4 ways to keep the content flowing
Blogs establish credibility, get your name out there and remain excellent search engine fodder. The only trouble? Finding a steady stream of content to publish.
How strictly should you stick to a content calendar?
When it comes to content marketing, a calendar is essential—but how often should you stick to it, and when should you stray?
Do you need a content brand? (The short answer: No)
What exactly is a content brand? In a nutshell, it’s exactly what it sounds like—a strategy that governs how your organization plans to position itself as a valuable content provider. The thinking is that, by gradually building a content brand, you can churn out more focused content and achieve better results. This doesn’t sit well with me.
Is your writing a victim of marketing speak?
The next time you have a free moment, take your latest piece of written content and cover up your company name. Without it, can you still tell that the material is written about your company? Or could it apply to any one of your competitors?
Simple ways to add value to your writing
Information becomes content when it adds value to the customer experience. The best way to do this? Show – don’t tell. As a leader in your field, the best way to create valuable content is to showcase your talents, proprietary knowledge or expertise. Here are a few ways to do that:
1) Offer insight
Sure, that report laden with raw data makes sense to you, but chances are it’s just a bunch of numbers to your clients. Offering context, and explaining why the data is important to your clients’ business, is a great way to illustrate the value of your expertise.
2) Boil it down
Sometimes the most valuable content is that which breaks down a complicated topic into laymen’s terms. We’re not talking about “dumbing it down” – we’re talking about writing for your audience. Not only does this help your clients better understand the topic at hand, but it shows that you’re approachable and you know what you’re talking about.
3) Pick a side
If you have an opinion about an industry-related topic, don’t be afraid to share it with your audience. The most share-worthy content is that which evokes some sort of emotion. If clients (or potential clients) agree with you, they’ll appreciate an article that articulates their thoughts. If they disagree, they might be motivated to leave a comment and start a discussion. Basically, as long as your opinion is factually based, you really can’t lose.
Want to learn more content-generating tips? Download our free report, Feeding the Content Beast.
You’ve already found your next blog post
When it comes to generating new content, many businesses tend to reinvent the wheel rather than work with what they already have. Chances are, if you’ve been writing content for a while, your next blog post is already written. Here are a few places you can find it:
1. Old content
The best place to find new content is by reading through content you’ve already written. Particularly popular posts are a good place to start. Try exploring a different angle or updating outdated information.
2. Larger materials
A whitepaper doesn’t only have one purpose. Break it down into smaller chunks, pull out some interesting statistics, grab a quote or two and you have enough blog posts, newsletter articles, tweets and Facebook updates to last you for a while. An added bonus? All that material can link back to the original whitepaper.
3. The stockpile
If you have time to sit down to write a blog post, try to write a second one with a longer shelf life. Building a content reserve can come in handy – and save you when you just can’t find a decent story idea. If you’re not that organized, however, the comments of previous blog posts are also a great place to find ideas.
Want to find out more? Download our free report, Feeding the Content Beast.
Tweets, Facebook Posts and Headlines – Is There an Ideal Length?
According to a recent article in Fast Company Magazine, there are , in fact, optimal lengths for our various missives on social media networks. The article also provide some backup research.
Here are the highlights:
• Perfect tweet length was right around 100 characters, resulting in a spike of re-tweets
• Facebook posts of 40 characters or less receive 86% higher engagement
• Six word headlines increase the chances that the entire headline will be read (Yes, the research showed that our attention spans have decreased to the point where we not only scan the body of an article or post but the headline as well).
For more fun facts, read the full article here. Once you do, let me if your own experience backs the research up and how you are addressing it in your own marketing campaigns.