“How do you generate quality content, without resorting to clickbait, and do it fast?”
That’s the question posed by Gareth Bull of the Content Marketing Institute in his piece, “How to Writer User-Oriented Content More Quickly.”
That is the million dollar questions, isn’t it? If we could easily and quickly create great content that really engages, a huge barrier toward reaching our marketing goals would be squashed. For the businesses that I deal with, the issue is always resources….not enough time, not enough people, not enough ideas…yet we know we have to do it.
So what’s the secret? Bull uses a six-step process that starts with creating content outlines to help organize the flow.
“If you want to kill your credibility, all you need to do is to create disjointed content that doesn’t flow,” he explains. “Although it doesn’t mean that you don’t know what you’re writing about, your audience will remember how disorganized the text is and not the great points you made.”
From there, he recommends developing a “standard operating procedure” that turns the task of content creation into repeatable process. He also advocates hiring researchers to help find good content to curate. (A good writer can also do this for you.)
Of course your content needs an actionable takeaway…make sure you give your reader something they can DO with the info, some new way of solving their problem they may not have articulated yet. It’s also good to link to other useful info so they can dig deeper (like the links in this piece.)
And finally, he advises, don’t reinvent the wheel.
“Your market might be oversaturated with great material. You can provide your audience unique content by improving on that great content with your own words,” he notes, explaining a term called “skyscrapering” to improve your offerings.
Bull is spot on with all of this, and it’s similar the process i follow for my own content, and for my client work. Don’t be afraid of your content creation. With the right process, and the right help, it becomes as natural as any other part of your business.