9 Essentials for Creating Killer Content

The best kind of content will have your readers and viewers wanting more, keeping your brand at front of mind throughout the funnel. Here are 9 must-have elements to help you achieve that.

1. Create content across the spectrum of all your campaigns

As well as maintaining high standards of quality and tapping into new trends and ideas, it’s also essential to deliver content across the entire spectrum of each campaign. One problem that occurs with content is that focus is often on the more exciting areas. This can lead to the less appealing or difficult content pieces getting ignored or placed on the back burner.

With multi and omnichannel becoming common expectations of many B2B customers – just as we’ve seen in the retail world – having a joined-up approach is vital. Make sure your content is perfected across the spectrum to maintain consistent brand messaging.

2. Map out a content plan (every touchpoint)

Another basic element missed by businesses is the way that content is planned and delivered. Often, it ends up being an ad hoc task with little consideration for the bigger picture. This is due to many organizations being time-poor, resulting in a very reactive approach to content development. While being responsive to industry movements and customer demands is absolutely necessary, a content calendar can help you stay organized and assist with prioritization.

To map out a content plan, think about the buying process of every customer type and build this into a matrix of touchpoints. List all your distribution channels – including social media, blogs, email, lead nurturing, direct sales – and design a content environment that your audience can navigate towards your end goal.

3. Make sure you use multiple formats

When creating your content plan, be sure to include multiple formats. There are so many to consider, from the long list of written formats to visuals like infographics or informative videos. To choose the right ones, consider your buyer personas and ask:

• How do they access their information online?
• On what platforms do they like to interact with suppliers?
• How much time have they got? Are they time-poor or do they want in-depth whitepapers?

Many customers will need multiple touchpoints before committing to a decision, so interacting with customers in different ways and through different platforms is key.

4. Balance short-lived vs. evergreen content

Evergreen content delivers on longevity but that doesn’t mean short-term content is bad. Compared to evergreen content which maintains relevance long after publication, seasonal content loses its significance quickly. However, short-term content such as tweets, Instagram stories or newsletters are a great way of getting messages out at speed. A mix of both is necessary in order to achieve the right balance of relevance, newness and meaningfulness.

5. Stay on top of the latest trends

It’s often the most time-poor companies that struggle with keeping up-to-date with trends. The problem with this is that marketing guidelines are often outdated. As social platforms and search engines update their algorithms, and technology such as AI and automation continue to grow, it’s more important than ever for businesses to gain knowledge and insight.

Partnering with an external agency can be one way to do this if you don’t have the in-house resource. Specialist marketing agencies make it their priority to stay in the know, allowing brands to focus on other important matters.

6. Repurpose content for broad personalization

Personalization allows businesses to tailor the experience and draw attention to the most relevant content for each visitor. This is extremely valuable in industries where you need to cut through the noise.

49% of marketers use personalization technologies to support ABM and there are many ways to personalize, including broad personalization methods where you can repurpose content pieces for smaller groups or sub-segments. When it comes to content ideas, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that something has already been done – the greatest articles can be reformatted or edited for a different channel. As long as it’s done right, and to a high quality, repurposing helps you get more value out of your content.

7. Create data-driven campaigns

According to HubSpot, personalized call-to-actions perform 202% better than standard ones – and it’s the data part that makes our campaigns feel more human.

Data can also help us understand buyer intent in the world of B2B. This is essential in nurturing the funnel and having a clear direction for content and interactions. Intent data tells us what a buyer is interested in and what they are most likely to commit to. For many companies, this is invaluable information to turn leads into conversions.   

8. Outsource your content where needed

Budget constraints may drive businesses to keep all content in-house, adding a bigger workload onto their marketing team. However, this can be counterproductive if quality is compromised. Outsourcing is the easiest and most cost-effective way to tap into creative talent – helping you improve your return in the long-run.

9. Understand quality vs. quantity

Finally, something that most organizations forget is the need for quality in content development. It’s often better to spend more time on a quality content piece that can drum up excitement for your product/service than to create several pieces that don’t achieve any results. At the same time, businesses shouldn’t forget the need for balance.

Just like short-term and evergreen content, a mix of both quality and quantity is ideal. Remember that quantity can be beneficial too – every page published on a website is another opportunity to appear on search engine results. Over time, this can greatly improve your website traffic, helping you increase reach and awareness.

Just make sure that content quality doesn’t go out the window when you’re producing content at high volumes. If you can strike the right equilibrium of quality and quantity (while always applying high standards to your work), you’re on the right path to success.

Further reading:

• The Modern Marketer’s Playbook
• The Importance of Visuals in An Effective Content Marketing Strategy
• Why Marketers Should Embrace AI as an Opportunity to Shape the Future of Content