I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase: content is king. When it comes to digital marketing, this rings very true. It’s the driving force behind successful marketing and the key to building a strong online presence. However, many businesses face a common set of challenges when it comes to content production. So today, let’s explore how you can create an effective content production strategy.
Common Challenges
Creating content is not an easy, quick, simple proposition, and you need to be prepared for some of the following challenges.
Most people don’t want to do it
Unfortunately, people aren’t inclined to just produce content. Those that do are doing it, and they’re making a living out of it. For the rest of us, we don’t see it as important in the first instance until we come around to it. We see it more as a chore, where other things are more important.
So, let’s make it a priority for the whole team to do, so it’s not just one person. Everybody in the business should be producing some content throughout the year.
People underestimate the time writing takes
Creating really good content takes time across the board. From brainstorming the ideas, to actually writing or producing the content, to formatting it, to jazzing it up with catchy headings and bullet points, to formatting it live on your website, to making it functional for desktop and mobile, to choosing the images to go with it.
Then you need to share them on your social profiles as posts for engagement. So, you need to write a headline for it and use an image for it. You need to make it look good on your social channels, then you need to promote it by spending a bit of money boosting it to reach more people.
Then you need to do an Electronic Direct Mail (EDM) for it, which includes writing the content, selecting the images, and creating it into MailChimp, SendinBlue, etc. So, there is an immense amount of time that goes into producing each bit of content. And you need to factor that into people’s time, resources, and the plan of attack required to do it.
Building a Successful Content Production System
While these challenges and the drain on time and resources may seem overwhelming, they can be overcome by putting a content production system in place. A good system will take the strain off your employees and resources while also ensuring your business can produce high-quality and consistent digital marketing content.
Make content creation a habit
What is the cadence and rhythm you need to do every day, every week, and every month to get this content produced? Creating that habit in stone, and pushing that habit is one of the biggest challenges. Once you make it a habit, it becomes really easy, simple, and like clockwork. That’s what needs to be built.
You can do this by developing a content calendar outlining what content will be produced and when. This schedule makes it easier to establish a routine.
Leverage technology for high-quality content
Embracing technology can make content production easier and more efficient.
When writing content for clients it’s important to ensure you have a clear brief from them about what they want you to write about and include in the content. This includes which areas of their business to focus your digital marketing efforts on. You can do this by recording or dictating the conversation with the client into your phone, computer or other device to ensure you don’t miss or forget any important details.
Save resources by outsourcing
To save on time and resources you can outsource some of the writing and editing to freelancers or another content production company. You can do this by sending the recorded transcription straight to the content writer to transcribe it into content or send notes for them to write new, original content based on the recording.
Pay attention to detail
When it comes to digital marketing content quality and accuracy are of utmost importance. It’s essential to have the content proofread, edited and reviewed by a trusted employee who has a good grasp of the language, context and writing style. This ensures the content is of the highest possible quality and is as accurate as possible.
The better the quality, the better the results.
Share the content online
The final part of every content production journey is making the content live and available to your clients and customers. The major reason for creating content apart from boosting SEO is to add benefits for your target audience so every piece of content eventually needs to be published.
This needs to be completed by an employee or web developer who has a good grasp of the web system being used to upload the content to ensure it is optimised and looks great online.
To help your content reach further it’s also good practice to boost and promote it across more platforms including social media and EDMs. This promotion can be done by in-house social media gurus or outsourced if you don’t have any to save putting extra pressure on your employees.
Enjoy results with a well-structured content production system
While the time and effort required to create high-quality digital marketing content consistently might seem daunting, it can be streamlined with the right strategies and mindset. By motivating your team, managing your time effectively, and establishing the right habits and processes, you can overcome the hurdles of content production and reap the benefits of a robust content marketing strategy.
Remember, a great content production strategy can be a significant asset for your business, driving growth and engagement, and making it well worth the time and effort.
