage with?
- Do you feel you have an interesting product or service or business story to tell?
- Have you admired other businesses and the blogs and content they are creating?
- Do you want your brand, product or service to be perceived as one of good quality?
- Are you ready to set aside some time for quality content creation?
If you answered yes to at least 5 out of 6 of these then I would say you are ready to start committing to quality content creation.
Here are some tips to help you get started based on my experience of 10 years’ at Mykidstime:
#1. Decide on what you can commit to
There’s no point in overcommitting. So decide what level of content creation you can commit to. This could be once a month, twice a month, once a week, whatever you can commit to start with that timescale.
Remember that you are better producing one great piece of content every month, for example, rather than poor pieces more often.
Tweet This#2. Decide on the formats
Is it going to be a video, a blog post, an infographic, an image, a podcast? Whatever format you decide on has to be one that you enjoy creating. No point in deciding on videos if you hate going in front of the camera.
You might also enjoy reading 5 Proven Types of Blog Content That People Flock To Read
#3. Decide who will create the content
Is it you, someone else in your organisation or a 3rd party that you give a brief to? Regardless of who creates, you will need to plan your content.
#4. Now make your content creation plan
Whether it’s on the back of an envelope,on an online document, in Word or an Excel sheet, on a project management tool like Asana, write down your content creation plan. Writing it down improves your commitment chances.
You might also enjoy reading 9 Ways to Make Content Creation Simple
#5. Decide on timings
When do you ideally want to publish the content or share it on your social media channels? Do you know how long it will take you to produce it? If you’ve never done this before then give the first one a go and you’ll know then how much time to allow for the next one.
#6. Ask someone else to look at it
When you have created your content and it’s nearly ready to go live, ask someone else to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. They may spot something obvious that you forgot to include.
#7. Assign deadlines
The content won’t be created if people don’t have deadlines to work off. Even if it’s just you creating it, add key dates to your calendar or whatever task or project management tool you use so you can assign necessary deadlines and allow plenty of time.
#8. Consider carving out content creation time
Amy Porterfield calls this Tiger Time, as in time you should protect like a tiger. Blocking off time in your calendar for content creation means it’s more likely to happen.
#9. Don’t forget your overall objectives and calls to action
What do you want people to ideally do when they see this new piece of content?
- Do you want people to share? Is it easy for them to share it?
- Do you want them to visit your website? Have you included your website URL on the image or infographic or video?
- Do you want them to email or phone you? Have you given them the email address and contact number to do this easily?
When you share the content on social media remember to add calls to action where possible, links, “click here to find out more”, etc.
#10. Measure, measure, measure
When you create and share content, you should always know how to measure how people viewed, engaged, took action on your content. How else will you know it worked?
If you are not already committed to creating quality content for your marketing, then I hope this has inspired you to start.
Do you need some help with content creation, content strategy or content marketing for your business? I can help so contact me now for a chat.
Over to you now. I’d love to hear your thoughts on content marketing and creating quality content, tell me in the comments below.
