What tools and resources can help you design better content?

Here's the content strategy framework I'm using to monetize my high-ticket coaching service on LinkedIn. (And it only involves 3 posts per week). Step 1 - Two transformative posts First, I deeply study the problems of Solopreneurs. Second, I write the first part of my post about these problems. Third, I add elements of the ideal future to the post - meaning, what the future looks like if those problems were transformed into better realities. Forth, I include a CTA that points to my service as the solution. Step 2 - I make a 3rd post for the week This post is more about my core convictions of coaching. Why? I want my potential clients to know me, the person they would be working with.

A “content strategy framework” is a way of describing why you’re creating content and how you’ll use it. Sound simple? It can be — but it requires answering some big foundational questions, before you start churning out blog posts or ebooks. A basic content strategy should include: 1) Goals: What goals will you prioritize? (Awareness, revenue, leads, engagement...) 2) Audience: Research, segments, personas, prioritization — i.e. who, specifically, you want to reach. 3) Value prop: What is it that your brand can offer that is differentiated and valuable to those target customers? 4) Measurement plan: How will you know if your content is successful? 5) Distribution plan: You need one, preferably before you create a single new asset.

Step I: Well talking about the tools, I have been using google tasks to organise the priority as well as the time commitment to a content design. Step II: Try to collect the resources beforehand so that you will have the specifics of the content. Step III: Define the ROI of whatever you are planning to write or design. And rest use what works for you the best. Above steps work for me.

Content strategy frameworks are like blueprints for your content journey. They're handy tools for shaping your content vision, purpose, objectives, and tactics. These frameworks sync your content with your brand, audience, and business objectives while also enabling you to gauge and enhance content performance. Models like the Content Marketing Institute's, Content Strategy Canvas, and Content Ecosystem Map are your trusty guides. Customize them to craft your unique content strategy. ??????

Creating great content needs good tools. I like Grammarly for writing, Canva for pictures, and Semrush for SEO. But, most important is your experience and love for telling stories.

I have been in shoes of a designer as well so I have used most of the tools that are available for designing. From a design perspective I can say that for personal brand development and everyday social media posting "canva", which is something most of us already know. It is the best tool as it helps you to create your design faster and easier. It is so easy to use that even if you are not a designer you can create a decent design as it has multiple templates you can choose and just add your content. A lot of designers also use it and in my organisation we use it for basic social requirements.

Try Publer.io or Authored Up. Both tools allow you to see your post preview BEFORE it goes live on LinkedIn. Here's why I use it, specifically for mobile purposes: 1) You want to write content that is nicely formatted and easy to scan 2) When you do, scanners can quickly gaze your post and determine if it's information they want to consume 3) I preview my post in Publer to ensure that those who are reading on a mobile device can see a well formatted post 4) If sentences are too long and run into a second line, I often opt to edit that specific sentence for brevity 5) I intentionally format my post so the longest sentence is up top & shortest is at the bottom. Overall, this creates a funnel structure that makes posts quick to read.

ChatGPT can help in two ways: 1. Eliminate writer's block. If you are having trouble getting words on the page, ChatGPT can do it for you. However, I'd advise you to try to create your own content first, then go to step 2 below. 2. Provide alternate versions to test against. I typically will do my own brainstorming and initial drafts first, whether it's micro-copy or something much longer. Then I may ask GPT what it thinks. For example, I'll write something and then ask ChatGPT to "make it punchier." Or I'll ask it to adjust the length, to see if a different look on the page will make it more attractive to the reader. You can then decide whether your take is best, or whether you want to go with something the bot suggested.

I know many designers dismiss it, but Canva is becoming a powerhouse in design tools: their AI implementation, and bulk creation capabilities, along with new integrations like the social media calendars, or new apps are truly astonishing. I'm not saying that it alone will be sufficient for all your design needs, but it is a very useful tool to keep in your arsenal

Content design tools are your digital allies, simplifying content creation and polishing. These software and apps like Hemingway, Grammarly, CoSchedule Headline Analyzer, and Canva make your content journey smoother. They tidy up grammar, spelling, style, and SEO, ensuring user-friendly, consistent, and error-free content. Plus, they add a dash of visual appeal to make your content pop! ????????

No matter what -- don't forsake a direct conversation with your target audience -- especially those who have advanced experience. This point is so critical that I have to end this contribution here. Don't sleep on this, friends.

Content research resources serve as treasure troves of insights. They offer valuable data on your audience, their desires, challenges, and preferences, and give you a peek into your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. Tools like Google Trends, AnswerThePublic, BuzzSumo, and Quora help uncover content gaps, opportunities, and trends. They validate your content ideas and provide popular keywords, questions, and topics relevant to your audience and niche. ??????

The UserTesting application can help you research what your target audience thinks about your content. I've used it to test web and mobile app pages before we went live with them. You can also upload videos, blog posts, or other kinds of content. It's easy to use. You'll create a series of questions about your content, and the users' answers will be recorded (audio and/or video, and transcripts). You can also do live interviews. The app allows you to select an audience based on age, gender, geography, education, and other variables. Highly recommended, a great resource.

Here's what you need to create an excellent 'Content Research Resource': 1. Customer Calls: Sales, feedback, or success calls can provide detailed insights into your customers' needs. 2. Reddit/Quora: Your new best friends. These platforms offer a wealth of questions related to your niche. 3. AlsoAsked/Answer the Public: Incorporate these questions into your research. 4. Competitive Analysis: Don’t hesitate to analyze the top 10 results in your niche and how they structure their content. 5. SEMrush/Ahrefs: Use these tools to identify 'Keyword Gaps,' which represent your prime opportunities.

