Let’s talk for a minute about content.

Content is many different things to many different people. But to put it plainly, content is information that is being shared. And when we talk about your budding business, content is king. You want to be creating and sharing interesting information about your business to show potential clients why they should be working with you and that you know what you’re talking about.

When used effectively, content gets your message out into the world, helps you gain clients, and can be one of the main factors in helping to build and grow your reputation and your business.

We live in the era of the Internet, which is a pretty amazing thing! Incredible content exists on blogs, in e-books, in podcasts, in YouTube videos and webinars… you name it! You have to start somewhere and any of these outlets are a great place to start.

Some other outlets to disperse great content to your audience are:

• E-books
• Infographics
• Blogs
• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Workshops or live trainings
• Videos
• Articles
• Blog posts
• Social media posts
• Quizzes
• Newsletters
• Whitepapers
• Case studies
• Checklists
• Guides
• Quotes/Memes
• Interviews
• Personal Stories
• Book Reviews

What You Really Need To Know To Create Engaging Content

WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING?

According to the Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

In a nutshell, content marketing is sharing information that helps people understand and solve a problem. So before you get started, you need to ask yourself a few important questions.

1. Who is your audience? These are the people that will benefit most from the information you have to share.
2. What information will you share? This is the actual content you will share in an effort to help your audience solve a problem.
3. What are the results your audience will receive by consuming your content? These are the things your audience will be able to do because of the content you’ve provided. It’s the solution they are looking for.

HOW TO CREATE GREAT CONTENT THAT WILL ATTRACT AND GROW YOUR AUDIENCE

Content comes in many forms. When you are just getting started, or if you have already started but don’t have a lot of followers or a lot of content, pick just one format for distributing content and start there. It doesn’t help to overcomplicate things and spread yourself too thin. Start with something simple like blog articles, videos, a podcast, or even case studies.

The two things you should ask yourself before deciding what platform to use for your content are:

1. What do I enjoy doing? (And what am I good at?)
2. What format does my audience prefer?

Answer these honestly, and they will help to steer you in the right direction!

MAKING SURE YOUR CONTENT STANDS OUT

In order to ensure your content stands out, you’ll want to make sure it’s more informative and in-depth than the other stuff out there. Realistically speaking, at any moment, we have tens of thousands of options when it comes to looking for information. So, if you’re going to write an article, make sure you ask yourself what sets it apart from the rest of them.

Is it more soundly researched than other articles? Does it contain new and interesting information? Do you talk about more than one topic? For example, don’t just talk about magnesium. Talk about the food sources of magnesium, what the daily recommended intake is, different forms of supplements, recipes to incorporate foods high in magnesium, and more!

Did you add something to make your content appealing to the eyes? Adding images, video and other media is very engaging!

And finally, did you offer something else to your audience like a guide, or another tool to help them implement the information you just shared?

All in all, what makes your content great is that it’s credible and that it captivates and educates the reader! Make sure you do your research, entertain, and inform with your content, and give your audience practical and actionable takeaways that they can implement in their daily lives.

Now get out there and start creating and sharing your message with the world!