You're struggling to develop content. What are the best practices for strategic thinking?

When struggling with content development, applying strategic thinking can provide clarity and direction. Start by defining clear objectives and goals, ensuring alignment with the broader mission or purpose. Conduct thorough research to understand the target audience, market trends, and competitors, identifying potential opportunities and challenges. Break down complex concepts into manageable components and prioritize tasks based on their strategic importance and potential impact. Collaborate with colleagues or seek input from mentors to gain diverse perspectives and generate innovative ideas.

Keep it simple. 1. Who is your audience? 2. What challenge do they face? 3. Do you have a solution? 4. Make it compelling With these 4 steps, you have an amazing content.

In a customer-centric business the best place to start when you're struggling with content development is with two distinct questions in mind: What is the customer need you're addressing and is your strategy aligned with your business goals? The best content is outcome oriented and drives habits that positively affect your business over time. I like to start with a two-column document where I define the customer need or pain point I'm addressing (backed with data!) on one side and identify the business goals I'm working to move the needle on on the other side. Give yourself a clear outcome to drive to for both sides of your document and be honest about what you can realistically affect with content.

There are two “whys” you need to answer: why is the content important to you (or your company) and why is it important to your audience. And the result of this should achieve clear communication for your stakeholders and meaningful comprehension for your audience. No point communicating if no one can comprehend it. If you can speak of your “why” in a sentence and your stakeholders nod in gleeful agreement, you’ve found a way to communicate. If you can speak to your audience’s “why” and they too nod, bathed in your insights, you’ve achieved comprehension. Hot take: Without aligning communication and comprehension, don’t be surprised that the church of your content have not drawn an audience because you’ve been preaching to the choir.

Creating content is not very hard. But creating content that actually breaks through the unending sea of useless information to create real impact is another story altogether. Start by getting crystal clear on the overall business objective: Is it to drive sales? Build mindshare? Enhance a brand? If that's not clear from the beginning, the project may stall. Then look at what's out there already. Is this work going to say something fresh or provocative that makes people pay attention? If it isn't, it may not be worth the effort.

- Set Goals: Articulate clear objectives for what you aim to achieve with your content. - Understanding Audience: Know your audience's needs, interests, and content consumption habits. - Content Audit: Assess existing content to identify successes, failures, and gaps. - Research: Stay informed on industry trends. - Content Planning: Create a content calendar to organize and schedule your content production. - Diversity: Produce a variety of content types to engage different audience segments. - Engage and Collaborate: Foster engagement and partnerships to expand reach and add value. - Measure and Adapt: Use analytics to measure content performance and inform strategy adjustments.

Embarking on the journey of content creation begins with a clear understanding of your ultimate goal. Take the time to define your objectives thoroughly; the clearer your vision, the more effectively you can craft your content. Outline your expectations and targets in detail to streamline your creative process. Once you have a solid grasp on where you currently stand and where you aim to go, focus on charting a straightforward path to your destination. Keep your creative efforts centered on simplicity, as true creativity thrives in clarity. Authenticity is key; create content that resonates with what you genuinely comprehend, rather than fabricating something artificial.

For me, everything comes back to your audience. What do they want or need? How do they want to receive information? When do they want to receive it? What resonates for them? The biggest mistake you can make is focusing on what you want to say rather than what your audience want to hear. Not sure what they want to hear? Ask them! Be curious. Run focus groups, run quizzes, use any data you have to inform your content.

Averigua a quién te diriges. En qué punto vital se encuentra. Ponle nombre y apellidos. Mucho se habla del Buyer Persona y poco delo que diferencia este concepto del de Target Audience. Yo se lo explico a mis alumnos: "Al crear contenidos multimedia, no me digáis que son contenidos "para todo el mundo" o "para hombres y mujeres de entre 18 y 65". Dale una vuelta y define ese retrato semi ficticio de tu audiencia. No es lo mismo escribir "para todo el mundo" que para "Raquel, de 19 a?os, lectora empedernida, con un trabajo en hostelería y cursando estudios universitarios. Interesada en podcasts de misterio y en dise?o editorial. Con espíritu emprendedor...". Conoce a Raquel y piensa en contenido para cada punto de SU funnel de conversión.

To reach your audience, one of the ways can be to go back to the consumer personas that we have developed. This way, it will help us get an idea of the exact requirements of the audience and think about how exactly we can provide service/product to them.

Content is like a chameleon, it adapts to its environment – so letting it roam in vacuum is not a good idea. Try these 5 tricks to stay one step ahead with your content strategy: 1. Context shapes content. 2. Analyze industry, competitors, trends. 3. Consider regulations, culture. 4. Adapt goals, topics, tone. 5. Utilize advantages, overcome challenges.

