When it comes to content creation, getting yourself organized is half the battle.

A good content marketing strategy helps you get your ideas in front of your target audience. If you’re looking for a way to reach more people and grow your following without spending money on advertising, a quality content strategy will quickly become your best friend.

Digital content creation requires sweat equity, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Here are some tips to help you with your content creation workflow.

Why Care About Content Creation?

Whether you’re a creator, content helps users get to know you and/or your business online.

Influencer marketing gets a lot of attention in the content creator space, but there are other advantages to creating content that don’t involve social media platforms.

Search engine results pages. By creating written content with SEO in mind, you can steadily improve website traffic, which helps with lead generation.

Website content is great for driving organic traffic, and it still works well in 2023.

Thought leadership. Content writing is a great way to show off what you know, and it’s okay to sprinkle in a little personality, too.

New readers from existing content. One of the misconceptions of the content creation process is that you need to be creating new content ideas and posts constantly. This is not true.

A quality blog post or piece of video content can be published once and bring you new leads or followers for years to come. The key is to publish great content, which is easier said than done, but worth it.

The Content Creation Process: 3 Ps for Success

No. 1: Plan

Your content strategy needs a goal.

• Do you want this content to attract new readers?
• Do you want to sell existing readers and other potential customers?
• Do you want to upsell existing customers?

Get very clear and granular on your marketing goals.

It’s important to create content on topics that people are actually searching for. Great content doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be relevant. Keyword research is a great way to figure out what these topics actually are.

Keyword research refers to the process of looking up words or phrases that are being typed into search engines. The most relevant content metric here is monthly search volume (MSV); you want to see how many searches per month certain keywords or key phrases are attracting.

You can use a free tool like Google Keyword Planner to explore keywords in more detail—Ahrefs has a terrific tutorial on this.

At first, it might seem like more search volume will translate to more eyeballs on your web content. The problem here is that higher-MSV keywords often have more competition. You would be better off targeting a less-competitive keyword in order to rank higher.

Take the time to plan out all the details of your content creation process. Include:

• Your target audience.
• A content creation schedule.
• If publishing on a social media platform, also consider relevant hashtags

No. 2: Produce

Once you’ve completed some or all of your content planning, it’s time to transition into production.

Make an intentional mental shift here. A common mistake I see is that clients generate ideas, which is great for the planning stage, but then they continue to chase shiny objects and generate more ideas.

Production is about executing on one idea at a time and streamlining your content creation process.

No. 3: Publish

Once you have your content ready, think about how you can promote this content so that your audience knows about it.

Email marketing is great for this, but you can also schedule posts on social media, promote on other marketing channels, or share with trusted peers with whom you have an ongoing relationship.

Blog Post Tips for Creating Content Quickly

If you’ve made it this far, it sounds like content creation might be your thing. Here are a few content creation tools and tips to help you along the way.

Take into consideration past customer feedback. Do you readers engage more with visual content? Blog content? Something else? Study digital content creators in your industry to see how they organize information to get inspired.

Reference the content format of blogs or posts you really like. Create a system where it’s easy to bookmark or save content you really like. If you’re using a tool like Notion or Airtable, consider using the web clipper feature.

This lets you quickly save links and posts into a spreadsheet so you can go back and check them out later.

Read up on best practices for creating content. This can include visual, audio, or video content, even if those modalities aren’t typically your thing. Sometimes, also showing an idea as a graphic or video can help appeal to different learning styles.

Consider investing in a content creation tool or software. One tool I like to use for my blog writing is Surfer. Surfer’s content editor uses AI to recommend related words and phrases for your blogs, in order to help drive organic traffic.

If more traffic is your desired outcome, consider using a guided tool like Surfer to support your content marketing efforts.

FAQs on How to Create Content

Does Email Marketing Count as Content?

Absolutely. Email marketing is one of the most powerful forms of digital content creation. But email requires that users already be signed up for your list in order to be effective. You may also need a top-of-funnel strategy in addition to email.

What Social Media Posts Are Best for a Small Business Owner?

This will ultimately depend on your industry. Focus on publishing quality, engaging content consistently. Think of your content as being more than just a feed; use social media tools to build a library of interesting posts that can act as a portfolio.

What Are Some of the Most Popular Content Formats?

You can never go wrong with how-to guides. Any content that teaches the user something new is helpful and valuable. Testimonials, industry fact sheets, and recommendation lists are also great.

What Is Gated Content?

Gated content is not free to consume. Users either have to pay for it or take a conversion action of some kind, such as signing up for an email list. Content that is behind a paywall is gated, for example.

What Is Interactive Content?

Interactive content refers to any content consumers engage with in order to complete. A quiz would be a great example of this format. This type of content can sometimes require a lot of production, but if your industry is crowded, it can be a way to rise up above the competition.

Ramp Up Your Content Creation Game Today

Content creation is sexy, but for many of us we hit a wall when it comes time to produce and deliver. Take the time to plan out your workflow and you’ll be publishing great work on the internet in no time. ◆

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