Creating Content Drove the Hatter...MAD
Content Creation is the construction of information to be presented in various forms of media. More importantly, content creation is about having the ability develop and express amazing material that others have an interest in. The content that I'm speaking of, here at Simplified VA, is digital content. Some have a knack for it while others do not. It can be difficult to come up with catchy and intriguing articles or graphics while trying to build your audience. Website maintenance, blogging/vlogging, graphic design, & social media postings are all forms of digital content that need creative writing for them to be worthwhile. Now that you know our version of how the Mad Hatter came to be, here are some tips to keep you from going mad.
Optimal Brain Time
- Do not bother being creative when you truly do not feel like it. Procrastination will set in and nothing will be accomplished. Have an idea of what time of day, or day of the week, your best ideas come flowing in. Try sitting in your “Thinking Chair” or whichever spot in your home or office serves the best atmosphere. If you get a few ideas that sound like they may “go getters” jot them down immediately.
- This part should be fairly easy. Some of the planning that is needed to build content should be completed with your digital media marketing plan. It’s recommended, to all of our clients, to plan up to at least 3 months in advance. Pre-planning makes it easier for implementing each portion of your digital media marketing plan. In 2015, we are going to focus each month on a different aspect of a basic digital media marketing plan. A glimpse at our calendar would show an outline with bullets entitled Branding, Social Media Management, Content Creation, etc.
Special Tip: Go over your plan multiple times adding each time. Start broad with a sketch then continue to review your plan until every teeny tiny itty bitty detail is jotted down. (1)Year’s goal > (2)Monthly concept > (3)Weekly topic > (4)deals, coupons, postings etc. 1, 2, & 3 should be completed in it’s entirety. 4 can be tweaked on a monthly bases 3-4 months in advance; ie plan the small details for the month of April in January or early.Know Your Audience
- Who you are addressing will determine how you are going to “speak” and what platform you are going to use but at the same time you need to send the same message. You are not going to present the material, which you come up with, the same way on every platform. Each attempt to share your message should be tweaked according to your audience. Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest are three completely different outlets, which are going to have three different audiences. Tweaking your content will position your message accordingly.
- Being creative with headlines may be the trickiest part to creating content, so we decided to put a quick-tips lists inside your quick-tips list.
Your Headlines Should Be:Re-Purpose or Curate
- Active – “Read this article on….” Vs “This article should be a good read in your spare time”
- Short – Anything longer then a 3 second read is a waste of typing
- Intriguing – Ask a question, Tease your reader with an idea, Make an announcement, Allude to a list, State a command, Use a “How to”
- Direct – Speak directly to your reader
- Pondering whether to curate new content or re-purpose your own or someone else's content depends on the material that you want to present. Some information does not need to be re-invented, just updated with a spin to it. Take old material, then change to fit the audience that you are addressing, ie. Millennials need modern data with catching colors, graphics, and links to everything. If you are going the curating route, that has some benefits. It will be your content, and you can have a bit of pride in knowing it is all yours. Your brand, your businesses characteristics, will shine through your work. Basically, you can't go wrong with either, re-purposing or curating, when it comes to creating content.
- We are our worst critics. Let someone else critique your rough drafts. When you are in the zone just let your work flow. The urge to update your work increases every time you revise it. Eventually it will become never ending. You have already reached your information. You've already organized. You have followed the other tips list above, so now you just have to let it flow. Don't bother going over your content that 45th time. There are plenty of people you can ask to give you a quick critique.
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