Creating content is the foundation of a successful content marketing strategy. You need to continuously put out new material because the internet never takes the day off. It’s an everyday battle to stay relevant!
This can be especially tiring if you are a social media manager as social media is always “on.”
Here are a few content creation tips to improve your workflow, no matter how busy your schedule becomes.
Write every day
Even if you have a content calendar that clearly defines what content you are producing, sometimes it’s nice to write just to write. You may come out with new ideas or material to use for future blog posts.
So take some time to flex your creative muscles. 💪
One easy way to do this is to read the latest news from your industry every day. Afterward, you can set aside 10-15 minutes to write down your thoughts about what you read. You can share those thoughts in your content to help establish your expertise in that field.
Curate content from other people
Okay, maybe this is cheating a little bit, but your content doesn’t need to be 100% originally your own.
You can share an interesting article on Twitter and offer your own opinion. If you spark a debate, that can lead to a lot of interaction with your audience.
Another option is to open your blog to guest posts from other experts in your industry. They can help provide different and valuable content that your audience will appreciate. You can also engage with your readers in the comments section and continue to build your community.
Keep a “brain dump” document
Do you ever stare at your computer screen with absolutely no ideas on what to put on your content calendar?
What if you had an entire document filled with potential ideas? 💭
If you ever find something that would interest your audience, save it. Take a screenshot of any comments, save well-written blog posts, and keep newsletters from thought leaders. Put it all in one place, and you can always refer back to it to help you brainstorm on what content you can create next.
Batch your work
Productivity “hacks” on how to save time can get overrated, but batching your work can help increase your efficiency.
For example, the way you might currently write blog posts goes a little like this:
- Pick a topic
- Write an outline
- Create a rough draft
- Make edits
- Send it to your editor
- Create a blog post graphic
- Make any revisions from your editor
- Publish it on your website
And then you repeat the whole process for another blog post.
By batching your work, your workflow might look the same, except you do four blog posts together as one project. It creates a whole month’s worth of content in a smaller amount of time.
The process would look like this: Pick four blog post topics before moving on to writing outlines for all 4, and then writing all four blog posts, etc.
Batching helps you stay in the “flow” and not get distracted by all the other little tasks involved. If you do it right, then you have created a whole month’s worth of blog posts ahead of time, and you don’t have to think about creating new content for it for a couple of weeks.
It’s not for everyone, but it might work for you if you like focusing on one task at a time.
Conclusion
Content creation can be a doozy, but it’s also a great time to shine and share educational content for your audience. Readers will notice when you take the time to produce content that they want to consume.
It’s worth it to figure out how to incorporate content creation into your daily routine, even if it’s just 1 hour of your day.
Share in the comments if you have any content creation tips for us!