The word CONTENT is automatically attached to marketing, and that is for all the right reasons!
Content creation as a service-based entrepreneur is important because it gives prospective customers an insight into your business and how they can patronize your services. In addition, content creation helps establish expertise, increase your visibility, generate leads, and strengthen your existing client relationships.
Creating content that seamlessly expresses the mission of your business can take some time and a well-thought-out strategy to execute, but that’s what we are here for!
In this blog post, we will tell you everything you will want to consider as you begin to create content and how to design a six-step content creation process that works for you and your business.
Step 1: Analyze Your Past Content
Before making content, think about the content you've made in the past. Analyzing your past content can help you make crucial decisions about how you will approach curating future content for your business.
As marketing experts, we are big on numbers! Go back to your previous content and see what performed well and what didn't. Are you seeing any trends in the content that your audience resonated with or attracted new people?
After you've determined what worked and what performed well, ask yourself the following questions:
Why am I doing this?
Do I enjoy doing this?
Do I enjoy it enough to do it consistently?
What would I do differently to change the aspects of my content I did not enjoy?
The answers to these questions will help you enter the content creation process with a fresh mindset and direction.
Also, a big part of content creation that is often overlooked is creating material you are proud of and enjoy making. Content creation should be fun. Think of it as an opportunity to tap into your creative side and express your business through various outlets.
When you take the time to revisit your past actions, you can make better informed and intentional decisions moving forward.
Step 2: Define Your Goals
Defining your goals with content creation will help with the overall process. Is your goal to convert visitors to your social media page into clients? Is your goal to boost traffic to your website? Are you creating content for a special program or service you will be launching soon?
Knowing your goal will help you know what to include in your content so that you are effectively communicating your point across on the platforms of your choosing.
Once you have your goal in mind, you can decide how you want to show up through your content to reach those goals.
Here are a few things to consider:
Brand Colors
Incorporating your brand colors in your graphics, with tools like emojis or text color, is a strategic way to get your audience to begin associating certain colors with your brand. This way, you always come to mind when they see that color.
Brand Voice
What identity does your brand/business have? Is your tone more of a serious one, or are you more of a light-hearted and laidback type of vibe? Whatever your tone is, be sure to let it shine through the words you use in your captions or the tone of your voice in videos.
Audience Type
Who are you trying to reach with this content? You should always aim to have a desired audience type in mind so you know who you are speaking to.
When you know your target audience, you can deliver relatable and relevant content to the issues they may be facing. You can speak to some of these issues and create solutions through your content.
Step 3: Choose Your Content Types
This is the fun part and where the creative side of entrepreneurship comes to light. Content can be delivered and executed in many forms. The forms you choose are up to you and can be determined by which type of content you think your audience will be more receptive to.
Types of Content Include:
Videos/Reels (Short Form Content)
Informative Carousels
Blog Posts
Youtube Videos (Long Form Content)
Infographics
Podcasts
Landing Pages
“Live” Interactive Chats
Step 4: Create A Content Calendar
Once you have an idea of the type of content you want to create, start filling in a content calendar to plan the days you will post on certain platforms. By planning content in advance, you can strategically align your messaging and promotions with important industry events, holidays, or service launches.
A content calendar will also help streamline your content creation process, as you will have a clear roadmap of what content to focus on and when to create it. This will save you time and resources. You won’t have to guess when you should post, but you can have it laid out beforehand. You’ll have to invest a lot of time and energy upfront, but this method can help you save time and energy in the long run.
Step 5: Consider Having Weekly Content Days
Another great way to save time in the content creation process is to have set days where you prioritize making content weekly.
This would consist of using the entire day to batch content. Batching content is when you film and create a series of content ideas in one day instead of doing it over time.
The idea is to knock it out all in one day so you can spend the rest of your time focused on other aspects of your business.
On these days, you could:
Film videos
Write captions
Research hashtags for your niche/industry
Create infographics and carousels
Design graphics
Step 6: Measure Results With Analytical Features
The last step of the content creation process is, of course, our favorite. It’s where you get to see how your content has performed once published. You’ll review and analyze the engagement, shares, comments, and other metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the content in reaching your goals.
Many social media and blogging platforms integrate analytic dashboards into your account for easy access and tracking of numerical data and trends. Use these to continually track your results to optimize your marketing, sales, and promotional efforts and gain valuable feedback on improving your content.
Finally
Utilizing content creation as part of your marketing strategy as a service-based entrepreneur is a great tactic to see results for your business. A content creation process that is easy to follow and intentional will allow you to approach content creation like a pro.
Investing the time and resources in creating high-quality content that resonates with your target audience will undoubtedly lead to you seeing a positive impact on your business.
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