{"id":1545,"date":"2017-06-27T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T15:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commarts.pleather.us\/2017\/06\/27\/less-but-better-4-practical-ways-to-create-enough-engaging-content\/"},"modified":"2017-06-27T15:13:00","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T15:13:00","slug":"less-but-better-4-practical-ways-to-create-enough-engaging-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/2017\/06\/27\/less-but-better-4-practical-ways-to-create-enough-engaging-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Less, But Better: 4 Practical Ways To Create Enough Engaging Content"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on\u00a0Marketo<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBrands need to be pushing out new content all the time.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what marketers have been hearing for the past few years\u2014and many of us have bought into this thinking.<\/p>\n

In response to this, and to fill the need of an \u201calways on\u201d content operation, there\u2019s been a push for content teams to function as publishers<\/a>.\u00a0That push for more content is so intense that some brands are using the 24-hour newsroom approach to create more and more content in an attempt to be relevant.<\/p>\n

This is understandable, but it\u2019s not always the most efficient approach. Maintaining high-quality production without a break is hard. And, if the quality of your content starts slipping to the point where it\u2019s not engaging, it\u2019s not worth it. Weaker content brings down the quality of your overall content efforts.\u00a0According to a 2016 Content Marketing Institute report<\/a>, 60% of marketers say \u201ccreating enough engaging content\u201d is their biggest challenge.<\/p>\n

More Content Is Not the Answer<\/b><\/h3>\n

It seems, for some, that \u201ccreating enough engaging content\u201d has been wrongly interpreted as \u201ccreating tons of content.\u201d\u00a0This is the core problem: many marketers are overly focused on the word \u201cenough.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>Instead, marketers should put a greater emphasis on the word \u201cengaging.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

Good content means creating better and more engaging <\/i>content.\u00a0Simply put: Quality > Quantity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are four ways to focus on creating engaging content and not just pumping out content to fill your editorial calendar:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Put More of Your Eggs in Fewer Baskets<\/b><\/h3>\n

This may sound counter-intuitive, but I\u2019ve learned over the years that putting more of your eggs in fewer baskets often makes the most sense\u2014at least for our team. Why is that, you may ask?<\/p>\n

Well, say you had a plan to produce and buy media for 12 three-minute videos over the course of the year. That\u2019s a lot of videos, and it will be hard to maintain momentum and quality. And this route may not make the most sense.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Instead, consider doing four videos throughout the year\u2014and making each one the best possible video you can produce. Better yet, make each one you put out better than the one before. And then, after the release of each video, make sure that it makes sense to keep producing videos. If it does, then keep making them, and keep making them better. If it doesn\u2019t, then consider stopping or reducing the volume of work you\u2019re planning. Most brands have limited time and resources, and it\u2019s better to allocate these things where they make the most sense.<\/p>\n

Also, consider this: people will remember one beautiful video that you spent a lot of time fine-tuning and perfecting. People won\u2019t remember a bunch of video pieces you rushed through production because the editorial calendar<\/a> ruled supreme, and if they do remember them, it\u2019ll likely be for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n

If, however, producing a lot of video content is a non-negotiable priority for your marketing team, consider the idea of scaling up gradually over time. It\u2019s smarter to increase your investment gradually, and to develop momentum over time, than it is to come out of the gates at a pace that\u2019s difficult to sustain.<\/p>\n

Content marketing is a marathon not a sprint. And, there\u2019s no finish line. That can sound daunting, but I personally prefer to be realistic so that I can plan accordingly.<\/p>\n

2. Constantly Sanity Check Why You\u2019re Creating the Content You Planned<\/b><\/h3>\n

Are you creating content because you have reason to believe that it will work (based on previous successes)? Or are you creating something simply because you decided to do so months ago?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Content strategy is iterative (everyone\u2019s figuring it out as they go), and you need to make sure that you are always making room for changes in plans that are based on what\u2019s working and not working.<\/p>\n

How do you determine whether your content is working? You measure it, regularly. One of the ways that we sanity check\u00a0our content plan is to talk about it, a lot. We have bi-weekly brainstorms to come up with new ideas and kill ideas that we don\u2019t love (if we can\u2019t make them better). Search plays a big role in our marketing efforts, so we do a comprehensive KPI check-in on a monthly basis. This enables us, on a rolling basis, to determine what type of content works and what doesn\u2019t. This intel then shapes our brainstorming sessions and helps us to determine what to create in the future.<\/p>\n

Then, at the end of each quarter, we do a debrief and we discuss a) what worked, b) what didn\u2019t work, and c) what could work if we did things better\/differently. This helps us ensure that we\u2019re not spinning our wheels and just creating content because it sounded like a good idea months ago and we have the people and time to do it.<\/p>\n

3. Slow Down and Iterate Until You Get Things \u201cJust Right\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a saying that I love: \u201cDoing something right is better than doing something fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Obviously, you don\u2019t want to procrastinate so much that you never actually get anything done. On the contrary, the first draft or version of most things usually needs to be polished. Also, doing things right tends to take more time than you initially thought\u2026 this is just the nature of the beast; so, whenever possible, set more conservative timelines for the work that your team produces.<\/p>\n

In an ideal scenario, this means giving yourself the time and space to create something great every<\/i> time you set out to create a piece of content. Not doing this is counter-productive. Why kill yourself to hit a deadline, if what you ultimately put out is not something you\u2019re proud of? You\u2019re going to hate it, and it\u2019ll dilute your brand.<\/p>\n

While this can be difficult when you are on a limited timeline, it gets easier when you really pursue a quality over quantity approach with your content, whereby you\u2019ve got more of your eggs in one basket, and you are constantly sanity checking what you\u2019re working on.<\/p>\n

4. Do You; Don\u2019t Focus on the Competition<\/b><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s good to be aware of what your competitors are doing, but you can\u2019t let your marketing efforts devolve into a competition with other brands.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

IMO, the best brands are the ones that know who they are, what they stand for, and stay true to this. Conversely, weaker brands follow the crowd, constantly looking for the next novel thing to tinker around with.<\/p>\n

While it can sometimes be difficult, and it always takes a lot of dedication, you need to do what is right for you and your audience. They are ultimately the most important consideration when it comes to what you\u2019re doing with your content efforts. Also, it\u2019s important that you stay true to your brand because, chances are, people (read: customers) were drawn into it and don\u2019t want it to change.<\/p>\n

The best way to know if what you\u2019re doing is working for the people you\u2019re trying to reach? Ask them. Conduct\u00a0surveys. Email your customers. Take them out to dinner. Whatever feedback mechanism works best for your business, do that.<\/p>\n

Focus on the Right Thing<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you remember one thing from this post, I hope that it\u2019s that people don\u2019t care about how often you post, they care about what you post; they crave content that is useful, relevant, and valuable. Keeping this in mind is key to developing a content approach that prioritizes quality over quantity.<\/p>\n

Source: Visual News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on\u00a0Marketo. \u201cBrands need to be pushing out new content all the time.\u201d That\u2019s what marketers have been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":1546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-1545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-careering"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/107\/2017\/06\/puppies.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paqOTj-oV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}