Writer's block doesn't exist in this profession because it constantly revolves around deadlines and high company expectations. Search volume, key points made in high-ranking articles found in SERP analyses, and keywords are a few techniques to garner more context on a topic. You may find that a competitor's article describes the benefits and features of buying a product. When you write about the disadvantages and alternatives (if any) of the product, you create a fair, unbiased playing field. Playing devil's advocate gives readers more perspective and builds your reputation as a knowledgeable writer. Asking AI for tips isn't a bad idea either as long as you use it as a springboard like my wise English teachers advised about using Wikipedia.

When I need to refocus, the question I ask myself is: for whom is this intended and in what context? That way, I get away from the technical details and get back to the main objective.

When struggling with what to post, how to appeal to the TG or simply what blog topic to include in the next blog post; think from your customer point of view. - What are they still struggling with? - Ask how your product/service has helped them or are they still skeptical to try out - Educate them but in a fun way - While talking about serious topics always think from the point of empathy - Relate to the pains of your TG - Bank on their experience about life and their problem and how it is affecting everything they do. Then come in with your success stories. Voila! You got two months worth of content. P.S. - REPURPOSE YOUR CONTENT TOO!

Consider your audience and their needs when writing in Plain English. - Present information in a logical manner with the most important details first. - Use short, concise sentences that are easy to follow. - Avoid jargon, acronyms, and complex legal terms in favor of familiar, everyday language. - Use active voice and verbs over nouns to increase clarity. - Do not change or omit important information from the original text.

Sales. The answer is always, talk to sales. Bounce ideas off presales (BDRs and MDRs), talk blog topics with sales (AEs) and identify customer stories with post sales support (Customer Success.) These are the teams that work closely with the audience you’re creating content for. They know their pains and challenges intimately. Sales is also constantly refining their messaging, approach, and storytelling. All of which you can (and should) incorporate into your content. Content + Sales = a powerful team.

When developing content, generating ideas strategically is key. Here's how: ?Brainstorming Sessions: Encourage team collaboration and creativity. ?Research and Inspiration: Explore industry trends, competitor strategies, and successful content. ?Audience Feedback: Listen to audience opinions and preferences. ?Diversify Content Formats: Experiment with various formats and approaches. ?Stay Open-Minded: Embrace new perspectives and ideas from diverse sources. By generating ideas strategically, you can fuel creativity and develop engaging content that resonates with your audience.

Don’t forget to look back at content that has performed well in the past. Analyze why this content resonated. Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel with a new idea when you can take an existing idea and repurpose.

Take 20 mins to look at your previous content, or if that's not helping, others in your industry with a similar audience. What are they focusing on? What is their audience asking them? Take down inspiration, write down ideas and others will feed off of them. The best content always comes from your own brain.

Always work with others and challenge each other to swerve the clichés and 'same-old' thinking. Turn it on its head. What ?shouldn't? you do and why? Is that still the case? There's no such thing as a new idea. Or so they say. There are new ways of thinking, though… always be on the lookout for true innovation.

Your content should provide value to your audience. Solve their problems, answer their questions, or entertain them. Visually brainstorm ideas by creating a central theme and branching out with related subtopics and keywords. Know your audience: Who are you creating content for? Understanding their demographics, needs, preferences, and content consumption habits is crucial.Actively consume content in your niche for inspiration and to see what resonates with you and see what kind of content your competitors are creating and identify potential opportunities to differentiate yourself.

When developing content, strategic thinking in execution is crucial. Follow these practices: ?Create a Content Calendar: Outline topics, formats, and deadlines. ?Allocate Resources Wisely: Ensure the right team and tools are in place. ?Prioritize Tasks: Focus on high-impact elements first for efficient workflow. ?Review and Approval Process: Establish a streamlined process to avoid delays. ?Adaptability: Be ready to adjust plans based on feedback and emerging trends. By planning execution strategically, you enhance efficiency and produce content aligned with your goals.

Use Google Sheets for developing a comprehensive content plan: - Tab1 Ideas: Brainstorm and create a sheet with a pool of content ideas. Include columns for the format, channels, description, TA, etc. - Tab2 Segmentation: Use the IMC model to segment content. Categorize ideas based on purpose (educational, informative, entertaining, promotional). - Tab3 Content Plan: Create a content plan for the desired timeframe (week, month, quarter). Divide it into rows for each day and columns for different content types or channels (e.g., blog, social media, email). Fill in the content calendar with ideas due to schedule. - Tab4 Track Content Performance: Record&analyze the data regularly to identify trends, assess KPIs, and improve content strategy.

