Having Trouble Coming Up With New Content? Use Our Three E’s of Content Creation!
Content creation doesn’t have to feel overwhelming or like a chore. Creating new, fresh content for your audience can be easy when you have a system in place. Today we will talk about taking the pain out of content creation so you can engage with your audience, without feeling stuck, unsure, or not confident about the message you are putting out there.
Our clients often tell us that they aren’t sure what to post or what to send to their customers and potential customers. They either feel as if they are too heavy on the products and services side or they go the other way where it’s all about them and not about the business.
Why Content is So Important
Content is important because it’s a competitive landscape out there and you need to stand out. Gone are the days of saying something once and expecting someone to buy from you. You have to show up consistently and be relevant with your message.
Content is a great way to connect with your ideal audience and build relationships. You can offer value and not just be a one-off product or service. Through your content, you can offer tips, behind the scenes, how to’s and more.
Creating content will give your brand a personality. It allows you to be more than just another business, but an entity unto itself. Humanizing your brand allows people to connect and stay connected. This is how you build long term loyalty.
Because content is important but not always the easiest thing to do, we have created a simple way to structure your content so you are connecting with your customers in the best ways possible. When we create Marketing Roadmaps for our clients and or own business, we break it down into 3 distinct types of content.
The 3 E’s
Event Content
These are things can be preplanned because they are based around calendar dates. Some examples are:
- Holidays and National Days – For example, Small Business Saturday, July 4th and of course, National Wine Day
- Industry events such as an upcoming conference or show you are attending
- How the seasons affect your business. For example, if you are a salon, you can talk about prom or going back to school
- Internal launches which can include new products or services, anniversaries, promotions, open positions, etc.
Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is the opposite of Event content in that it something that can be used or shared at any time and still be relevant. It can offer tips, strategy, information, or other key things that your business stands for.
If you are a product based business this could include:
- How you source your products
- How you manufacture them
- Top products that can be used anytime
- The materials you use
- How to care for the product
- How the product helps your customers
- Showcase your team and go behind the scenes
- Offer tips, how to’s, customer reviews, before and after’s
If you are a service-based business, this can be things such as:
- How you got started
- Why you’re in business
- Client testimonials
- The main services for your ideal client
- Insights and things you’ve learned
- How you help your clients
- Case studies
- Educational blogs
- Tips and how-to’s etc.
No matter what business or industry you are in, you can also share things related to your industry, facts, or statistics that your audience will find interesting.
Engaging Content
Unlike event and evergreen content which can be pre-scheduled, when it comes to engaging content, you’ll have the most success engaging in real-time.
Instagram Stories or Facebook Live is a great example of engaging content. You can quickly poll your audience, ask a question, or have them ask you questions all in real-time. After sharing on a live platform, you can refer back to it in a recorded video sharing more around a post or topic that was discussed.
Not all engaging content has to happen in real time. You can share questions people are asking or share other’s people content that is relevant to your brand and messaging – giving them proper credit of course.
Even though engaging content is more real-time than the others you can still plan a lot of it out ahead. Make sure that it is cohesive with any over-arching campaigns or themes you are working on in your Marketing Roadmap.
More Tips…
Tip: Try and think of your content in 2-4-week increments. What is the main message you are trying to convey during this time and how does that relate to your ideal audience? As you create emails, draft blogs, and outline your social posts, make sure you are mixing up your content with Event, Evergreen or Engaging content while still having them support each other and your main theme during this time frame.
Want a plan that is done for you and ready to execute? We create custom Quarterly Marketing Roadmaps specific to your business. These Roadmaps lay out everything you need to execute the plan including event days to recognize, evergreen topics to build credibility, and engaging content ideas. All of this is then broken down by platform (blog topics, emails, and social posts) with what to post and when, by week and even by day!
Also, try downloading our free 3 STEPS TO PLAN 30 DAYS of MARKETING CONTENT guide on our Resources page.
