How to create great content!

Today, there are countless content delivering platforms available in just a few clicks. But the delivery method itself isn't enough. How do you produce engaging content in a world where everyone is trying to do the same?

Last week we looked at SEO , which has it's own content angle of course. This week I'll try to provide some useful content creation strategies.

This week we’ll look at:?

???? How to write original content - The content bubble

???? What not to write - Grey Areas in Marketing

How to Create Original Content?

With content, we always have to spin things into a relevant context. Every organization should consider how to adapt topics and trends into their brand. A type of content might already exist in some format like books or blogs, but it might not exist as a podcast or movie. There are so many ways in which we can develop the same idea that creating something original by re-treating it makes it original in itself.?

One model I created many years ago to help marketers understand how to create a content strategy is the Content Bubble.?Using this alongside an effective content calendar ensures that you can find and plan great content ideas and fit them to your business and industry, no matter the subject.?

The Content Bubble model is simple and is designed to ensure you keep an eye on the bigger picture.?The sphere of people?looking for content directly about?your company?(e.g. awards, hiring)?is pretty small?but likely to be very interested in that content. Producing content about the industry you’re in is relevant to a larger audience and easy to find an angle on.?However many companies neglect the biggest sphere of them all – the World. This bubble is where you will find major trending topics such as the Olympics or world news.?This is the largest audience but hardest to create relevance for your organization.?Virtually every story, however, can have an angle created that fits your organization and if you do so, you open up the biggest potential for reach.?Keep the content bubble in mind when planning your content.?

For example, Superbowl just happened a few weeks ago and it’s?certainly?not relevant for all companies to post?directly?about it.?But if you’re an HR company maybe you?could?write an article on “How do?Superbowl?coaches motivate their teams?”.?There is always an angle that?can take a trending topic and apply it to your?industry.?

Read more on my blog.

Grey Areas in Marketing

Identifying what is “good” or “bad” is never easy and understanding the nuances of something in the middle is close to impossible. I've written a blog to acknowledge the aspects of content and marketing that walk the fine line drawn between ethical and unethical. No matter how good your intentions are, you will, at some point, find yourself in the grey area of marketing and you need to decide which path to take.

1. Privacy: There is no topic hotter than this right now. Be careful about how you deal with it both in targeting and information sharing. Know the regulations and monitor the changes closely.
2. Black hat SEO: Do not?stuff keywords, pay for links, set up gateway pages or follow any other unfair SEO practices.?Google will BAN you. Focus on the techniques that are of true value to the user and make good digital sense.
3. Clickbait: Technically, nothing is wrong with it, but it's frustrating for users. Rather, create compelling content.
4. Reputation Damage: Defaming a business is easy, beating it is hard. Actively damaging a business is of course not something I'd encourage but there is a place for competitive marketing. Just be careful not to go into a bidding war. Social media teasing can be great though.
5. Spamming: Be ethical and ask for permission. It's not only the obvious right thing to do but it engenders loyalty, ensures CTRs and ORs remain strong, builds a community and protects the cleanliness of your domain. A small engaged list can be far more powerful than a large cold one.
6. Copycats: Some accounts blatantly copied your work and posted it as their own.?However, it was never yours. Check you content rights on Meta's platforms and others. Protect your work but don't be afraid of people copying you - it can give you significant growth.
7. Sexually Suggestive Content: Sex sells. Undoubtedly, many have built an empire on selling sex but walk this line carefully.
8. Emotional exploitation: There’s a fine line between creating feelings, tapping into feelings and exploiting feelings.?Treat your customers with respect instead of playing with emotions. Facebook's emotional manipulation experiment several years ago is not acceptable and rightly received a backlash.
9. False Advertisements: Misleading or untrue information encourages the user to buy something. Even Red Bull couldn't give Wings - they had to pay for this tagline. So, be careful what you promise.

Read more about all of these on my blog.

Get help???

If you need any support with your content marketing efforts, my team and I can help! Get in touch to find out more about what we can do to help you!?

Share???

I hope you found this week’s newsletter insightful.?If you did, I'd be really grateful if you could share it with your network and tag your friends & colleagues. I’d love to grow a community of MM readers so we can all learn from each other and deliver our best results.?

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ABOUT ME?

I have been helping companies with their marketing from start-ups to global corporates for over 20 years and I’m also?the author of 2 best-selling books ?in the field. Whether it’s growth, branding, performance, content marketing, SEO or many other areas, I have helped companies all over the world to deliver market-leading results. I’m also CEO of a global marketing agency , and a regular keynote speaker, trainer, consultant and contributor to industry publications.?