This was originally written for and published by Twenty Over Ten’s Content Assist Blog.
Do you feel like you’re creating content into a void?
Whether you’re recording a podcast, writing a blog post, or sending out a monthly newsletter, it can feel like you’re putting in a lot of effort to create all-star content that’s getting you absolutely nowhere. There’s plenty of research out there that highlights the ability for custom content to skyrocket your business’s success – so what gives? Why is your content falling flat?
Here’s the thing: a lot of people pursue content marketing because it feels like the right thing to do. But content creation for content’s sake isn’t enough. Your content needs to have a strategy behind it that creates momentum in your business and marketing.
What Is Content Momentum?
Creating content can be an exhausting process. Because so much effort goes into writing a comprehensive and informative blog post or recording the perfect video, you might stop the process there. You know that you’ve created some seriously awesome content that your audience is going to love, isn’t that enough?
Nope. This method isn’t going to get you anywhere.
Why is that?
It’s because just creating content isn’t enough to engage your audience. Your audience wants to feel the momentum in your content. They want to be excited for what comes next and continually engaged by what you’re creating. The more you can make your content feel like it’s part of something bigger, the more likely your audience will be to engage with you (and convert into clients!).
So, what does content momentum look like in action?
How Can You Create Momentum With Your Content?
Let’s say you’ve written a blog post about Social Security. It contains all of the information someone might need about when to enroll, how to enroll, how to estimate their monthly benefit – the whole nine yards. Now that you’ve written the post, it’s tempting just to hit “publish” and walk away.
This “if you build it they will come” mentality permeates the content marketing sphere – but it couldn’t be further from the truth! Using the example of our newly-written Social Security blog post, let’s look at a few ways you can use that piece to create momentum with your content marketing.
Give Your Content a Job
Every piece of content you create should have a job. Everything you write, record, or send out into the universe needs to have a clear purpose. How is this new piece of content going to engage and grow your audience? How is it getting new leads to schedule their initial consultation?
Looking at our Social Security example, there are a few ways you could give this piece a job:
- Use the call-to-action in your blog post to promote an upcoming webinar where you’ll give a deep-dive into Social Security for pre-retirees
- Add a clickable banner or pop-up in the blog post that allows readers to sign up for a free Social Security checklist you’ve created
- Leverage the blog post by sending it to a few new prospects who have specifically asked you about Social Security
Build Anticipation
One of my favorite ways to create momentum with content is to build anticipation with each piece. Let’s say that, when you write your blog post about Social Security, you noticed it’s a little bit lengthy. Here’s how you can use that long, informative piece to build anticipation:
- Chop it into 2-4 shorter blog posts that each cover one element of Social Security in-depth
- Add a call-to-action in each post to receive the next post in the series by subscribing to your newsletter
- Send each post in the series to your list, including new subscribers, and encourage them to share
- Promote your series on social media, and encourage people to sign up to get the next installment
- When the series is complete, have an offer ready – a free Social Security ebook, or a live Q&A that your audience can register for about Social Security
With this strategy, you’re taking a one-off blog post and engaging your audience in an ongoing way.
20% Creation, 80% Promotion
Don’t forget that one of the easiest ways to create momentum with your content is to share it out into the world! You’ve spent a lot of time and energy creating this new piece, and having it hide out on your website isn’t going to do you any good.
When I speak with financial planners, a lot of them feel apprehensive about over-sharing their content. Yes, they worked hard on this last Social Security blog post, but they don’t want to bug their audience by sharing it too often.
I’m challenging you to turn this point of view on its head. Think of the consequences if you don’t over-share your rockstar-level content. If a pre-retiree who follows you on Facebook doesn’t read your new Social Security blog post, they might not know you have the answers they need. They might even make a mistake when it comes to enrolling in Social Security, costing them time and money, and causing a lot of stress.
Sharing your content is more than just helping you grow your business. If you don’t share, you’re doing your audience a disservice. Start thinking to yourself:
I have an obligation to share this information as far and wide as I can.
Then, remember the 80/20 rule! Content creation should only take up 20% of your total content marketing energy. The other 80% of your energy should be dedicated to promotion.
Repurpose Content
This idea piggy-backs off of the 80/20 rule that we talked about above. If you’re only spending 20% of your energy creating content, you need to find ways to repurpose that content to create more momentum in your marketing. Looking again at our Social Security blog example, here are a few ways you could repurpose that piece to improve your promotion-game and engage your audience by creating momentum:
- Create an infographic that captures the information in your blog post and share it out on social media
- Record a 2-3 minute video using your blog post as a guide to promote the piece on social media, or in a newsletter
- Post the blog to LinkedIn Publisher or Medium to expand your readership
- Turn the blog post into a webinar presentation
- Grab the high-level points from the post and transform it into a free download to grow your email list
Make Your Content Work For You
By taking the time to add momentum to your content, you’re making your content work for you. 63% of marketers are creating content, but don’t have a content marketing strategy to actually engage and convert their audience. When you focus on creating momentum with your content, you’re able to start building a content marketing strategy that in turn creates momentum within your business.
