How to plan and create effective content

Do you find yourself creating content at the last minute? A quick pull-together of a few thoughts with some help from ChatGPT? Uploading it to your website at the last minute because you haven’t blogged in a while and need to get something (anything) out there?

It’s an approach some small business owners adopt. And it’s an approach that isn’t very effective.

Why?

To be effective with content creation, you must ensure every piece, whether a blogpost, video or podcast episode, serves a purpose.

And the best way to ensure you do this is to think strategically and plan ahead.

Content planning

Think strategy first

Why are you creating content? What do you want to achieve by doing so? A marketing strategy would be your go-to reference point, but if you don’t have one, consider the bigger picture. Content marketing can generate new business, increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your site.

So, reflect and consider your aims when creating content. Have this at the back of your mind when you produce each piece – it will pay off. It’ll also help you maintain a cohesive voice and avoid mixed messages.

Who are you creating content for?

Do you know your audience? Do you know where they need help and why? Don’t produce any content until you can answer these questions. Factor these answers into your content planning. This is part of the strategy-building process. You want to create content that demonstrates your understanding of their needs and builds trust with your audience – you then connect with them.

So, reflect on their pain points and challenges and how your service/product helps and solves their problems. Showcase your knowledge and expertise by producing content that aligns with this.

Create a content planner

Most clients I work with don’t have a structured framework to hang their comms and content. Creating a schedule for your content and the comms that will share that content allows you to effectively plan, build in themes/campaigns, see pinch points with time and resources, and factor in deadlines so you stay organised and on track.

Consider your content format

If you produce a 600-word blogpost, think about other formats of content you could repurpose. 3 short videos that pick up key themes? A discussion topic to take to LinkedIn to drive conversation? A subject area for a podcast episode? Be smart with what you produce, integrate your efforts and create content that appeals to your customers on many levels. It’s how you’d craft campaign-based activities (but on a bigger) scale. It will save you time – generating a few pieces of content from one hero piece.

Disclaimer – don’t push yourself to create a video/talking head if you don’t want to. If you’re more comfortable sticking with a blogpost, stick with it. If you’re happier filming yourself on camera and hate writing, don’t write a blogpost.

Test and tweak

What’s working well? What’s driving conversations? What interaction are you getting from producing the content? Review performance, make improvements etc.

Creating effective content

Creating content at the last minute may seem quick and convenient, but without strategic thinking and planning, it won’t maintain consistency or drive meaningful results. Instead:

• Align each piece of content with your business goals and audience's needs for real value and engagement.

• Set up a structured content and communication schedule to stay organised and ahead of the game.

• Vary your content formats to better resonate with your audience – and be smart about repurposing!

• Continuously test and tweak your content to ensure your efforts are making a difference.

Let me know if you need some support.