Reading Time: 8 minutes
Got a business that you’re promoting online? Are you trying to design content for it?
You should be. Content is how you keep customers interested in you. It’s how you show off your industry expertise.
And – it’s how you attract the attention of big players in the online world.
Unfortunately, making content isn’t as easy as you think.
It’s a Process.
And there’s so much you need to plan.
You need to pick the right platforms for your content (blog, social media posts, YouTube, etc.).
You then need to pick the right content type. For example, are you publishing written content, text to speech content or podcasts?
Are you making videos? And if so, where do they go?
You then need marketing expertise. You should know how to sell each piece to get attention and engagement.
It’s a long and confusing process. But no worries. This guide should give you the clarity you need!
Below, we’ll discuss…
-
- Content creation basics (using a script).
-
- The 3 different content types.
- How to leverage each content type.
First – Starting With a Script.
Jot down the ideas you’d like to communicate to your followers.
It’s a brainstorming process. And it’ll help you evaluate how much content you’ll need to express each idea.
Organisation and Planning.
There are two approaches to creating content.
The 1st is to create content in a series. Instead of planning a single video/article/podcast, you can plan multiples.
You can take a big idea, and cut it into pieces. You can then publish each piece by a specific schedule.
The 2nd is to publish piece-by-piece.
Each content piece isn’t relevant to the one before. You operate by a rough publishing schedule (every few days to keep Google algorithms happy).
Picking Your Approach.
There isn’t a right or wrong approach. What you pick has to do with that what you’re most comfortable with.
You can take long content that would fit a series. And you can put it all out in a single article/video (instead of publishing a few content pieces at a time).
Or, you can take a very long piece of content, and cut it up into smaller scripts.
The most important criterion here is clarity.
Regardless of what you choose, you should communicate your ideas in a way that’s powerful and effective for your business goals.
Also, you need to keep the viewer hooked and attentive. And you should make content consumption easier.
How?
You pick the right medium – which will be our next point…
Second – Writing, Podcasts, Image Posts & Videos.
Those are the THREE basic content types out there.
You can explore all of them. And they each serve a different purpose (and can be explored in a variety of ways).
Focusing vs. Diversifying.
Most marketing advice will tell you to focus on a single type of content.
They’ll say you should keep a blog (with occasional videos/podcasts). Or, make videos, and publish summary posts every now and then.
The other camp claims that diversification gets you a large traffic pool. By diversifying, you stand to reach more prospects (especially as a startup).
But…
We think you should take an intermediate approach.
You should diversify the content types you publish. But you shouldn’t do it to the point of confusing your market.
For that reason, we’ll look at the different ways you can style each content type. We’ll show you how to leverage them.
Simply choose what works for each idea you jotted down!
The Different Types of Written Content.
When writing is discussed, we tend to think of blog posts, such as…
-
- Top 10 lists.
-
- “How to” guides.
-
- Tutorials.
- E-books.
But writing content can evolve beyond those limits. They can include…
-
- Social media announcements.
-
- Critique posts.
- Motivational messages
Text content doesn’t have to be elaborate. You don’t need detailed guides to sell text or get engagement.
Often, well expressed but short statements do the trick. All you need is to pick the right tone and platform for them!
Another Way to Look at Written Content.
You can look at them based on posting location. This’ll include…
-
- Website posts (informative guides with 500+ word counts).
-
- Email content (short sales content + long e-books for subscribers).
- Social media posts (short content, less than 100 words).
There are more subcategories you can add to that list.
You have different styles of website, social media, and email content!
Blog Post Types.
They include the following…
-
- Sales pages (where you sell the pros of your products).
-
- Influencer posts (you can invite others to post on your blog for a free. Or, you can publish promotional content on other business’ websites)!
- Informative content.
And even the previous types come with different combinations.
For example, you can take your sales pages, shorten them, and turn them into emails. Or, you can restyle them for social media!
As for influencer posts – cross blog publishing is a possibility. You can collaborate with others on press releases, and backlink articles!
As for informative content, you can publish it on multiple social channels (such as Reddit and Quora).
Plus, you can rework the content in the form of a question (to attract engagement).
You can even put all your informative content, and rewrite it into an e-book!
The Different Types of Podcasts.
Podcasts are audio content. They’re like an online radio, which you can do live. Or, you can record a podcast beforehand.
But the normal style of podcasts is to do it live. Live podcasts show your audience that they’re worth your “real time.”
Can You Diversify Podcasts?
Yes.
What’s amazing about podcasts is that it’s spoken word. And maybe speech comes more naturally to you than writing.
