by Tony Vidler 
Content Creation appears to be the Number 1 barrier for professionals wanting to use digital marketing tactics. Inevitably I seem to hear
“……Yeah, I think social media would be useful….but I have nothing to write about and nothing to say….“
Creating content is an issue. Just as big an issue seems to be understanding that actually you may not have to create anywhere near as much content as you imagine you do.
There are several strategies you can use, either in isolation or tandem, for your content sharing on digital channels.
You can:
1. Create you own content
2. Curate others content
3. Aggregate content
4. Distill others content
Which method, or combination of methods, is best for you depends on the time you have available for content creation, the budget and support levels you are able to allocate to it, and your strategic objective in terms of personal positioning.
For instance, if you wish to establish a reputation as an authority in a certain area, then creation of original content is a significant element in establishing your expertise and credibility. If you are aiming to achieve a place in your target markets minds as being a trusted source of valuable information that is relevant to them, then content curation can be just as effective.
Creation is simply arranging and delivering your own thinking and ideas. The variety of content methods are enormous, including written articles (whitepapers, blogs, expert commentary in groups and forums, media releases or articles you feature in), info graphs (your presentations shared to Slideshare, visual aids and charts, graphics designed to convey thoughts, statistics or concepts in an instant), video’s, podcasts, webinars and so on…
This is an area that many financial advisers struggle with….yet….every day in client engagements we create content. Clients ask questions, or highlight an area of confusion that requires more information, or we find ourselves expressing a complex thought in a new and easy to comprehend method during a conversation….THAT is content worth sharing with others!
Any of the areas where we find ourselves having to explain or provide comprehension or context to clients is potentially content for other potential customers. What is of relevance or interest to your existing customers is highly likely to be of relevance and interest to future potential customers.
Curation is essentially sharing other people’s content. If others are producing really useful and relevant content that your target market will enjoy, then it is worth sharing with your target market. Good information is good information….whether you thought it up or not.
Aggregation is gathering good content and compiling it into an easy to find, or easy to read digest. That can be a combination of content you produce, and content from others, but it is presented in a composite format, which is in itself new content.
Distillation is picking out the highlights from others content, and then presenting that in a digest form, or as the base for further commentary by yourself.
Each of these methods have merit and purpose, and it is worth considering using a blend of techniques to deliver a consistent stream of relevant and useful content. Some methods of content creation are harder than others, requiring either more time, or effort & creativity, or financial resources. A fabulous depiction of the degree of difficulty, or effort, required for the different types of content is shown below:
Creating content is not as difficult as most believe it to be….in fact you don’t even have to create it at all (or at least, not all of it).
Cracking the content creation conundrum for professionals is a simple as understanding your choices to begin with; choosing a strategy which will achieve your objective; and being mindful that you are probably already producing content worth sharing in virtually every client engagement.
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