How to Start Becoming a Content Creation Machine For Effective Marketing
To do content marketing successfully, you have to pump out a great deal of content. You have to become a ‘content creation machine,’ producing original, interesting, and relevant content that’s valuable to your readers on a steady basis. You can become a high-volume content producer with the right mindset, practice, and a bit of hard work.
Once you get into the flow, creating content is easy.
And remember, “We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.” ~ Craig Davis, former Chief Creative Officer at J. Walter Thompson. (That’s a bit-sized quote that is packed with power and insight! I suggest you check out some other great content marketing quotes right here).
Daily Practice: Flex Those Content Marketing Muscles!
Creating content, especially writing, is something you should get into a daily habit of doing. When you set aside some time to write each day, it gets much easier and feels more natural.
A Content Creation Schedules Will Save Time and Headaches
Create a regular schedule for your content creation and publishing, and then put this into your daily routine. Decide how many posts, articles, videos, etc. you’ll make each week and then set aside the time on your calendar to do it.
Start an Idea Bank To Deposit and Withdraw Inspiration From
Create an idea bank. This is a list of ideas that you can refer to for inspiration. You can keep your idea bank on your PC, but it’s good to take a notepad with you wherever you go in case an idea strikes you (a mobile device can serve this purpose as well). Many content creators swear by Evernote, while others feel most comfortable recording their ideas in their Moleskine notebooks.
Start a Template Bank
You may not realize this, but most articles follow basic patterns. Writers use templates that they plug their ideas into to create articles. For example, one template is the ‘Wrong Way vs. Right Way’ template. This type of article discusses how people commonly do something wrong and then tells the reader how to do it right.
Using templates such as this, you can simply plug your ideas in and create content much more quickly. You can also use templates to repurpose content by taking the same ideas and plugging them into different templates to create totally original articles.
Try saving articles you’ve written or seen in a “templates” folder in your computer. You can do the same with videos or other content that follows a specific structure, such as infographics or email series. Any time you create or see a type of content you like, save it so that you can go back and find it again.
Mix up Your Content: Diversify!
Don’t limit yourself to creating just one kind of content. Rather than sticking to articles and blog posts only, try making images, producing videos, creating infographics, compiling resource guides, and so on. Your audience will enjoy the variety.
Seek Feedback & Evolve With It
Get friends, colleagues, and other content creators to review your work and offer advice. Especially with writing, it helps to have more experienced writers offer tips. Use this advice to sharpen your writing skills.
Check Out the Competition: Be More Clever
Take a look at other content in your niche. You can compare your content to others and find ways to make improvements. Checking out the competition can also give you ideas on how to set yourself apart from others.
Curate Content: Not Just Because You’re Short of Ideas!
Finally, you don’t have to create all of your content from scratch. You can curate content, which means sharing the content of others and offering your own ideas and opinions. For example, you might share a news story and then write your own summary and commentary. Curating content well makes you the go-to source of information in your niche for your readers.
