I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (in a different way so Google doesn’t penalise me): unique content is one of the most important aspects to any strategy. This means you need to spend more time than ever before on making your content stand out to everyone who sees it. There needs to be relevance and value to your audience, otherwise what’s the point?
There are plenty of things to take into account, including your target and potential audiences. These will change as you and you brand does so your content will need to change to. This makes sense, right?
Good, so let’s dig a little deeper.
What are you making, writing, filming or drawing?
Each piece of content is different. That should be obvious – if you are writing a series of blog posts the content is going to be different even if the format and style are the same. These elements identify it as yours, which is a great way for people to recognise your work.
You’ll need to plan and research every piece you make. Even if it’s an opinion or experience based piece of content, some facts are going to be needed and in some cases, you’re better off referencing this until you have the authority on your own to say such things. An infographic needs different information than a full blog post, and a video needs completely different content again. Images and written content are combined differently in both formats, and the purpose will determine the tone, from informative to humorous as an example.
2014 is going to see a much better increase in unique, high quality content than we’ve seen before and infographics, which have been on the rise in recent times, are going to become one of the most popular pieces of media available. Blog posts are still going to carry weight but guest blogging may become a lot harder than ever before. Videos, informative articles, online guides, e-books and much more are also going to be around but it’s targeting the right audience, building the right amount of hype and getting the right (read: highest) level of quality in there at all times.
Where is your content going? More importantly, where can it go?
This is a big thing to consider when you make any kind of content. You may write something for a blog – be it your own or someone else’s – or create a video, or perhaps an infographic for a landing page. That’s fine. You plan it, research it, create it, edit it and finally upload it.
Now what?
It doesn’t, or rather shouldn’t, end there. With the rise of social media ongoing, you can find almost unlimited platforms to share your content if you look hard enough and are smart about how, when and where you post it. If it’s the high quality content it should be, it will spread. It might not go ‘viral’ but it’s impossible to predict what will in most cases and if you are working to a more targeted audience or group, then as long as it gets along to those people, that’s a success, right?
Be honest with yourself. You can make good, quality content with time and effort. With a bit more planning, you can make it accessible on the internet and increase awareness. This builds your authority, your brand’s authority and gains the trust and confidence of the market. That gives you a great platform to work from.
Getting it right, every time?
There’s no set rule to make every piece of content the most successful ever. Markets, people, interests and influences change often throughout a single day so what worked once might not work again for a long time, if ever. Be ready to try new things whenever possible to make sure your content is valuable and well received everywhere it goes.
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