Creating digital content is about as easy as posting a photo on Instagram or tweeting your opinions on Twitter. Digital content is all around us and it’s hard thinking about the world before “digital” was in our standard vocabulary. But how do you go about creating great digital content for your business? Here are 7 easy tips to improve your content creation!
1. Start with a brainstorm
Creating digital content for your business can be a little daunting at first. Where do you even begin? 🤔
A great way to start, is by organising a brainstorm session with your team members. Two heads are better than one and for sure you’ll come up with loads of ideas in no time. In addition, you can also work out what talents everyone has at their disposal. One team member may be a wordsmith, whereas another will have strong graphic skills and a third may have a natural-born charisma that works well on camera – who knows?
Get your brainstorm on together and come up with a list of topics you think will work for your brand. Then decide who will do what, so all of the content creation doesn’t fall on one person’s shoulders.
2. Mix up your content type
Blog posts, infographics, podcasts, videos… there’s a plethora of digital content out there! So why would you only focus on writing blogs? Try some different content formats and keep an eye out for which type of content performs better than others. 👀
Again, use the different skillsets of your team members. If someone in your team is great at interviewing people, then consider making case studies about your customers into a podcast instead of yet another one-pager. And remember that a lot of digital content is relatively “fleeting”: you don’t have to be a Hollywood film maker to make a catchy TikTok video or to post a fun Instagram story.
3. Discover the “virality” of your topics or competitors
Naturally, you’ll want to talk about different topics, but certain topics are more “hot” than others in any given moment. If you play into that seasonality, you can ride on the coattails of whatever is popular at the time and potentially get a higher reach.
Buzzsumo is an interesting tool to understand which topics are currently trending. It’ll help you see which content is high-performing at any given time, so you can jump on the bandwagon and use the same best practices. If you’re unsure where to start, then this tool will help you generate lots of ideas! 🤓
4. Make your content as attractive as possible
When making digital content, it’s not just about the topic, but also about the way you present it. A blog post needs a catchy title that will pique a reader’s interest. An instagram post needs an inspiring image that speaks to people. Imagery and text need to work together as seamlessly as possible. Less is often more: nobody needs “100 reasons why you should use product X” but “9 creative ways to boost productivity” feels like a much easier sell, doesn’t it?
In addition, the more visually attractive you can make your content, the better your content will perform. People are inherently visual: “an image says more than a 1,000 words” isn’t just a saying. So add visuals to your blog posts and articles. Use lay-out to your advantage by structuring your text, which will ensure it doesn’t become “a wall of text”. Create lists, use bullet points, bold text, add infographics… the sky is pretty much the limit here. 🚀
5. Avoid stock imagery (but don’t mess with copyright)
Yes, make your content as visually attractive as possible, but that doesn’t mean using really generic images that everyone is always using. Whenever possible, use your own images. These days, most camera phones offer really good quality, so experiment whenever you can.
If you don’t have any images at your disposal, then look at websites like Unsplash or pixabay to find inspiring visuals that are free from copyright. Or create a paid Shutterstock or iStock account of course.
6. Please learn how to spell
We know: spelling and grammar is “boooooring!”, but I’m sure you’re aware that many people legitimately care about it. And so they should: having a ton of spelling errors in your texts or other content simply doesn’t convey the message “our brand is managed by skilled people who know what they’re doing”. 😬
If you know that you struggle with spelling or grammar – which is in no way a reflection of your actual skill or intelligence – then help yourself out by using the built-in spellcheck or an online tool like Grammarly. It’ll ensure that something as silly as a spelling mistake doesn’t undermine people’s confidence in your brand!
7. Be funny!
No matter what your product or service is, even if you offer something that is by many thought of as “boring”, then find a way to make it fun! Say you’re an accountancy firm, which isn’t the “sexiest firm” perhaps, then you can still create engaging content that has a certain spark to it.
Maybe you know that many OnlyFans users call themselves “accountants” on TikTok and Instagram because they would rather not say what they really do for a living. So why not make a tongue-in-cheek joke about that the next time you’d like to announce on Instagram that a new employee is joining your firm? 😉 (I wouldn’t use that joke on LinkedIn btw: adjust your content according to channel type!)
Be creative in what content you share: stay true to your tone of voice, but wherever possible, a spark of humour can do wonders for creating more engaging and thus better performing content!
Best of luck in all your content creation endeavours!
