In the early days of every startup a common problem that an entrepreneur faces is to generate content for the social media accounts, website blogs etc.; manage these accounts make regular and quality posts.
Let's learn how to generate content for a blog or social media posts, how to utilize freely available resources, how to create strategies that provide a continuous stream of content.
1. Be Your Own Digital
Content Marketer
ARUNIMA SHEKHAR
2. “Content marketing is the only marketing left.”
- Seth Godin
WHY?
3.17 billion users on the Internet
Spend an avg. 8 hours a week reading and sharing content
49% of time on mobile is spent consuming content
That’s ~3.6 billion hours worth of content consumed daily!
5. Strategize – How?
Step 1 - Get Answers To 2 Questions
Where does your target audience reside online?
Social Media
Social Networks
Search Engines
Long-format Content Sites
Where does your target audience reside in the physical world? - Demographic Data
Age Group
Gender
Geographic Location
6. Strategize – How? (Contd.)
Step 2 – Shortlist maximum 4 channels based on your answers in
Step 1
Short Format
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• LinkedIn
• Reddit
Long Format
• Flipboard
• Newsvine
• Quora
• Medium
• Digg
Media
• Flickr
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Pixabay
• Vimeo
• Youtube
• Vine
• Dailymotion
Search
• Optimize
Page
Content
10. Develop – How?
Text/Copy
• Include at least 2 keywords
from keyword list created
• Supplement words with an
image
• Short Copy – Facebook,
Twitter, Google+
• Long Format – Blog,
LinkedIn, Medium
• Images – Creative
Commons, Pexels, etc.
Image
• Message/Self-
explanatory
• Illustration
• Pictures
• Infographic
GIF/Video
• Convey a
story
• Animated
• Virtual Reality
• Motion
Picture
11. Developing Content – Text/Copy
The Lede – The opening paragraph of an article (publishing term)
Who | What | Where | When | Why | How
Short Copy Content – Tips
First Line
Not exceeding 10 words
DO NOT STUFF KEYWORDS
A Catchy image to go with it
Know the color palette and the emotion you want to invoke.
E.g.: Yellow/Orange in the image catch the eye faster, Purple/Red are good for festive seasons, avoid using grey
monotones
Sample >>
12. Developing Content – Text/Copy (Contd.)
More Tips
Convey ONE thing
“Checkout the latest sale at BrandZero on fresh arrivals. Great cashbacks and discounts on
purchases above Rs. 1000. Share with friends and avail a further 10% off!”
“SALE on fresh arrivals at BrandZero! Click here to check it out right now!”
Be Explicit - State the action you want reader to perform.
Pl RT, Share with friends, Like the post, CTA, etc.
Tools
Text – Google Webmaster Tools, Grammarly, Headline Analyzer
Raw Images – Creative Commons, Pixabay, Pexels
Processed Images - Canva, PlaceIt
13. Developing Content – Text/Copy (Contd.)
Long Format Content
Title
Not exceeding 12 words
Use at max 3 keywords
The first paragraph of the article must contain the keywords
Tips
Adding numbers to the Title gives it better ranking.
E.g. Where Is The US$48 Billion Indian Food Tech Industry Headed
Quote trusted sources
Format content for readability – Starting paragraph should be maximum 100 words. Use lists as far
as possible
Use h3/h4 tags for in-article headings
Always add descriptions to images within the blog
15. Activity
You’re an e-commerce portal owner and you just added the following item to your inventory.
Write a Facebook post and a Twitter post to notify your customers about this addition.
16. Developing Content – Images/Infographics
Tips for Creating Images for Social Media
Image should complement the copy – Use high quality images, pay if you have to! Sample>>
Even quotes are more shareable when accompanied by an image
Tools – Canva, Imgflip, Piktochart, Pixlr to get the correct image sizes for different channels.
Tips for Creating Infographics
Use Infographics to convey - Processes, Comparisons, How-To’s, Data & Research
ALWAYS Quote the source of your data
Tools that offer readymade infographic templates
Hubspot
Visual.ly
Easel.ly
Canva
ThingLink
18. Developing Content - Video
90% of Consumers preferred video content to know and
understand products.
Tips
The ideal video length to go on
Social Media – 1 to 1.5 minutes
Blog/Vlog – Maximum 20 minutes
Company Culture videos – Maximum 5 minutes
How-To/ About Product Videos – Maximum 10 minutes
21. Publishing
Where?
Blog – WordPress, Blogger
Social Media
Publishing Websites - Medium
Content Curation Websites
Tips
Publish during peak traffic hour – Get maximum eyeballs
Use a publishing tool to schedule posts in advance
Use hashtags to maximize discovery, especially with trending topics – Maximizes discovery
on content curation sites as well
Tag people, groups and places
22. Publishing (Contd.)
Tools – Social Media
Hootsuite – Free + Premium
Buffer – Free
Tools – Blog
Free Wordpress
Hosted on Wordpress.com
Wordpress analytics
Limited customization options
Hosted Wordpress – Wordpress.org
Self-hosted
Analytics integration – Google Analytics
Tips
Optimize images for size and add a description
Use tags and categories effectively (for SEO)
Use SEO plugin such as Yoast
24. Promote
Organic
Use Keywords and hashtags for discovery
Cross-promotion and tagging on Social Media
Submit your content to Blog Directories and Content Aggregation Websites
Tap into Influencer outreach
Paid
Paid Marketing on Social Media – Facebook
Boost Post on Facebook for potential viral posts. Make sure to add a relevant and stunning visual to complement your campaign.
Promote Page to get more likes – Again be very careful about the visuals you are using. Don’t stuff keywords into the 100
characters available
Promote Website Link
Affiliates
Promote on Content Affiliate Sites – Outbrain / Shareaholic / Inbound
AdWords / AdSense
26. Analyze
Social Media analytics - Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
Google Analytics integrated on your site/blog
Web Analytics Tools – Moz, Alexa, SemRush
WordPress Analytics/Jetpack
“Data! Data! Data!” he cried impatiently. “I can’t make bricks without clay!”
– Sherlock Holmes