Creating Content with Purpose
The word “content” gets overused in marketing:
Content marketing
Creating content
Content that converts
Content strategy
Curating content
Content calendar
And probably more I’m not thinking of right now.
The way the word gets thrown away can make it feel meaningless and/or overwhelming.
Marketing pros say we need to “create content” for our business, but often stop there - which can make it feel like if we could only get a grasp on what that word means, we’d unlock the key to mastering marketing.
It isn’t quite like that, but creating content (sorry!) for your business is important and you’re probably already doing it. When it comes to creating content with purpose, it is a matter of digging beyond the jargon and creating strategy (sorry…another jargon-y word)...creating thoughtfulness around what we create.
What does content mean when it comes to marketing?
Let’s make sure we’re on the same page with the terms first.
For the purposes of marketing your business, "content" is any information that is created by a business to attract, engage, and keep an audience.
This includes things you write, videos you film, graphics you create, quizzes/polls, podcasts, blog posts, and more. If you create it and your audience is meant to see it - it is content.
One of the places small businesses can get stuck is getting caught up in creating content that doesn’t have a purpose - meaning they post just to post because they know they are supposed to create posts, but don’t necessarily have a bigger picture goal behind that.
Look at your last five posts on any social media platform - other than promoting a sale or product, did you create those posts to do something specific other than filling a calendar slot?
While creating content with purpose may take some extra planning, it really does pay off in better engagement, more sales, and raving fans!
What is Content with Purpose?
When you are creating content with purpose you’re creating content that has a job.
Typically, that job may look like:
Educating your audience
Entertaining your audience
Driving traffic to your website, landing page, or email list sign up page
Establishing expertise
Building awareness
This kind of content isn’t about creating content just for the sake of it, it is about building connections with your audience that they relate to or want to see because you’re showing them you understand their needs.
When you feel like someone “gets” you, you’re more likely to trust them.
You probably already know what your audience struggles with and cares about - creating content with purpose (and intention) helps them feel like you understand them.
Go deeper with the Content That Converts Mini Course!
Why Create Content with Purpose?
Creating this kind of content is a great way to stand out from others who do what you do. As you bring more of yourself to your content and put more intention behind it, it will stand out because content designed for your specific audience that shows them you understand their interests and challenges, you can begin to build a community of people interested in seeing what you create and want to learn more.
Think about some of the businesses you are excited to see in your inbox or on your social media. Why do you like their content? What about it makes you stop scrolling and read it or watch it?
How can you bring some of that spark to your own posts, blogs, videos, and other content?
Click here to learn how to streamline your content creation.
Understand Your Audience
The biggest piece of creating content with purpose is understanding your audience.
When you understand what they are looking for, the questions and challenges they have, and the things that interest them, you can create content that meets those needs.
So how do you know what kind of content to make?
Think about content you’ve already created - what has performed well according to your analytics? For this step, you’ll need to move beyond just looking at likes and views and go into your analytics.
Moving beyond social media you can also check your website analytics to see which pages users are visiting when they go to your website.
What if you’re just starting or don’t get clear answers from your analytics?
You’ll need to do some experimenting and keep an eye on your analytics over time.
Here are some places to learn more about what your audience might respond to:
Listen to your gut - What do YOU think your audience might be interested in? Put yourself in their shoes - what kinds of questions do you think they might have?
Your competitors - what kinds of non-sales posts are they making? What seems to resonate with their audience?
Facebook groups where your audience might hang out - What kinds of questions related to what you do come up over and over again?
Once you have some topics to start with, next think about how your audience likes to see this kind of content?
Do they love videos or prefer to read?
Do they prefer summaries or longer explanations?
Are great photos important to them or not very important?
Again, if you’re starting from zero (or just aren’t sure what your audience might respond to best), ask, experiment, test, and review the results.
Finally, think about the platform where the content will appear and how you can make your content successful on that platform.
If, for example, your audience loves infographics and deep explanations with links to more resources - where would that kind of content do best? Probably not on Instagram because of the limitations of the platform.
If your audience responds well to quick videos of your art, blogging may not be the best first choice for that kind of content.
You can always repurpose, reuse, and recycle content to other platforms - you just need to be aware of what kinds of content perform best in different spaces.
Thinking Outside the Content Box
Just because you posted something on social media doesn’t mean it needs to stay there.
Since just creating the content is likely to the biggest hurdle it makes sense to get as much as you can out of one piece of content instead of starting from scratch over and over again. Click here to see a slideshow of ways you can repurpose your content.
And don’t forget that social media platforms also work via search (not just hashtags), so think about the words and phrases your audience is most likely to use when looking for what you do. Again, this is an extra step, but since many won’t bother doing it, it is an easy way to give yourself an advantage.
Review, Evaluate, Readjust as Needed
Once you’ve created your content and shared it, there’s one more step (ok…maybe a couple more steps!). We have to pay attention to analytics to see what is working.
While “likes” are a visual indicator, it isn’t the only one (or even the most important one).
Look at which posts generate the most comments, shares, and saves.
Look at which posts cause someone to click on something in your post (or your link in bio on Instagram).
Look at how website visitors move around your site. Which posts or pages are bringing people to your website?
By paying attention to those numbers, you’ll be able to see what is actually working and do more of that.
