Creating compelling web content is an essential component of any successful online marketing campaign. Here are key strategies to put in place in your business to ensure that you never have trouble generating ideas, sparking creativity, or delivering the final product.
- Keep up with the news. One of the easiest and most effective ways to provide yourself with a steady stream of topics to write about is to keep up with the news in your industry. Google lets you sign up for keyword alerts, which you can have delivered to your inbox daily, weekly, or as they occur. Signing up for alerts for a few of the keywords relevant to your business will keep you abreast of the latest trends and developments. It’s also a good idea to make regular news consumption (via TV, radio, Internet, or newspaper) a part of your daily media diet, so that you’re aware of the larger contexts your business fits into.
- Visit relevant forums. In addition to official news sites, consider frequenting forums where people discuss your industry. By doing this, you’ll get a pulse on what people love and hate, what current frustrations are, and what you can do to better connect with your target audience.
- Go outside your world. As you keep yourself posted on the goings-on within your industry, be sure not to neglect the rest of the world. Widening your scope allows you to see parallels between your industry and others, and can provide you with rich material to write about and intriguing ways to frame or enrich the content you end up creating. Plus, if you’re pulling from unusual sources, you’re more likely to create content that’s truly unique and thus more valuable.
- Talk to people. Conversations (with people in your industry, with your clients, and with others) often reveal areas of concern or subjects of interest you may not have discovered otherwise. Be receptive to new ideas.
- Think like a creative person. Einstein famously said that we can go through life one of two ways: as if nothing is a miracle or as if everything is. Creative people go through life assuming that anything can be source material. To get the most out of your conversations, reading, and participation in online forums, constantly ask yourself how you might use something as part of future content. Once you get in the right mindset, you’ll find that the possibilities are endless.
- Say things in different ways. If you’re struggling to find something new to say, try saying something old in a new way. Every person absorbs information differently (including each one of your prospective clients), so recasting something you’ve already written about may help you click with new clients.
What are your biggest stumbling blocks when you’re trying to create new online content?
