How to Develop New Content
By now the importance of content isn’t really a point of debate. Content reigns supreme. We need it for SEO, algorithms, the status of authority, compounding content, branding, and so much more. However, even the most experienced content specialist will tell you that sometimes the well runs dry! It happens and we’re here to give you the how-to on how to keep coming up with new and fresh content.
Your content reflects and maps your business goals and we know you’re capable of creating a good content plan. With that in mind let’s consider what has worked for you in the past (hello analytics!) and what hasn’t. Perform a content analysis from the past year and see if there are any common themes you can pull out. Compare a few different engagement metrics on social, bounce rates, time spent on the specific blog posts, and more. You can use this data to help inform your brainstorming ideas! Do you need to add more curated content? Fun content? Blog posts? Guest posts?
Content Tools
A great tool for competitor analysis is BuzzSumo. This way you can gauge if your topics are relevant or even getting traction on other sites. It’s incredibly insightful! You can also find influencers for potential collaborations. Clearly you don’t want to copy what your competitors are doing – but it’s important to have a stance on trending or relevant topics – you may have more insight!
Once you have some data to chew on, call for an editorial meeting and require everyone to come prepared with content ideas and we promise you’ll walk out with some real gems. Play devil’s advocate, make some suggestions and have fun with it! Consider incentivizing it to add a playful competitive angle for the best idea.
Have you ever taken an interdisciplinary approach to your content creation efforts? Why not tap into your sales team or e-commerce team? Don’t ignore HR. You would be shocked to hear what they say should be featured. Call this meeting to order and be prepared to take notes! Ask what their pain points are, what they like that any company in any industry is doing! What’s an advertisement that stuck with them? Why? What podcasts are they listening to? Why?
Don’t underestimate the power of messaging tools in business.
When you’re able to use a tool like Slack and create a channel specifically to share industry news – it’s a good way to discover what you and your team find interesting in your corner of the business world.
And finally – if you don’t care about the topic you’re writing about, pass it off to someone who does. Your readers will be able to tell a difference.
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