How do you as a marketing team ensure that you work in a productive way on a constant and high-quality content stream? I highlight five habits that are very important for everyone who is involved in content marketing.
I often hear it: “I don’t know what to write about”. This applies to entrepreneurs and marketers who work in a large team as well as small business owners. Do you recognize this? Yet ideas for content are really everywhere, but you have to know where to look. There are books written about how to create content, but you also look at the content you already have. For example, consider:
But, the best way to go, is through keyword research. In this article, I give you 7 free tools for keyword research. Use these to create your own keyword overview.
If these are not enough, you can always use paid tools like ahrefs.com or SEMrush to find inspiring keywords that people search for. Or use one of these tools:
A great content stream is a constant flow of images, text, articles, posts, and/or videos. If you post every day, you can’t just stop for a week. It’s about having a stable flow of information.
If you’re really stuck on how to create content, you should consider hiring a content specialist, like me. I have helped several marketing teams to find the right keywords, create content calendars, and produced more quality content than ever before.
I just document all ideas in a spreadsheet. There I put in where I got the idea, possibly with a link, the date, the subject, and possibly some notes for myself. More important is that I check the keywords in ahrefs.com or another keyword tool to check if there is traffic for it. If I don’t know what to write about, I open my Content Stream Spreadsheet and I can continue.
Do I have to write about something for a (new) customer that I don’t have anything for? Then I block a few hours on my agenda to gain inspiration and keyword research. You really have to consciously make time for it.
This way you’re much more efficient with your time and with what you create. If you postpone this second idea or extra content around your first article, you will need a lot more time to create the extra content later. Create all your content when you’re inspired!
This is especially important if you are working in a team. Make sure there are templates for every type of content. What should be in a blog? Think of the title, text, source, references, information about the author, and an instant message that can be used on social media. Keep it in a document on a server that everyone can access. This prevents content from going back and forth and slowing down your content stream. And it gives you peace when you’re creating because you know that you don’t forget anything.
I am convinced that you should always have someone else check your content. Whether you are an entrepreneur or work for an organization, you want your creations to come online flawless, understandable, and catchy. If you have worked on a text yourself for a long time, you may no longer see errors. Or you find something very logical, while the subject may need a bit more explanation.
Make sure there is a process for this. Who checks your content? What exactly? How is feedback tracked? How long does someone need for giving feedback? Will there be an extra review of the modified version?
By making clear agreements about this, you prevent your content from getting stuck and therefore interrupting your content stream. You don’t want your flow of content production to be slowed down.
Still just a moment for the entrepreneurs: you probably do not have direct colleagues, but ask feedback from another entrepreneur. Exchange blogs or other content and help each other.
Final version 320, Final FINAL, and more such filenames. In my experience, these filenames are mainly confusing. It is inconvenient and you need to have an extra contact moment, or even worse: the wrong text will be put online.
Read all about why content marketing is key in 2020 here.
