What Content Should You Be Creating In 2014?
Content is evolving, and we all need to move with the times to keep up. No longer is content creation simply a matter of hammering out a blog post on a hot topic, although the need for great copywriting certainly will not go away any time soon. It is also about looking to create content of different types – visual assets such as video images, Infographics, and Pinterest pins, short and snappy tweets, social bookmarks, and so on.
The purpose of content is to interest and engage our audience. With attention spans shrinking to mere seconds in some cases, we need to find ways to capture interest and manage to deliver a Call To Action that sees the right results as quickly as possible.
There will always be some who demand more information and detail, and that content still needs to be available to those people to hit the buttons that may generate the lead or entry into the sales funnel. However, for others in this time-strapped world we now live in, you may need to present information in a different way.
Visual Assets
The brain responds well to graphics as these can be easily processed and understood. Many have baulked at the idea of producing videos – cost, lack of experience and professional equipment, time to film and edit, etc. – but with the ubiquity of phones with cameras and a tolerance for great video content filmed badly (due mainly to the huge exposure to amateur but popular efforts on YouTube), it may be time to revisit video as content for your marketing strategy. And don't forget Vine – you only need to create 9 seconds of video for that!
It is still possible to get a first page listing on the search engines with video content even for popular terms if you optimize your video and the surrounding content on your site and your channel well. Photos and images have taken a whole new lease of life with the explosion of Pinterest. The figures for the usage of that site should be sufficient to encourage you to dedicate some time each week to mastering boards and pins, and taking photos of your products or to suit your business ends to pin.
If you do not have sufficient time or resources to create photos and images, then consider engaging on Pinterest and setting up boards of interest to your existing audience. You can then direct your website visitors to your boards as additional content, and embed your boards on your own site and in blog posts.
Infographics may seem so last year, but are always going to be one method of getting information across to your customers or audience. Develop your own in-house style and you can then template and replicate for fact sheets, how to’s, product information and so on.
Short & Sweet
Until the search engines have resolved how to incorporate real-time social media into the results, many are going to continue to look to Twitter for breaking news, top trends, and recommended content. It is imperative that you develop a following on Twitter and engage with others in your industry or sector or you will be tweeting to an empty timeline. Using photos, images and video also now works exceptionally well as Twitter has made it feasible to embed these within the tweet, meaning they open without the user needing to do any more than simply click.
Facebook posts should also be relatively short, although there is more leeway here for longer content than in a tweet; and the ability to start discussions should not be ignored. Often the most valuable content can be that generated by your audience within the comments.
Social Bookmarks
Lists are still popular and you can use social bookmark tools such as Delicious to create lists of resources for your audience, while also doing your own research on what else is online that may be of use to you. It does not even need to be on your usual subject, as long as it is interesting and informative for your visitors.
E-Books, White Papers, Reports
For those who wish to share your expertise and have time to read, detailed documents can be a winner. However, the format of white papers, e-books and reports has suffered a change since the introduction of word processing, being much more visually attractive these days than just reams of close-typed print.
The ease of conversion to different formats for different devices means you can disseminate your content across a wide variety of platforms to a wider audience. And while you are doing that, do not miss the opportunity to create audio to back up your report. It could be an interview with the author, short sound bytes with those who have peer-reviewed or edited the document, or a podcast on the topic with industry experts.
Whatever content you decide to create in 2014, your primary concern should always be your audience. How the search engines will view it is secondary.
Need help and ideas for content marketing in 2014? Call MintCopy at 888-646-8003 or send us an email.