18 Secrets to Creating More Content With Less Writing

There’s an old adage that “shoemakers' children go barefoot.” As a business owner, have you given yourself the marketing shoes you need?

When you’re focused on providing a service for others, it can be difficult to make time to take care of yourself and to do the things your business needs to thrive and grow. Content creation can be one of those things that gets pushed to the back burner.

Why?

You need to create a high volume of high-quality, consistent content to be successful in your marketing efforts. It’s not an immediate gratification strategy and can take time and dedication to realize results.

If that’s the case, then why bother with creating effective content?

Content marketing allows you to build deeper relationships with your prospects and customers. Prospects nurtured with relevant content spend 47% more when purchasing products/services.

Creating content that promotes your expertise, your products, your service, your satisfied customers – all of these can be part of an effective overall marketing strategy.

But I Hate Writing. And Writing Blog Posts Takes So Much Time. Is There Any Other Way To Get The Content I Need?

 Blog posts are extremely valuable pieces of content because:

• They give you a platform to get detailed and tell your story or share value in your own way, without interruptions, on your own platform
• They improve your SEO; on-page content, like blog posts, is generally considered the most effective way to optimize your site and improve your relevancy and search ranking
• They get prospects engaged with your site, so they can start growing their awareness of what you offer and move closer to making a purchasing decision

However, content doesn’t mean just blog posts and webpages. Both of these types of content form a solid foundation for your content marketing strategy, but you also have a wide variety of other ways to get content in front of your audience.

If you don’t want to write, or if you want to keep writing to a minimum, or if you want to shortcut your creation process while still generating useful content, try some of these tactics:

1. Posting Photos

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say. Using pictures with concise, information-rich captions can substitute for writing a lengthy post, but still keep people scrolling and engaged on your page.

If you work in a visually driven industry, people want to see examples of what you’re doing, sometimes even more than they want to hear words.

Photographers focusing on B2C sales, for example, don’t need to explain the lens type or aperture. They do need to share beautiful images that drive consumers to learn more about their services.

As an example, photographer and small business owner Anna Angenend created a Mom Life photo series, which went viral and received media coverage from outlets like The Daily Mail, Huffington Post and The Today Show.

2. Work With Guest Bloggers

If you’re struggling to create enough content to post on your blog regularly, consider inviting other bloggers to share content on your site. A few tips for finding the right guest bloggers, the ones who will benefit you:

Find people in a similar or complimentary niche to yours.

Don’t shoot for the stars. You need to work with other people who are also looking for traffic and visibility, not those who feel like they’d be doing you a favor by posting on your site.

Be aware of their social visibility. Part of the benefit of working with a guest blogger is the fact that they’ll be promoting your site via their social media and other channels.

3. Do An Account Takeover

Similar to a guest blog post, an account takeover temporarily gives the reins of your social media to a collaborator, so they can share content that makes sense.

By allowing someone else to handle posting for the day, you can share expert advice or different perspectives, increase engagement and attract a larger audience of social media users who might be interested in what you have to offer.

One of the best recent examples of using account takeovers and influencers partnerships to get a message across was P&G’s collaboration with TikTok queen Charli D’Amelio. The resulting social distancing #DistanceDance received more than 30 million views and spread an important message about pandemic safety.

4. Publish Testimonials

Not in the mood to write? Let your customers do the writing for you.

Testimonials can easily be made into social media content and used across a variety of channels – from compiling several into a blog post (which will likely be filled with SEO-friendly phrases) to creating social images to recording and publishing video content.

Testimonials offer tremendous value regardless of the platform where you share them because they offer social proof, showing that other people use and value a product or service. 92% say online reviews and testimonials are part of their decision making process when considering a purchase.

5. Survey Your Customers & Publish The Results

Similar to customer testimonials, data collection and surveys work for content generation because they play on people’s curiosity and their desires to understand what their peers are thinking and whether they’re aligned in their efforts.  

SocialPubli, an influencer marketing agency, completes annual surveys of influencers, then compiles that data into a useful report that attracts their target audiences:  

• Companies considering partnering with influencers 
• Influencers who want to be part of their platform 

6. Compile An Expert Digest

Go straight to the source for good content. Talk to experts about a trending topic or about something that’s critical in your industry. They’ll provide knowledgeable, well-considered content, lend you credibility and help to promote your site or social pages.

We have a blog post that does this, sharing guidance from small business owners. Another great recent example comes from the travel section of The Washington Post: 7 black voices on what needs to change in the travel industry.

7. Make An Explainer Video

Many people find it easier to talk than to write, and videos earn great traction with both search engines and viewers. Video appears in 70% of the top 100 search results listings and viewers are up to 85% more likely to make a purchase after watching a product video.

What does that mean? It means it might be time to get you camera rolling.

As you start building your video library, explainer videos can be used to engage your audience and keep them watching.

They’re generally easy to layout, following a logical sequence or outline.

You can talk directly to the camera, with a minimal amount of graphic design or editing required.

If you’re a little camera-shy, you can also do voice recordings or on-screen imagery to produce your video.