Sometimes it is the very simplicity of thought that is hard to attain. So in my experience, if you feel you are stuck, the best way forward is just that, forward. Start, jot down whatever 'complex' or 'useless' thought you harbour at that moment. And then read it out. Your mind has powers that will surprise you.

A good plan is half the battle. I outline my content, decide on the formats, and plan the channels for distribution. Setting deadlines and milestones helps keep me on track. I also consider the resources I need: research materials, graphic design support, or access to specific platforms. Planning the execution makes the content creation process more organised and efficient, reducing stress and increasing productivity.

Probar y medir, evaluar los resultados e iterar, es parte de la dinámica que proponen las redes. Aprender los estándares de medición, es lo que ayudará a identificar el éxito de las acciones, como también tomar el aprendizaje para volverlo a intentar estableciendo cambios. Tener en claro los ejes y no darse por vencido con facilidad, es la clave para encontrar oportunidades de crecimiento que se reflejen en las métricas.

After publishing, I closely monitor the performance of my content against the initial goals. I use analytics tools to evaluate metrics like engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. This evaluation is critical for understanding what works and doesn't, allowing continuous improvement. It also provides insights into audience preferences, informing future content strategies.

You will *never* struggle to create content if you inspect your analytics every time you post. The more data you have, of course, the better. So, read data with the purpose of unveiling the story they tell and ask yourself the following: "Who (interacted and what are their characteristics?) How often? What exactly did they interact with and what were their comments? When? Why is what they commented on important to them? Where (which platform)? How did they find my content? Keep asking and subsequently writing down the answers to those questions, one after the other. By the end of the process, you will realise that not having content ideas was the least of your problems. Onto optimization now!

Measurement can’t be an after thought. It needs to be well established before anything is published. Call out what the hypothesis is that you’re trying to test. What results do you expect to see? And how are you going to track that? It’s ok to be wrong a lot of the time. You’re not setting yourself up to fail by doing this. But if you don’t call it out before it goes live, you’ll never learn anything after it does.

La evaluación del resultado es sumamente importante, pero al mismo tiempo es algo inquietante cuando no tenemo resultados a corto plazo. Cuando se crea una sección, un portal o se trabaja en nuevas palabras claves es de suma relevancia tener paciencia hasta que Google Discover lo tome o no. De esta forma podremos mejorar no sólo el tráfico de nuestro sitio, sino también la diversidad de temas del mismo.

First, are you a professional journalist in the industry in which you are trying to create content? If not, look for one! Those are the folks who day-to-day make their living talking and listening and living in that industry. Many have worked in the industry for years, if not decades. Those journalists generally are available for hire. Today many of them also are experienced in writing native content. Ask for a meeting. Explain what you are looking for. Ask for a list of topics they recommend. Then you select the content that you think works for your brand. Think you can use AI for this? Only if you are an expert in the topic, because your audience won't tolerate factual mistakes

When I’m struggling to develop content, I seek out inspiration from other great work. Sometimes, I spin through recent brand campaigns, listen to podcasts like Most Creative Companies and World Changing Ideas, take a walk, read a book. The best ideas often come when you’re experiencing life and pulling from the energy around you—I am also a fan of brainstorming. Sometimes, one thought or word can spur a mountain of ideas. Don’t let “starting” the work be a barrier!

If I have to create content, it invariably turns into advetorial. Not enjoyable to create. And even less enjoyable to consume. I do much better with telling stories. Build every story around a person. Be curious. Talk to anyone & everyone in your organization. The people with the most impressive job titles are rarely the most interesting and inspirational people in your organization. Get out to the frontlines. When someone comes to you with a story idea, listen, say thank-you and follow-up. Everyone has a story to tell. Get good at saying "tell me more". Don't shy away from asking the dumb question, the obvious question, the question that's out of left field, the question everyone's thinking but afraid to ask, the personal question.

So many great insights already! I'll just add this, simple can be great. Sometimes the trap that leads to a mental block is the need to create "never seen before" kind of content, all the time. There's nothing wrong with the desire, but when the brazenly creative juices are not flowing, get back to basics. Say you're working on a campaign, remind your audience of what it's about, explain again the goal you're trying to achieve. This will require all of the how-tos provided in this piece and by the great contributors, but it frees you from the burden of outdoing your last viral content. And amazing things can happen when undue burdens of expectation are lifted. Content creation is hard, often unappreciated work but I'm rooting for you!

Consult with the right people (Subject Matter Experts), and take advice on what needs to be told rather than what you can tell. In my experience, SME's give you a better insight into the subject than template content from Google. Incorporate such things into your content with the SEO requirements, that's the right way to create unique content.