There are a lot of ways to go about content creating, some of which we’ve already covered on this channel. However, there are a few guiding principles that support us in all our content creating efforts and keep us focused on the right activities that will produce the right results we’re all after.

Here are 5 guiding principles (with resources!) to creating great content.

#1: First Comes the Campaign

In our video “5 Things Missing from Your Content Strategy” we discuss the failure of the one and done mindset in content creation and share our first guiding principle for creating great content: First comes the campaign. In our experience, content is only as strong as the campaign and overarching blueprint it supports. If you ever see a well executed blog post or infographic that gets results and then loses all momentum, you know what I’m talking about.

Instead, consider your content efforts from a larger campaign and turn your content into a collective series under that umbrella campaign. If you’d like more examples as to how to do this, give this video a thumbs up or leave a comment below.

#2: Keep a Communications Perspective

In the world of marketing, in a digital landscape specifically, it’s important to remember your job is less about actually marketing to or at your audience and influencers. Your job is to listen and be interested in what they have to say and then serve that content up to them. In essence, become the media and learn to listen first, as well as, remember that everything you do has a global and local angle.

#3: Always Think Atomization

Reimagine, don’t just recycle. We talk all about re-imaging or atomizing your content in this video and gift resources to giving the content you’ve produced new delivery. It doesn’t have to be hard and takes far fewer resources than starting over again and again.

#4: Marketing with Influencers

There are three ways to work with influencers.

  • Market to influencers
  • Market through influencers
  • Market with influencers

We obviously want the latter, which suggests they are excited and invested in not only the campaign but the outcome of the campaign. In this video we share everything you need to know about connecting with influencers in a way that will get them pumped to be your partner.

#5: When in Doubt, Get More Data

Data is both the foundation and filter you should be generating and running ideas for content through, specifically if you want bankable results. ROI is based on data so your content should also be based on data. The best way to do this is to make sure you understand how to do proper keyword research that includes mining the data for proper search volume and overall benefit. For a step-by-step process of how we aggregate and mine data watch our Advanced Keyword Research webinar with Paxton Gray. Then hop over to SlideShare deck “SEO and Content Tactics that Will Turn Visitors into Contacts” by 97th Floor CEO Chris Bennett. I’ll leave links to both in the description box below.

That’s it, 5 guiding principles (with resources) to creating great content. Until next time!