Libby Rothschild, CEO of Dietitian Boss. Follow on LinkedIn.
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Content marketing is a long-term strategy. It’s not something you do once or twice. You need to make content marketing a regular habit if you want to see results.
Content marketing includes any form of marketing that involves sharing material online, such as videos, blogs, or social media posts. It is used to increase interest or visibility with a brand to promote products and services. Content marketing, if done right, can grow your brand and take your coaching or private practice to new heights.
To build a content marketing habit, you need to make it part of your routine. Like any other habit, it takes time and effort to develop. The good news is that consistency can reward you with better results and more success.
Here are tips to make content marketing a regular habit:
• Set a time in your calendar on a weekly or biweekly basis. Content marketing should be a habit. If you’re not seeing results from your efforts, it’s probably because you haven’t made it a priority in your life yet. Make it an appointment in your calendar that you shouldn’t miss.
• Focus on one thing at a time instead of doing everything at once. If you’re serious about improving your brand image and developing your voice, practice those skills every day until they become second nature (like brushing your teeth).
• Create an editorial calendar with topics and deadlines for each piece of content so you know when everything needs to be done, which helps keep things organized and on track. I use a project management tool and spreadsheets to manage both my content ideas and the production process.
• Have systems in place (such as email lists, social media accounts, etc.) to help distribute your content so that people who might find it interested see it.
• Choose one platform at a time (eg YouTube). Using too many platforms at once can feel overwhelming. In general, I recommend growing one new platform per year. In my first year in business, I started with Instagram. The following year I started a podcast, then grew a YouTube channel. This process takes time.
Here’s a five-step approach to make content execution faster:
1. Idea formation and organization
Think about what ideas you want to share and plan for posting. Write down goals. You can group themes into so-called content pillars. A content pillar points to topics you typically discuss, such as “recipes,” “workout tips,” and “behind the scenes.”
Grouping your ideas into these pillars will keep you organized and standardize your workflow. It’s easier to plan ahead when you group ideas into content pillars and rotate them accordingly.
2. Spreadsheets and cloud storage
After you’ve created a list of ideas that fit your unique content pillars, you’ll need a place to store your ideas. While you might move on to a fancy tool like a project management system or automation, I’d encourage you to track yourself.
Writing your ideas on a spreadsheet is a great way to organize your thoughts and store themes in the cloud. You can choose from popular cloud storage ideas such as Dropbox, G Suite, or Amazon AWS. After you categorize your pillars and ideas on a spreadsheet, you can refine your best ideas and create a timeline.
3. Project management system
When transitioning to using a project management system, the most effective use cases I’ve seen include full adoption of one tool for your entire process (and team if you have one). Using a project management system like Asana, Trello, or ClickUp can help organize your ideas and assign ownership and due dates.
There are free training resources that share how to use these systems. Without the use of a project management tool, dates and responsibilities are unclear and productivity and predictability are limited.
4. Evaluate your progress
While this step is helpful throughout the process, evaluate your acceptance of your project management system. Ask yourself what works and what needs adjustment to achieve your goals.
You may have set a goal that was unrealistic regarding posting frequency, or you may find that you need more time to complete a content-related workflow. For example, if you post to YouTube, you may learn to post less often until you have a better process for editing documents.
5. Track and analyze
No plan is effective in digital marketing without tracking and analytics. On every platform (Instagram, YouTube, etc.) there are options to track analytics. Reviewing the best performing work and repeating that content ultimately saves you time and energy. If you’re new to posting and you’re not sure what performs best, you may need to invest more time and become more consistent before you can analyze your work.
While not exhaustive, this list is a great place to start. If you feel overwhelmed, start with smaller goals and post less often until you build better habits and feel more confident.
By following this step-by-step plan, you can gain visibility and make content creation a quick and seamless process. If you skip a step, you might get frustrated and wonder why your content isn’t working when really your process just needs a makeover and consistency.
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