Why Are You Creating Content?

Most companies create content because they want to increase engagement, create brand awareness or increase sales.  And to achieve these goals, content creation makes perfect sense: it’s a great medium-term strategy that works.

So, what is your reason for creating content?

Once you have your “why” clear, you can just start creating content, right?

Well, yes…but before you jump in and create 100s of blogposts and podcasts, let’s take a few minutes to make sure you are creating the right kind of content for the right kind of audience.  This is because, without the right strategy to accompany your well-written or well-produced, excellently-thought-out content you might just be…wasting your time!

Who is Your Target Audience?

The first step in creating content should be to think about–and define– your target audience.  This is the step that many people and companies choose to skip (because they just want to get on with creating content?), and it’s probably because of this that they don’t get the results they wished for.

Sometimes content creators just go for the content that is “easy” to create, or content they are comfortable writing.  This does make sense to a point, but it is important to think about the audience – who is your audience and what do they want and need?

A similar situation can be seen when people create companies in the first place – lots of companies spring up with the new owners offering products or services to the market, based on their interests and passions.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – and in the cases where it doesn’t work, it’s often down to the fact that there is insufficient demand in the market.  In other words, the owner was trying to sell what they wanted to sell, rather than what the market wanted.

Don’t let that be you.

The same applies to content creation.

Focus on what the market wants, not on what you want to produce (if those 2 things coincide, fantastic!)

To give you another example in terms of content creation, I often see company blogs where the focus is on writing about the profession in question.  For example, lawyers writing about technical legal issues, accountants about accounting issues and so on.

While this might be the right strategy if you are looking to attract colleagues in the same industry (for example, if your product is a coaching program for other lawyers), most of the time it is the wrong strategy.

Why?  Because most of the time these companies want to attract more clients not colleagues.

And so their content should be created accordingly – to attract potential clients.  This means writing content to answer there questions and provide them with value, in a language that they can understand (a conversational tone often works).

And if it is the wrong strategy, then why do so many people do it?  Because they find it easier to produce content for their colleagues than for their clients.   In other words, they take the easy option!

Creating content for potential clients might be harder, it might require more planning and thought, but it is going to be so much more worth it if you want to attract potential clients and build your business.

Conclusion: Create the right type of content!

What Type of Content Does Your Audience Prefer?

Creating the right type of content is not just about the subject, the content type is also key.

Does your audience prefer to read blogposts, watch videos, or listen to podcasts?

Some people like to read, others like to listen to audio content, and others still (the growing majority?) like to watch videos.  A content consumer’s preference is going to depend on many different factors such as their level of tech-savviness and age.

So, again, don’t waste time.  If your audience expects video content, don’t bombard them with blogposts.

And how do you find out what they would prefer?  Ask them – a simple survey should do the trick.

Are You Really Engaging with Your Audience?

Now, if you have the content creation process nailed down, and you are producing great content for the right audience then you should be all set, right?

Well, maybe.

But there is one further step you should be taking into account, and that is engaging with your audience.

Content is seen as more valuable the more clicks, likes, shares and comments it has.  It is seen as more valuable by new consumers of said content, and also by search engines.  For example, it would appear that YouTube not only ranks videos on watch time and number of views, but also takes into account the numbers of likes, shares and comments.

How are you encouraging engagement?  Are you asking questions or simply providing information?  Are you asking for your audience’s feedback and opinion?

Cultivating audience engagement is a surefire way to take your content strategy to the next level, so don’t miss out on this important part of the process.

Conclusions: Create the Right Content for Your Audience

Content creation definitely works, when you are producing the right kind of content for the right audience.

And when you encourage engagement

But miss out any of the steps set out above and you run the risk of wasting your time!

Can You Answer These 3 Questions?

• Who is Your Audience?
• What form of content do they prefer?  Audio, video or written?
• What steps are you taking to encourage engagement?

If you can answer them fully, then you should be all set!

If you need any help with your content creation process, please get in touch with the There is Content team.  We’d be happy to help.

All the best!

Paul