Marketing Secrets
Marketing Secrets
Content Calisthenics
As a business owner, professional, or someone with a “day job”, making time, focusing energy, and squeezing the creative juices to create compelling content can seem like a chore best left for tomorrow. Even as a marketer, I get buried in the day-to-day and forget the importance of consistent, good content. We are all humans. So, the best way to reap the juicy rewards of sharing your expertise and engaging your audience is by working with your ideas, time, and energy; not against them.
I call this “Content Calisthenics” – a way for you and your content to keep in tip-top shape with five meaningful moves.
1. when you’re in the mood to write, write on several topics
I often struggle with the desire to put pen to paper. There are so many other things in this world that I could be doing, and I can easily be persuaded to pursue them instead. When you feel the mood striking you, do it. Commit the time and focus and get as much drafted as possible. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s much better than a blank page when you’re really not wanting to write at all. For example, I created this blog post in August 2020, edited it in December, and posted it in March 2021. I had an idea, with about 5 others, and committed the time to at least draft the concept. Now, I only have to refine instead of fully conceptualize and create.
2. schedule content days
“But, I’m never in the mood to write. I hate it,” you say.
“Same,” I’d say.
Sometimes you’ve just got to schedule it. Every month or quarter or week, put time on your calendar to write, uninterrupted. It can be word vomit on a page of what’s important to your customers or ideas on the industry or something that really irked you this week. Get the juices flowing, and you’ll find some ideas. After your brainstorm, choose three ideas and bullet out the supporting ideas, then fill in the rest. If you’ve created a content calendar and understand what you’ll need to fill it, these scheduled times are perfect to round out and schedule your posts as well as create content to post before your next content day. You either want to be consistent or you don’t. This day will help immensely.
3. break articles into parts
You don’t have to give everyone everything all at once. I struggle with sharing all of my content at once, because I WANT you to know everything. It’s not always digestible, and your readers/subscribers will benefit from tidbits over time. So, a 12-point dissertation on the redeeming qualities of the Oxford comma could probably be broken into sets of 3. Now you have 4 pieces of content that are easier to digest, allow for opportunities to get feedback and interaction between posts, and give you 4 more opportunities to use an Oxford comma in a sentence (you’re welcome).
4. use one piece of content several ways
Back in the 80s, there was a clothing brand called Units. It was a ton of jersey knit parts that could be interchanged and worn in a bunch of different ways. It’s both a belt AND a mini skirt! Oh! The versatility! Very 80s, but it’s a great concept. You have a limited amount of time and money to spend on content. Use it to the best of your ability. To use our previous example, a long and in-depth paper on the Oxford comma can also be used to:
Promote the paper download (if gated) through pulled quotes and factoid images on Instagram- Host a learning course on the content of the paper
- Post pro-Oxford comma memes to promote your stance, such as this gem >>
- Start a grammarian war online through surveys (Are you pro- or anti-Oxford comma?) on multiple social media channels, as well as follow-up posts on survey results
- Tik Tok video of what sentences sound/look like with/without the Oxford comma
- And whatever else might make a grammar subject interesting for the masses
5. put your content on a calendar
Oh my goodness. I hate remembering to post content. Stopping to think about it is something that takes the wind right out of my productivity sails. I even put a daily reminder on my phone to shame myself into posting; it doesn’t work.
Using a scheduler, like Later, Hootsuite, ContentCal, or a scheduler that’s included in your marketing automation system, is a content creator’s dream. The day you set aside for developing content can also be the day that you put it all on the calendar to go out for the month/week. Once you figure out your posting rhythm, all you have to do is connect your profiles and schedule to your little heart’s content. Most schedulers have a monthly cost, but it honestly is a small price to pay to “set it and forget it.”