What is content creation exactly?
You’ve probably landed on this page because you’re curious about content creation, and how to learn more about it. Today, we are going to dive into that for you, and not only share what it is, but how it’s done and how it correlates with marketing.
From my perspective, many people have different ways of explaining it, even those I’ve asked who have been creators for over a decade. The simple truth is, it’s not new, and the idea is very simple to execute. If you have time, that is. People have been creating content for millennia and use it as part of their content marketing strategy. Even though social media is still fairly new (15-ish years), we’re seeing new buzz words emerge from those even at the novice level.
Today business owners employ content creators to facilitate the design and marketing element of marketing on the brand’s behalf. Depending on the brands preference (this is not necessarily determined by size of company), this can be someone in-house, a solo-freelancer, or an agency (like us!).
Below you’ll find a short form version, and a more in-depth version, so stick around!
The short version:
Content creation is everywhere. Content creation is implementing your ideas into “digestable pieces” to share with your audience digitally. Similarly, the act of curating already produced content and disseminating these into your digital sphere is also considered content creation.
The long-form version:
Additionally, content creation is a considered a form of inbound marketing. It’s the act of generating topics and ideas relative to your business, then turning that idea into reality by way of multimedia. It can be turned into any form such as a Blog, a promo video, a social media post, a podcast, a quote or infographic, newsletters, or pulling from a topic generator etc. These then get put into your marketing pipeline over a period of time across multiple channels. Rinse, and repeat.
“Growing quantity led to sinking quality”
How (and where) is content creation produced?
We’ll get into content marketing in a little bit, but first I’ll give you ideas on exactly how the content is created. You’re going to have one of those “OHHH, duh” moments. All content is created via some sort of medium and tool. A medium being a form of media, and a tool being an app or program to distribute. Below is a general idea of how content is created:
- Photography, Video, Cinema
- Art, Print Media, Magazines
- Blogs, email marketing, topic generators
- Social Media, Linkedin, Forums, Google Trends
- Presentations and Webinars
- Podcast, Youtube, Music, or Radio Show
- Infographics, Memes, Quotes
- E-book, E-course, Digital Downloads
- Ads and Billboards
- And a plethora of tools to do so!
Click here for 30 Content Creation Tools
Odds are, you’re creating these pieces of content without knowing what they’re technically called. Which is great! The next step is to be intentional with it. Social media alone can be so consuming it’s easy to get lost, forget what your purpose and goal was, and become distracted all to “come back” to it later. One must distinguish when to opt-out once the inspiration is flowing. The digital world has become flooded which makes for a more meaningful consumption.
With anything, comes a plan, a strategy, and consistency (across the board) to avoid falling behind. After all, the world of marketing and its accomplices (trends, tools, tactics) are constantly changing, ironic isn’t it?
Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (Macintosh)
Content Marketing:
In my opinion, this is where less of the fun stuff happens for most people and more of where strategy truly must shine. Now that you’ve created your pieces of content, what do you do with it? If you are one who glazes over at this point, don’t worry – you are definitely not alone.
Content Marketing is defined as a “strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, and ultimately drive profitable customer action”.
That’s a moutfhul, allow me to rephrase in other words: taking your brand and its message plus the content you’ve created, and distributing it to your audience for ultimate engagement, mindfully.
In 2019, the question must transition to “should we do this”, to “how can we do this effectively to get results”. If you aren’t there yet, email me so we can get your mindset focused on those strategic goals! Also, lose the fear and just post something. Even if you aren’t at the point of a content calendar yet, try to post something meaningful everyday to create a repetition mindset.
What do with your content?
Think of it like this, consumers want transparency today in all areas of life. Take the food industry for example, the guests enjoy seeing their food cooked in front of them, or an open kitchen, or facilities that show its production team. They want to know what’s going in it and who’s making it.
Now taking that into consideration with your brand, feed your your brand story to your audience and explain what it is you do, why you do it, how it can benefit them, etc. Do this through relevant written, downloadable, and visual media so they can learn more about you, your products and your expertise. You simply cannot have content marketing without content creation.
Okay, well maybe you can through purchasing stock photography, or taking your own photos, but that’s time consuming and costly.
- • Hire a content creator who can produce content that’s custom to your brand
- • Create a content calendar
- • Set these campaigns up through a planning tool for specific days and times
- • And delegate, so you can get back to what really matters.
A content calendar, aka content planning, allows you to organize your digital/social media activities in advance, making it easier to coordinate campaigns, grow your reach, and scale your social media marketing but also … put things on autopilot to optimize your time.
Service Plug
For any of our clients here at Lambda Lion Group who opt-into social media packages, or content creation packages, we help to create this for them and then educate about what we’re doing and why. We want our partners to feel enlightened, not deeper into the dark.
Work with us today on your new content planning strategy.
List of Services
Wrapping Up
I could go on for hours about these topics simply because of the importance it carries. Content creation and content marketing are powerful, and effective when efforts are hyper-focused. Outsource these tasks and deliverables to a professional who has a proven track record of success, they cost a lot less than an in-house employee!
I highly recommend seeking a consultation and/or a strategy meeting with a consultant to piece the puzzle together for your next actionable steps. We’d love to assist! We’re located in Milwaukie/Portland, and open to all Oregon businesses, but are open to remote projects as well for those who have strong communication in place. To setup a call, visit our online calendar here.
Leave a comment if you have anything you’d like to add, or any questions you want to ask us! Thank you for joining us today.
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