"Micro testing" is the simplest way to test a piece of content. You can do this with paper, on email or through a digital form: 1. Provide the user only with the title and introduction of an article, or just the entrance text on a navigation element. 2. Ask them to tell you what they expect to read further, or 2-3 questions they expect to have answered. 3. Optionally show them the entire text and ask them to think aloud. This way, you can gather user questions and find out if the entrance to your text is clear enough. Does the reader feel confident about what the text is about? Do the words create the right expectations? Is there something they didn't get an answer to? Did they find what they were looking for too late in the text?

Content testing methods are the tools to fine-tune your content. They rely on feedback, data, and results to gauge effectiveness, impact, and user satisfaction. Examples include usability testing, A/B testing, heatmaps, and analytics. These methods involve real user testing, comparing content versions, tracking behavior, and analyzing metrics to fix issues and enhance content performance. ??????

When possible, conduct customer/subscriber surveys. In my case, I can't emphasize how helpful they were in not only optimizing our research/content curation time, but also helping us understand what they were enjoying and what they weren't. Being more specific, after our first research, we discover that some areas of our informative newsletter didn't really matter to the majority of the respondents. This affected the overall time they spent reading the content, with a lot of them not reaching the end of the email. After we applied these insights, not only did the percentage of people reading at least 3/4 of the newsletters increased, but so did our NPS, going from 70/100 to 74/100.

Content learning platforms are your digital schools for mastering content skills and knowledge. Websites like Content Design London, Content Marketing Institute, HubSpot Academy, and Skillshare keep you informed, inspired, and connected with fellow content pros and experts. These hubs offer a treasure trove of courses, webinars, podcasts, blogs, and vibrant communities to enrich your content expertise and strategies. ???????

There are also industry-specific content design platforms. One of my early favorites was Food Blogger Pro. It started as a podcast and grew into a comprehensive content design platform for food bloggers. It built a large, supportive community of food bloggers supporting each other through the content design process. This complemented its extensive courses on a range of content creation and design topics, as well in-depth marketing resources. It was hugely beneficial to me in designing websites and food blogs.

Meine Top 3 Content Design Bücher, die ich allen Content Marketing Verantwortlichen empfehle: 1. "Content Design" von Sarah Richards (plus "Content Transformation" von ihrem Kollegen Hinrich van Haaren) 2. "Content Design: Das Handbuch für Conversion-orientierte Content Marketer, Webdesigner & Unternehmer" von Benjamin Harmanus und Robert Weller (mir) 3. "Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX" von Erica Jorgensen In Kombination enthalten diese drei Bücher alles Wichtige zum Thema: von einem grunds?tzlichen Verst?ndnis der Nutzerbedürfnisse, über Research Methoden und UX-Grundlagen hin zu konkreten, praktischen Tipps für die (visuelle) Gestaltung digitaler Inhalte für verschiedene Plattformen und Formate.

I found a source of content design ideas in an unlikely place: a book entitled Influence, by Robert Cialdini. Essentially, the book explains and shares many interesting stories about buyer psychology. It's organized around several key concepts, including reciprocity, social proof, authority, and unity. After reading the book, I began to completely rethink the user journey. For example, regarding the principle of reciprocity, I wondered if my company's content was too heavy on asking and too light on giving. Cialdini's ideas on unity also caused me to think about whether our words and images truly created a sense of membership in our user base. An entertaining and informative book, it may cause you to "think different."

These tools helped intentionally create more engaging content: - Canva: My carousels and fliers are made using this tool. It's easy to use even without design skills. - Grammarly: This fixes grammar errors and suggests tone improvements in my writing. - Hemingway App: I used this a lot early last year to assess reading level and highlights complex sentences. - Headline analyzers: I used this a lot last year to test different headlines to find what drives the most clicks. - Notion: This is like my unlive blog where I create content strategy, content pillars, content topic and even write content for my clients and I. Try any of these 3 out and thank me later.

I mean, you can't disagree that ChatGPT helps a lot with content creation, new ideas, content strategy, and more. I find it awesome especially when I run out of ideas, I can just ask it to give me some fresh thoughts and it helps! I mean obviously, you can't just copy everything it says and write thousands of words that bring no value to the readers. Even though it's easier to create content with chatgpt, if you simply copy it, it will increase your bounce rate. So just use it wisely.

It's not the content tools. It's your design thinking that finally decides what tool you will use. If you are highly creative, you can visualise how a gradient background with combination of grunge, elements with seperate vibrance and saturation from the main image, you will go for Adobe Photoshop (No other tool comes close to this one) If you are an ordinary creative guy who tries to replicate others design, or take inspiration and want to do it fast, you opt for canva. It falls short if you want to match the skills of a professional graphic designer In the end, the tool does not matter, the artist matters. Focus more on your skills than learning new tools

Some of my Must-haves: Google Search Console: Understand your website's performance in search results. Google Analytics: Track website traffic and identify popular pages and content. Canva: Create a variety of visual content, such as infographics, social media posts, and presentations. Grammarly: Improve the quality of your writing. Nice-to-haves: Semrush/Ahrefs: Identify relevant keywords, research your competitors, and track your content performance. Figma/Miro: Collaborate with team members to create and prototype content. ContentShake/HubSpot Content Hub: Plan, create, and distribute content. Bonus tip: Use these tools wisely, creatively, and have fun!

With the extensive use of AI in content creation today, including the "Human Touch" at every possible opportunity is even more essential. You are the one thing that will always be truly unique, and this is the reason your customers will choose to work with you instead of someone else.