✍🏽 The Ultimate Guide for Content Creation in 2020
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In this journey, I’ll share with you all my secrets about the content creation process that I learned through the years of building communities around it.
Summary:
1. Define the content goals
2. Define your content marketing strategy/plan
3. Content Creation process
4. Measure content success
5. BONUS
1) DEFINE THE CONTENT GOALS
This is a rule of thumb, never create content without an end goal to it, it has to have a purpose and it has to be planned out ahead.
# Why content creation is important? (facts)
- Content marketing generates more leads (traffic) at less cost.
- Content === business growth
- Increase in the ROI (return on investment)
- Drive awareness
- Build trust
# Analysis & discovery (Questions to ask before making content)
A) What is it for you & your tribe:
- Why are you creating content?
- Who is your target audience?
- What’s your added-value (benefit)?
- What will be your main KPIs?
- What problem does it solve?
- What impact does it give?
- What will be your outcome?
- How does it affect others?
- How can you differentiate? And what makes you stand out from your competitors?
- How can it build awareness?
- How can you effectively communicate your brand values?
B) What is it for the content itself:
- Who will produce your content?
- What will you use to distribute your content?
- How far out do you want to plan ahead?
- How often do you want to publish?
- How will you decide what to write about?
- How often will you revisit and tweak your strategy accordingly?
C) What is it for your audience/customers/potential clients:
- Why do your customers use your products/services?
- What does your audience like/want/love/get inspired by?
- What annoys/angers them?
- What are your customer’s needs?
- How can you nurture your readers’ needs and show them that you care?
- How can you effectively create a connection with potential customers?
- How can you maintain and strengthen relationships with your existing customers?
2) DEFINE YOUR CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY/PLAN
Now that you know why creating content is so important, the second thing to do is to plan it out with a good marketing strategy! and here are the steps to follow along
# Content marketing strategy
- Define your SMART goals:
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, time-bounded - Market research (competitors analysis)
- Buyer/Reader persona (target audience)
- SWOT analysis:
Strength, weakness, opportunity & timing - Content inspiration (stealing like an artist)
- Action plan
# Content planning
- Posting & scheduling time
- Editorial Calendar
- Hashtags analysis
- Define your standards (language, style, visual, guide)
- Posting format:
Poster, story, image, video, article, mini-blog, email, Carousel, pdf/doc/sheet/slide/resource/file, link, simple written caption, podcast etc…
3) CREATION PROCESS
It’s time for the fun part! the creation phase.
# Terminology
A) Content principles:
## Type of information
- Who you are / what you do [[Business]]
- Added value [[Value]]
- Engaging/community based [[Community]]
- Behind the scenes (Be Human/You) [[Bts]]
## Distribution of information
- Pillar/mainstream [Macro]
- Chunks & pieces from the “pillar content” (repurposed) [Micro]
- Chunks & pieces from the “pillar content” (repurposed) [Micro]
B) types of content:
- Evergreen content [[Business]] [[Value]] [Macro] [Micro]
- Promotional content [[Business]] [Macro]
- Educational content [[Value]] [Macro] [Micro]
- Inspirational content [[Value]] [Micro]
- Communitive content [[Community]]
- Custom / unique content [[BTS]]
C) Storytelling secrets & caption formula (Bonus):
“Stories are all about conflict”
— “The grandmaster”“Subjective expectations meets objective reality”
— Robert McKee “Story”“Normal — Explosion — New Normal”
— Kindra Hall“Story delaying”
— Francis Glebas“Directing the story”“Exaggerate & be melodramatic”
— Chris Do
Caption formula:
- Catching title (bold)
- Intro:
Give your readers a reason to keep reading, start the conflict - The hook:
Tell your story, make it entertaining and not expectable, give a problem to your readers they didn’t know they had - The outro:
Solve the problem (end of conflict) for your reader and give them high expectations about what’s next - Recap (optional)
- Call to action/added-value:
a question or a teaser to follow up (what’s coming) - Promise for consistency & continuity
“Under Promise, Over Deliver”
# Ideating (ideation)
- Brainstorming content ideas from keywords generation and SEO research
- Finding unique content ideas
# Writing
- Putting ideas, concepts & marketing plans into execution (deliverables)
- Exposing your brand message and values to your tribe through your content
- Finding a consistent writing flow
# Testing / Editing
- A/B testing new content
- Adapting new concepts & ideas
- Changing what doesn’t work
- Make it suitable for your audience
# Auditing (revising)
In case there is already existing content, An audit is necessary to take inventory of the work that’s already made, then organizing it to fit under a new content plan.
# Promoting
- SEO & blogging
- Social media
- Paid & organic promotions & campaigns
- Email marketing
- Sponsorships, partnerships & affiliates
- 3rd party channels
4) MEASURE CONTENT SUCCESS
Measuring the success or failure of your content is a key factor if you want to improve your strategy & planning and also if you want to get paid for it you’ll have to master this step! here are the common measurement ways:
- Data analytics & reporting (monthly or weekly)
- Customer relationship management (Hubspot CRM for example)
- Content management system (WordPress for example)
- Increase in audience/sales/revenue/ROI/%
- Increase in the engagement & conversion rates
- Business growth
- Leads/traffic generation
- Goals reached!
5) (BONUS) TOOLS I USE TO CREATE CONTENT
I’m going to share with you all the tools I use to create content with:
> Scheduling & automation
- Creator Studio
- Buffer
- Later
- Hootsuite
- IFTTT
- TweetDeck
> Social media tools
- Ninjalitics
- flick
- Tag.wag or flocked
- Chatfuel or ManyChats
> Collaboration and syncing
- Google drive
- Google keeps
- Trello
- Slack / Discord
- Email
- Adobe creative cloud
> Design
- photoshop
- illustrator
- Adobe XD / Figma
- Canva
- Veed.io
> Copywriting & research
- Grammarly or Microsoft editor
- Ubersuggest
- Buzzsumo
- Feedly
- AnswerThePublic
That’s it, guys! I hope it was helpful!
If you have any more questions, you can find me at:
https://linktr.ee/amine__hammou
What are you waiting for! GO CREATE.
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All the tools I use for visual making:
https://www.one-tab.com/page/6hMBH4p6QJyxl3-of2t9jQ
https://trello.com/b/2aBAPzpt/photoshop-100-tips-and-tricks/amine__hammou/recommend
All the tools I use for copywriting:
https://www.one-tab.com/page/Pqrd33AOTwekWudJTDT9iw
Want even more? here are my Tresor links for the web:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1PEKsQi4p30bTy34vsNKYLaJdJ7Pm4zll?usp=sharing
Decision-making process:
https://trello.com/b/5e9eeacd6209a412f16e90af/amine__hammou/recommend
If you need more resources check:
https://www.hubspot.com/resources
A full guide of content creation by @hubspot:
