Power Up In Brief: Edition 4

Are you creating content from scratch for every blog, social post and video and trying to run a business at the same time??

That sounds like a lot of work. Luckily for you, at Scale Up we have a system to help you work smarter, not harder. Meet our content production cycle.?

This is designed for founders and small teams to approach content creation in a structured way to reach your audience. So here’s our five-step guide to being really efficient with creating content:

1. Focus on where your audience hangs out

You’ll get more out of your content if you focus on doing one thing really well rather than spreading yourself too thinly.?

Where does your audience hang out? Look at your metrics. If they are on LinkedIn then you don’t need to be on every social media platform. If they rush to sign up to your webinars, then you can record and re-use this content.?

It’s all about being laser-focused on where your audience is in the mindset to engage with you.?

2. Create content with re-purposing in mind

Did you know that on average, only 5% of your audience sees your organic posts? And the average email open rate is 21.33%?

Each piece of content you create should be used at least eight times. Not only does this save time, the stats show you really don’t have to worry about over-sharing, as not every person will see everything you share the first time.

For example, a single blog post can be shared on social media three times with a different message as well as multiple email newsletters, as an infographic on your website, re-posted as a LinkedIn article and turned into a release for trade press.

3. Review your existing content

Do an audit of your current content - decide what is still useful, what can be updated and what gaps you have. Add this to your content plan and you’ll be surprised how much you already have.?

4. Plan new content

Look at where your gaps are and consider hot topics and relevant longtail keywords to start planning future content. Try Answer The Public for quick inspiration if you’re stuck.?

Be really strict with your new content - what you produce should fit with one or more of your audience segments and be part of the customer journey. Anything else is irrelevant and won’t add value to your brand.?

5. Start your production cycle

Once you have a plan of action, you can get your production cycle underway using tools to automate as much as possible. Here’s what this might look like for live video content:

1. Record and transcribe the live session and highlight key sections?

Tools: streamyard for streaming, otter.ai for recording and transcribing audio; grain.co for video

2. Edit transcript into blog and social posts?

Tools: copy.ai, jarvis.ai or copysmith.ai to generate copy, Canva to create graphics

3. Batch create your social posts in your editorial calendar and social channels?

Tools: Meetedgar for posting and re-sharing evergreen content, Hootsuite or Loomly to schedule one-off posts

Who’s doing content production really well?

A few examples to inspire you:

Heights has put content front and centre of their marketing. Their website immediately shows you where they have been featured, what customers are saying about them and how you can learn more about their product. All of which can be easily re-used and re-purposed into customer touchpoints such as social posts and email marketing.?

Mailchimp runs live online events, a podcast, a resource library, communities for users and they even bought Courier magazine. This demonstrates how well they know their audience and what their touchpoints are on the customer journey.?

11FS has created a content hub with blogs, podcasts and videos, each labelled by purpose and topic. As a reader, it’s easy to find what’s relevant to you - something to think about with your own content.?

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