As I prepare to speak to a group of entrepreneurs this weekend about the wonders of content marketing, I’ve been pondering ways to make this whole content marketing process easier. I pride myself on creating smart, solid content quickly and efficiently. Some days, what we need is the ability to churn and burn on the word front. But without some upfront planning and thinking, all of that churning can be a waste of time.
Producing content isn’t necessarily hard — but doing it right does require thought. It requires us to be strategic communicators. We have to plan ahead and consult the right people in our organizations and develop the best content for our audiences.
Then, regardless of the industry we’re in and the tools we’re using, we still need to break through the clutter. And oh my goodness, is there clutter. As marketers, we once talked about breaking through the mailbox clutter. There was a time when a non-standard-sized mailer would do the trick. Next up, we had to uncover ways to bust through the email inbox clutter.
Now, we have to break through all of the clutter on all the channels. And that’s one truly overwhelming part about getting your content noticed. But here’s the thing: If you have original content, if you have things to say that no one else does (or that few others do), if you’re saying things in a new way, if you reach people in a way that’s new to them, you CAN succeed faster than you might think.
So, that brings us to this week’s Wednesday Writing Prompt, the 21st in our series. This week, give some thought to this question: What information can only I (or my organization) provide?
Once you figure out your unique content angle, you have a powerful jumping-off point for content creation.
So, what are you waiting for? Go write.