8. Break It Down, Step-By-Step

Step-by-step processes can work across multiple platforms. Use them as a:

• Facebook photo collection, where each step is featured on a separate image
• A blog post, where the majority of the content is business-like and straightforward and not much creative juice is required
• An Instagram story that can be saved to your highlights and kept easily accessible

Beauty and skincare company Qutie’s Body Bar recently shared how-to content as part of a 30-day skincare challenge. The company’s lists of skincare step-by-steps were to the point and answered questions about processes but didn’t require in-depth creative writing to get content published.

9. Repurpose Content You've Already Created

Take stock of what you’ve already published. Which content has resonated with your audiences?

Have you shared images of events that you’ve planned or products you’ve produced? Put together a behind-the-scenes look at how the event took place or what the production process looks like.

Have you published a video that got a lot of likes and shares? Repurpose the content into a blog post or a set of Insta Stories.

You can create a lot of content from just one set of source materials – break a listicle blog post into a set of LinkedIn thought leadership posts; create a series of tweets promoting a new blog posts; pin several Pinterest pins for each new piece of content you create.

You can also get more bang for your content creation buck by syndicating content from your blog on certain other sites (like Medium or LinkedIn - like this post!). While the other sites may have stronger SEO and authority, the additional traffic they drive to you may be beneficial.

10. Do A Round-up Of Other People’s Content

Round-up posts drive additional traffic, position you as an expert for your target audience, and help you build relationships with other content producers interested in similar topics.

When you create a round up, link appropriately to everyone’s content and make sure you’re attributing anything you’re sharing. If you have some pages or images of your own that are relevant, give yourself a little link love as well.

Round-up posts can be industry-wide, like this post on email statistics, or can be tied to a specific product, event or area of interest, like this one highlighting regional travel activities for a convention and visitors’ bureau.

11. Let Your Customers Ask Questions. You Answer.

There’s no better way to figure out what your customers want than to – you guessed it – ask them.

Ask your customers what questions they have about your products, services, industry or trends. Then, answer those questions, either in a series of social posts, in a Q&A video or a blog post – or all three. Answering specific questions about an area where you hold expertise can be easier than trying to write creative-driven content.

12. Make A Live Video

Live videos on Facebook or IG TV can give you a chance to capitalize on your social media audiences. Facebook Live videos get 10 times more comments and interaction than traditional videos, which means you’re creating a stronger connection with your audience.

And, Facebook Live videos are available for download after you finish your livestream, so you can use the content anywhere else that works for you, including posting to your website or linking in an email message to fans who might have missed it.

13. Transcribe Relevant Parts Of Your Live Video

After you’ve created a video, you have a tremendous amount of information at your disposal. Use a transcription service (or grab the relevant parts yourself, if you’re on a budget), and turn it into additional content.  

If you find it easier to talk through something than to face a blank page and write it down, hearing yourself speak should give you a good baseline and allow you to capture your own voice and passion for your product.  

TED talks are an excellent example of how to utilize this content, as they transcribe each talk and make the content available in a blog post format, then offer additional supplemental materials like reading lists and reference materials (see this talk by Bill and Melinda Gates for an example).  

14. Make A Slide Presentation

SlideShare allows you to turn your PowerPoint-style presentations and information into socially shareable posts.  

This format can be great if you have content that easily condenses to bullet points. That means you’ll spend less time writing and more time focusing on stats and other information that drives home your point.  

And, SlideShare (part of the LinkedIn family) is a high authority site, which means content shared there is seen as relevant and typically ranks higher in search engine results. Once you post a presentation, don’t just leave it hanging though – share it across your other social platforms.  

15. Turn Stats Into An Infographic

In addition to presentations, SlideShare also allows you to share infographics, which provides another less wordy, more visual way to share your information.  

When creating an infographic, make sure you balance eye-catching imagery with content that provides value. You don’t want your images to  

And, you don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to make useful, attractive infographics. The one that’s accompanying this article? We made it using Canva.  

16. Partner With A Guest Expert

Like guest bloggers, working with guest experts can give you an opportunity to tap into their knowledge and versatility, as well as their audience.  

Leadership development coach Elizabeth Jende Chevalier works with guest experts to host monthly webinars on relevant and timely leadership topics. With these partnerships, she’s able to position herself as a well-connected expert and thought leader.  

17. Cross-Promote Your Content

Different from repurposing, cross-promotion calls attention to content that you’ve shared on other platforms. Cross-promotion might mean:  

• Posting several messages on Twitter when you’ve created a new blog post 
• Using Facebook to share a YouTube video you’ve created  
• Sending out an email to let your subscribers know that you have a LinkedIn live chat starting 

When you write a great piece of content, build a brief plan for different avenues where you’ll cross-promote it so you can get the most potential mileage out of it.  

18. Put In The Time

As a final piece of advice, sometimes, you just have to put in the time, or spend the resources, that it takes to get good content up on your site on a regular basis.  

More content is better.  

More thorough content is better.  

More engaging content is better.  

And, more frequent content is usually better as well.  

Prospects generally want to review 10+ pieces of content before making a decision. What do you have out there and ready for them to consume, so they can get to know your business better and see you as a trusted expert?  

Develop a plan for creating and curating the content you need. And, design a strategy for making sure you’re posting content that means something – that attracts prospects, that that engages and retains current customers, and that increases sales and loyalty.