The creation of content is not nearly as simple as it looks. Another thing that very much changed with the emersion of modern marketing is that you constantly have to come up with something new. The Internet doesn’t approve of the television way of advertising where you can see an ad on TV and learn it by heart because you’ve seen it dozens of time. On the Internet, that’s called a re-post, and it’s considered a sort of infringement in the online world.

That’s why it’s crucial to invest a lot of time and effort in coming up with content and on its creation. Implementing a Harry Potter-inspired vocabulary, it’s important to be aware that content marketing is no magic wand giving instant results. It’s closer to that Grand Staircase that’s constantly changing, meaning that content marketing demands time and effort for its potential to be fully and rightly exploited. The strategy for content creation consists of several important steps as follows:

Defining the target audience

Who are designated products or services intended for? Who is the content created for? The more details you have about your targeted audience, the easier the content creation for them will be. And it will also be more attractive and concrete for them.

Selecting the topic

If you’re creating content such as a blog, you can write about whatever you want to. Because, well, the author has that privilege. But, does that really make any sense? Is that really so if you have goals to achieve? You have to take time and think about the potential subjects, constantly having the target audience on your mind. You also have to create a calendar and write down the topics you’re about to work on in the following period. It’s a good idea to use Google Keyword Planner for the selection of the right topics. By using that tool, Google proposes a few related topics for a term you punch in.

Writing the content

Each time, writing is a new challenge. You can make your life easier by spending 1/3 of your time planning, thinking about topics, searching literature and sources. After you’ve done that, all you have to do is summarize everything into a whole. Writing should be simple, understandable and interesting while not forgetting to use the facts along the way. It’s important to create a remarkable content, the one that will gladly be shared on social media. The amount of words is secondary. The message you successfully transfer with those words is the most important. The writing, by itself, is not easy. That’s why it’s a good piece of advice to write the first version and allow yourself some mistakes. Go through your text a couple of times and correct the obvious mistakes. After a few readings and changes, you’ll reach the final version of your text. If you’re not sure, share it with your colleagues and friends. They might see some things you probably haven’t. Or hire a B2B copywriter.

Distributing the content

When you’re finally satisfied with the things you’ve written, it’s important that the targeted audience see it. Share it on social media, through the newsletter and other promotional channels. Don’t forget to answer all the inquiries about your content. Always be open to all questions and comments, even the negative ones

7 Types of Web Content You Need

• Blogs

Blogs are the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about content marketing. In this day and age, it is extremely important to inform your customers and clients about your products and services. Every customer that visits your blog will have the opportunity to inform himself about your expertise and thus you will really be able to convince them that you’re really a ‘master craftsman.’

Blog posts are usually the foundation upon which many B2B organizations build their content strategy — they’re relatively easy to produce and publish, and yield excellent SEO benefits. Plus, organizations who blog are 13 times more likely to enjoy positive ROI. A company’s “blog” is often the center of their content strategy, and it’s usually managed through a CMS.

• Infographics

One of the best examples of visual content is infographics. Just as its name says, infographics are graphic pieces of content containing the different information shown with the help of pictograms, graphics, and other similar auxiliary graphic materials. The advantage of an infographic is that it is much more interesting and easier to read as opposed to plain text. Also, the users like to share this kind of content.

• eBooks

Ebook ( electronic book) is a shape of content marketing written by a B2B copywriter which is an excellent choice if you need to transfer a more complex message or content but still in readable and simple form.

78% of marketers produce white papers for lead generation, which makes sense considering that 83% of B2B buyers use white papers to inform a purchase decision. PDFs are usually the preferred content format for white papers, eBooks, and similar long-form content. They often exist separately from an organization’s main blog or resource center, and are usually accessible via a landing page.

• Case studies

A case study is a useful form of content marketing which gives you an opportunity to show your knowledge and the value of your service or product. Through a case study, you’re showing a specific problem you or your company handled for a certain client. That way, you’re building the image of an expert in a certain area in the eyes of everyone who are reading your case study.

• Videos

Videos can take on a number of roles at B2B organizations, providing tutorials, product information, or webinar recordings, for instance. Video is a huge opportunity for content marketers — online video accounts for 50% of all mobile traffic, and 75% of business executives watch work-related videos at least weekly. Although videos can usually be embedded in blog posts, they often live on a separate public channel, such as YouTube or Vimeo, or a private video hosting channel like Wistia or Vidyard.

The video is a great way to offer your users an in-depth view of the new product, service, offer or to simply represent yourself, your team or the things you do. When you’re creating a video, it doesn’t mean you have to make a 120 minute-long movie.

Let’s quickly establish the basics — providing a diverse content mix is important because it makes your key messaging more accessible and allows organizations to build a more relevant engagement path.

Simply having a diverse mix of content isn’t enough, however. Your organization needs to be able to strategically manage this mix in order to yield results from your content. Consider this: the average blog post costs $900 to produce, and premium content assets cost even more. Mismanagement of your organization’s content won’t just cost you in traffic or results — it will cost you financially, too.

To the seasoned content marketer or B2B copywriter, the types of content listed on the next few sections aren’t anything new; however, in order to learn how to effectively manage your content assets, it’s important to consider the opportunities and challenges presented by each type of content, as well as the channels on which they live.

• Interactive content

Interactive content is all the rage these days, and rightfully so — the average quiz is shared 1,900 times. Beyond quizzes, interactive content can include polls, surveys, interactive infographics, calculators, contests, and even interactive videos. Interactive content is usually embeddable within a blog post.

• Landing pages

When it comes to lead generation, landing pages are usually the way to go since they allow for one page to be optimized for one goal; however, getting landing pages built and tested is one of the top five challenges faced by B2B marketers. Otherwise, the lead generation flow using landing pages can be convoluted since you’re forced to remove the end-user from your content experience.