Do you find it difficult to publish consistently?
This seems to be one of the toughest parts of running a small business. If you’re a business owner or chief exec, you not only have to worry about the day-to-day operations of your business but also have to think constantly about ways to market the business effectively.
Unfortunately, consistent content marketing efforts can be challenging to maintain. And, if you’re not super intentional, it’s easy to let the content side of your marketing go. Trust me; I know.
But fortunately, a few highly-effective tactics can get you to the promised land. I list here the ones that work best for me — and some other business owners I know who are really good at it.
So, how does a smaller enterprise without tons of staff publish consistently and ensure the content is always on point?
- Plan quarterly
- Set key messages and key themes strategically
- Create a system that works for you
- Batch your time for content creation
- Repurpose your content
- Measure the effectiveness of your content
- Get help if you need it
Plan quarterly
Content planning is the first step if you want to publish consistently. How you approach content planning may determine your success!
Think about it this way: if your content isn’t furthering your organization’s goals, then it’s not doing its job. Your goals should inform your content strategy, so it’s important to situate them at the center of content planning.
Every piece of content you create should be tied to a goal, whether the goal is increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or something else entirely. Once this relationship is firmly established, you can ensure that all your content writing works toward those goals. Content planning achieves this.
A good plan anchors your content to the rest of your business. Consider inviting the whole marketing team into the room when you prepare your content plan; if you have a sales team, it might not hurt to invite them. (They, after all, are closest to your customer.)
Without a plan, it’s easy to get off track and start writing about random things that don’t really help your customer. (Again, trust me: I did it for years!)
So, you put planning on the calendar just as you do with other aspects of your operations.
For me, I’ve got to have my plan in writing so I can look at it frequently — and refer to it over and over and over — because, otherwise, I am easily distracted! I also try to plan 3 months at a time. That also makes it easier each time I sit down to write.
A plan also helps you decide what you want to accomplish with your content. Who do you most want to influence? And where are those people to be found? Which social channels do they favor? How do you get into the spaces where they are? Having a plan will help you stay focused and on track.
Set key messages and key themes strategically.
Knowing your goals makes it much easier to determine what kind of content will help you achieve them. This is where setting key messages come in. Your key messages should be clear, concise statements communicating the most important information about your business. They should be based on your unique selling proposition and relevant to your target audience.
Your key messages will give you the topics of the articles you write, your social media posts, and the overall tone of your marketing communications. They can be incorporated into everything you do, from email marketing to blog posts to press releases.
Additionally, your key messages are an opportunity to speak directly to your ideal customer. The more you know about your customer, the easier it becomes to write key messages that resonate with them. At its best, you’re just talking to them. Ideally, tell them how you can help them. The key to publishing consistently is staying related to what matters to the people you really, really want as customers and helping them solve their problems. You’ll never run out of things to write about!
Clear, concise key messages resonate with your ideal customers and make it easier to produce effective content that helps achieve your marketing goals.
Create a content writing system that works for you
Some people like to batch-write their content — setting aside a specific day or half day to do it all. Others prefer to write as they go. Therefore, not everyone functions well with the same type of content calendar.
Some people like to plan their content in great detail, while others prefer a more flexible approach. There’s no right or wrong way to do things, as long as you find a system that works for you and you can publish consistently.
Batch your time for content writing
Try batching your content writing tasks if you find it difficult to sit down and publish consistently. This means writing several pieces at once and then scheduling them to be published over time. This can make writing more manageable and help you stay consistent in the long run.
Repurpose good content
If you’re struggling to develop new ideas, consider repurposing old content. This could mean updating an old blog post with new information or creating a new piece of content from an older one.
This tactic is particularly helpful if you have evergreen content that remains relevant. If you’re constantly getting questions about a particular topic, consider creating new content directly addressing those questions.
Measure the effectiveness of your content
Once your content is published, it’s important to measure its effectiveness. And if you publish consistently, it will be ever so much easier to do so!
This will help you understand what’s working and what isn’t and allow you to adjust your strategy accordingly.
There are several ways to measure your marketing efforts success. The most important thing is to choose the metrics most relevant to your goals.
Suppose your goal is to increase brand awareness. In that case, you might measure website traffic, social media engagement, or the number of people who see your ads.
Suppose your main goal is to generate leads. In that case, you might measure the number of incoming calls you generate, the conversion rate of your website, or the number of people who sign up for your email list.
And suppose your goal is to increase sales. In that case, you will be tracking the sources of those leads — and might choose to measure the revenue generated by your content campaigns, the number of sales made, or the average order value.
Whatever metrics you choose, tracking them over time is important to see how your content is performing. This will help you adjust your strategy as needed and ensure that you’re on track to hit your targets.
Review and adjust
Things will inevitably change over time, even if you have a great content strategy. Maybe your target audience will shift, or you’ll find new channels that work better for you.
That’s why it’s important to review your content writing strategy regularly and adjust as needed. This will help you keep your content relevant and ensure it works as effectively as possible. And it will become much, much easier to publish consistently.
Get help if you need it
Sustained content marketing can be a challenge for small businesses. Learning to publish consistently can be at the heart of the challenge. But if you want to see results from your marketing efforts, regularly publishing is one of the most cost-effective ways. Companies that maintain a consistent presence reach their target audiences more effectively. Even small shops can break out of the crowd, touch people directly, and win — without big ad budgets.
If you’re struggling to find the time to publish consistently, it might be better to take the plunge and delegate or outsource the task. There are plenty of writers who would be happy to help you out. Hiring help can free up your time to focus on the other critical aspects of your business.
I hope these content writing tips help demystify and simplify the process of creating effective content that you find easy to publish consistently. By following them, perhaps you can stop overthinking and get your content out there. On the regular.
If you found this blog helpful, check out our other marketing resources, such as this guide on The ROI of Blogging.
