Creating content isn’t always easy. But like most things in marketing, when you get stuck, revert back to thinking about the fundamental goal of your efforts; connecting with your audience. This isn’t necessarily a how-to guide for great content, it’s more of an outline of the means to get there. After all, good content stands out so giving you a cookie-cutter formula would be kind of ironic.

What makes Content Successful?

In order for your content to be successful, you have to keep your audience at the heart of your efforts. Of course, it’s important to promote your products through your content, but your main goal should always be to educate, inform, or entertain the audience. Content marketing is designed to establish thought leadership, share your insight and expertise, generate new leads, and nurture your current ones. Your content should distribute informative and consistent content tailored to your buyer persona. This approach is designed to elevate conversions by increasing brand awareness and website traffic. Creating strategic content is all about delivering value. If you are successful in building trust and purpose with your audience, the fruits of your labor will show in your content efforts. By focusing on quality content you can take your content to the next level. Over 55% of successful companies have seen great results from focusing on the quality of their content.

3 Steps for Determining Great Content Ideas

1. Brainstorm

   The first step when it comes to idea generation is brainstorming. Your thought process should be focused on the goals of your company. Say what you want to say to the audience in a way that is best for them. This is going to require some research into your buyer personas to get the creative juices flowing, but remember that taking risks isn’t always a bad thing when it comes to content. Experimenting with new ideas is the best way to set yourself apart in terms of content and beyond. Sitting down and thinking of new ideas may be intimidating, but it’s also essential to creating fresh new content ideas. Ask yourself questions from the audience’s perspective to help inspire some new ideas. One trick is to try some new creative problem-solving techniques and find one that works for you to get the ideas flowing.
   
   
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   Take time to Plan Content

   Generating the best content requires planning. It’s important to be well organized and structure your content around events and other important dates - to both your business and your potential customers (ie seasonality, purchase triggers, etc.) so it can stay relevant. This is also a good way to see how much content you actually have laid out in front of you. Don’t try to come up with one piece of content at a time; build a roadmap so that your content connects with buying cycles, ebbs and flows of business seasons, and the questions and needs of your audience.
   
   

3. Get Creating

   Here’s the fun part. Putting the pieces together in a consistent way is essential to the success of your content. This is every element of your content from the writing to spacing to coloring. It’s even important to think about how the images and other content forms you incorporate relate to your brand on a larger scale. Don’t get too hung up on perfection right out of the gate - getting started is the best step forward.

6 Tips for Improving Your Content Efforts

Your content’s success is dependent on if it stands out in a crowd. Coming up with ways to stand out among the  2.5 quintillion bytes of data that are published every day isn’t always a walk in the park. But that number isn’t getting any smaller. By 2025, people are expected to generate over 463 billion gigabytes of content per day. So it’s time to adapt and improve the ways we create content.

1. Recycle Content

   With all of the content floating around in the metaverse, it’s easy to see how people could miss or simply not remember the great things you have to share. Content curation and remarketing make sure your content is reaching its full potential. Refurbishing your content and publishing it again saves you time and showcases the things that people might have missed. Add a little twist to the posts in order to captivate those who do recall seeing it previously. Recycling your marketing material isn’t about being too lazy to create an original piece, it’s about reviving essential themes of your business and leveraging what is working to be even better.
   
   

2. Ask your AudiencE

   Your goal is to relate to, inform, and really - help your audience. Asking them what they’re looking for isn’t a bad place to start. Communicating with your audience by listening to what they have to say takes off the pressure. When your audience feels that they can tell you their thoughts, it adds a new level to their experience. The more you come to understand your audience, the more your content will resonate with them. You can even take it a step further and connect with the audience by incorporating user-generated content. Content created by your client base is more personal, so it’s a good way to build relationships.
   
   

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   Leverage Trends

   Hopping on trends keeps you in touch with your audience through your content efforts. They help you to stay relevant and keep things fun. Trends have more than surface value. Keeping up with trends allows you to see the new doors that could be opened for your company. Incorporating the latest digital trends into your branding strategy will add value to the brand story and help you stay top of mind with your audience.
   
   

4. Mix it up with Different Formats of Content

   Variation is essential to keeping the audience engaged. The same old same old isn’t what sets content apart. Creating different elements and forms that line up with your brand will set it apart. Using images, videos, written, and audio content are all good ways to add more interest. In addition, using both evergreen and ephemeral content adds depth to your strategy. The top 6 marketing content channels businesses use are: social media, websites, email marketing, SEO, text messaging, and paid social. The world is becoming increasingly more reliant on mobile devices so make sure all of these types of content are optimized for multi-channel experiences as well.
   
   

5. Data, Data, Data

   Look at your content that has been performing well. What’s different about it? Using insights on social platforms and from your website provide valuable feedback on where your content should head next.  65% of successful businesses run content audits over twice a year. Check in on those key performance indicators! A data-driven strategy uses analytics to optimize your content for the audience. Campaigns are the most effective when they aren’t just a guessing game. Collecting data from a targeted audience that aligns with a company’s buyer persona provides a more comprehensive understanding of how to develop campaigns.
   
   

6. Storytelling

   Content that just states facts isn’t always the way to go. Researchers found people retain only 5% of content if it is made up of statistics alone. But, when they hear a story, they remember 70%. Give your audience an experience through your content. Add some personality to your content. Telling a story in your content is much more fun. Your story should start and end with your clients. Then, you’ll definitely live happily ever after.
   
   

Content Marketing, it’s the holy grail of any marketing strategy. The industry is expected to grow by $417.85 billion from 2021 to 2025. Good quality, attention-grabbing content puts you on the top of the food chain. Your audience will be more inclined to engage with your content when they feel connected to it. Creating powerful content expands your company’s reach by developing deeper connections.