Here’s an Effective Content Strategy for Solopreneurs and Individual Creators!!

Often, I’ve observed 1 phenomenon in the Content strategies of various businesses and creators. The phenomenon is:

“So-and-so Content Strategy worked for them. Let’s apply the same strategy for us!!”

I hate to break it to you but the concept of one-size-fits-all isn’t applicable to Content Strategy.

A content Strategy is designed specifically for your product and services. They are tailored to meet the specific needs of your business and your audience. It is designed in a way that your products or services can stand out amongst the gazillion other competitors and create their own unique space in the market!! Therefore, what worked for others might not work for you.

In a similar manner, a Content Strategy for a business will look way different from that of a Content Strategy for Solopreneurs and Individual creators. It’s because the requirements and challenges of solopreneurs are different from that of businesses.

In this article, I’ll be telling you a simplified content strategy that works effectively for solopreneurs and individual creators!!

Firstly, let’s understand why solopreneurs and individual creators need different Content Strategies. It is because:

1. Labor constraints:?A business can have a team of people plans, come up with different ideas, create content, schedule or post and work on the aftermath of performance. But solopreneurs have a constraint of labor. Since solopreneurs are a One-Man-Team, they often face difficulties with their marketing process. Now just imagine the amount of pressure you will be putting on yourself if you decide to target various platforms and go in with a strategy suitable for a business.
2. Time constraint:?Now since a solopreneur has to look into coming up with relevant content ideas, content creation, and scheduling tasks, they also face a time constraint to execute all of these tasks.

Since these tasks are time-consuming, following a content strategy suitable for a business will lead to eventual burnout.

Since these are the problems, what is the best solution?

-You need a simplified Content Strategy that will be effective for you!!

But before we dive into the Content Strategy best for solopreneurs, I would like to highlight a?few things you should keep in your mind before building a Content Strategy.?They are:

1. Focus on only 1 platform when you start!!

Often, it’s advised to target a few platforms that your target audience resides on. But every platform requires a different form of content. You can always repurpose the content but there are times when you need to create different styles of content. And creating content on these various platforms might seem intimidating at first.

Therefore, when you start, it’s better to focus on and master one platform. For example, if you want to assign LinkedIn as your main platform, 1st create content only for that 1 specific platform. Understand what type of content works there and cater to your audience with that type of content. Once you have mastered that platform, then move to the next platform!!

2. Selecting content ideas that your audience will find helpful:

There are 2 types of content- a. Content delivering information and b. Content delivering value.

Let me explain this by giving my example. The content idea is- 5 benefits of having a Content Strategy!!

Now, will this content piece be informative to my audience? - yes.

But will it be a super value-packed piece of content? - I don’t think so.

So, the next time you have a content idea do ask yourself: Will this content piece be a piece of information or a piece of value?

3. Your content creation process:

Try to line out how your content creation process will be stage by stage. Ask yourself questions like:

• How will you be doing your research for the content ideas?
• What ideas will be best to work on?
• What format of content will you be creating? Will it be video, visual, pictorial or textual?
• What tools will you be using for creating content?
• Will you use a planner to keep yourself and your tasks on track?
• Will you be using a scheduling tool to post?

4. Tailoring your content specific to the platform:

As I mentioned earlier, specific platforms need their preferred style of content. For example, short-form content works great on Instagram and tik-tok, but the same cannot be said for LinkedIn and Pinterest. Or Long-form Video content works incredibly well on Youtube but we can say the same for Instagram.

Therefore, you will need to tailor your content format for your chosen platform.

5. Engaging with your audience:

The best way to form connections and a deeper bond with your audience is by engaging with them. It’s analyzed that the more you engage and keep your audience engaged with your content, the more that platform will push your content to newer people.

So along with content creation, engaging with your audience through dimming, replying to their comments, or engaging with their content is also something you should keep in your mind.

6. The KPIs:

KPIs or Key performance indicators are vital for the growth of your platforms. It is also helpful for understanding what things are working for you and what isn’t.

Now that we have understood what things to keep in mind before creating a content Strategy, let’s start with the actual strategy. This Content Strategy is simple yet effective and engaging. It not only positions you as an expert in your niche but also will help your audience connect with you.

In this, the strategy has been divided into 4 content pillars. These content Pillars are like buckets or clusters, that will simplify your research process. These 4 content pillars are:

1. Educational and Value-based content
2. Inspirational content and behind the scenes
3. Knowledge-based on your unique experiences
4. Promotional content

Let me tell you more about these pillars.

• Educational and value-based content:

This is knowledge-based content that you can curate for your audience. This content will provide the solution to the problems of your audience.

• Inspirational / BTS content:

This content pillar will help your audience connect with you on an individual basis. You sharing your challenges, journey and regular bits will make your audience root for you. Sharing this content will make them feel included and a part of your journey. And this connection is what will help you form a loyal audience.

• Knowledge-based on your own experience:

There is always some part of knowledge that can only come through personal experiences. Certain ideas and concepts are only known when one gets to experience them. This piece of content is the most valuable!!

• Promotional Content:

This content could be any form of offers, vouchers, or sponsors that you want to promote.

These are the 4 Content Pillars all of your content would lie in. Also, note that the Promotional content should be limited. Bombarding audiences with promotional content might make them lose interest in your content.

The best way to understand how this strategy will be successful is by thinking:

1. Your Content Strategy should provide the right people with value-packed content at the right time.
2. The content you create should be such that the audience trusts, engages, and converts due to your content!!

To conclude,

Formulating the right Content Strategy for you might seem like an intimidating task. But simplifying the process and taking small steps when you start will take you a long way!!

Found this blog interesting?! Please do leave some feedback. And if you found this article useful, do check out my other articles and follow for more!!