Also, podcasts can be posted virtually everywhere. They go on blogs, YouTube, social media (even ones like Facebook – which are text based).
You can even do collaborations. Podcasts can be…
-
- Interviews with others.
-
- A conversation between multiple individuals (even influencers in your field).
- Converting old videos into audio podcasts.
Plus, there are specialised social media channels for this type of content (such as SoundCloud). And you can post content there!
The Different Types of Visual Content.
Let’s start with videos.
They’re the best type of content you can create. Videos generate more engagement and viewers than any other content type.
However, unlike podcasts and text content, videos are effort intensive. They require specialist help.
But assuming you’re exploring them, here’s what you can do with videos…
-
- Design professional interviews (you may need a studio and camera for this).
-
- Post self-talk videos (where you discuss personal thoughts and opinions).
- Do customer QAs (pick up questions and common concerns – then address them).
Professional interviews require some spending on your part. However, there is a cheaper alternative with a similar concept…
You can setup web interviews. You can live stream an interview between you and other prominent individuals from a distance.
While it doesn’t have the “professional look” of a studio, there’s more comfort for both speakers. And it gives your brand a more human image.
As for self-talk videos, those are similar to podcasts. And arguably, they’re the easiest of all video types to make.
You can self-present content with any setup you wish.
As with customer QAs, you can take customer complaints and feedback (from email, comments, and reviews). You can then use those for video content!
Special Social Media Videos.
Your content doesn’t have to be a long “multi-minute” script.
You can deliver short videos on Instagram. You can use them to create memes, for hype marketing, and for story updates. For creating memes try the best solution here!
But if you want to post longer videos, you can try IGTV. This is an app developed by Instagram that allows for lengthier video publishing.
You can synchronise that with your Instagram account – effectively creating visual content of all types!
Speaking of other visual content…
Designing Visual Posts.
They’re easier to create than video, and you can post them virtually everywhere. With images, you can…
-
- Showcase upcoming products for sale.
-
- Communicate a problem that your business wants to solve.
-
- Add a touch to email marketing.
- Make it the bulk of your social media engagement.
Images are as versatile as text. But their variety and ability to stun is what makes them key.
However, while images attract attention, they don’t attract the responses that text does. That is, don’t expect lengthy discussions in your comment section as a result of images.
But, you can expect many shares – making them a better marketing tool than text, especially when…
-
- You embed powerful images into text content.
-
- Express funny (but controversial) opinions through images.
- Use them to attract empathy for a cause.
Basically, images are a head-turner. They grow your traffic fast, but they’re not a reliable tool to keep traffic around.
Thus, we recommend you…
Mix and Match Content Types.
You have many content types that you can leverage. And you never have to stick to a pure content form.
For example, if you’re making videos – you can turn those into clean blog scripts through transcription.
If you’re making text content, you can add images here and there (to summarise or elaborate on certain points).
The ways you can leverage online content are endless. Simple design the strategy that works for you, and stay consistent with it!
Would you like to see some fast results?
Now, there’s money to be made by applying the marketing ideas you’ve read about in this post… Lots of money! Seriously…
But, to get that money into your bank account , you’re gonna need to apply AND probably customise these ideas so that they will work in your own unique situation.
If you want to take a shortcut and save yourself some trial and error experimentation in doing that, I can help you get up and running, quickly…
FREE CONSULTATION
If the few ideas I’ve shared with you so far make sense, then I’d like to offer you a FREE consultation so you can see how my practical, results orientated approach can give you an advantage over your competitors, win you more sales and clients and then turn those first time buyers into loyal customers that will bring tens of thousands of dollars in lifetime value.
And, this time, a FREE consultation means exactly that, a free consultation – not a ‘free’ sales pitch.
The world is full of ‘pay-me-then-I’ll-show-you-what-I-can-do’ people … but I’m not one of them. During your free consultation I’ll work with you to identify the very best strategy for you and your business and then show you exactly how to implement the strategy.
I’ll hold nothing back during our consultation.
Frankly, my goal is to impress you.
Why – because, if I can show you how to get better results and make more money from our very first session working together, then you might just want to put me on your team.
And putting me on your team is remarkably easy and affordable.
From as little as one half day per month we could be putting marketing right at the top of your list of priorities, ensuring that you hit your targets and achieve your business goals quickly.
You’ve nothing to lose. So give me a call today on 03 9068 6905 to book your free consultation. Or you can shoot me through a message here: : https://digitalbond.com.au/strategy/
