But What Should Our Content Be About?!

This article comes from the blog archive – figures and examples reflect the year it was published.

This is one of the first questions I hear in meetings with new clients – and with existing ones too. I’ll admit, it isn’t easy. Especially when you consider that content marketing is the equivalent of a marathon, and that what lies ahead of you is not one, not two... not ten articles, social media posts, newsletters or videos. It’s a long-distance run before the public notices that you do something more than PPC advertising.

Every content marketing handbook will tell you that the road to success is regularity and creating content over the LONG term. But putting together a publishing plan for anything longer than a few weeks takes a fairly strong dose of inspiration and creativity. Even seasoned authors quite often “write themselves dry”, so to speak – one day the block arrives, and the idea for the next piece simply refuses to turn up.

The Basic Rule of Success

It’s fairly simple, yet many companies forget it – don’t talk (only) about yourself. Forget for a moment that you sell soap or coffee machines, that you bake homemade cakes or run a guesthouse. Remember that people want clean hands, a good natter with their girlfriends, to save time when preparing a party, or to enjoy a wonderful holiday.

Content marketing is like a first date. If you only talk about yourself, there won’t be a second one

Try for a moment to push what you do into the background and focus on why – why your business matters to people, what benefit it brings them, what needs it fulfils. In the answers to these questions you’ll find the first topics your content will cover.

Where to Look for Inspiration

There’s no need to travel to Prague via Tokyo. That route will get you there too, but it’s needlessly long and expensive. Before you invest in a big market survey, have a look around “at home”. Ask the people on the front line – your employees who talk to customers. They are an almost inexhaustible well of ideas and questions you can address in your content. They are the ones who know what bothers and interests your customers. And before you set off to seek help on Google, take a look around your own neighbourhood as well. Events in your region and local happenings that are somehow connected to your business are another great opportunity to get your own oar in as part of your content marketing.

How to Work with Ideas

Have a system. Don’t rely on a brilliant thought staying in your head until the moment you get round to carrying it out. Have a system – any system. Find one that suits you. Personally, I’m a bit old-school about this. For spontaneous ideas I have my paper scatterbrain’s notebook. And if it juuuust so happens not to be at hand, I use one of the note-taking apps on my phone. It’s a little different when I need to create something on purpose. In that case, out come a glass of good red 😊 and a mind-mapping app.

A Few Examples to Speak for Them All

The good old saying goes that it is better to see something once than to hear about it a hundred times. So here are just a handful of examples from practice of what else you can create content about, if ...

You make cosmetics	You run a restaurant
Individual herbs and their effect on the human body What blooms and ripens when How to make soap at home How to use cosmetics properly What skin types there are and what care they need How to care for your skin at different times (of life, or of the year) How well-known personalities look after their skin Ecology, the plastics problem and recycling	Seasonal foods and how to use them in the kitchen A recipe / tip from the head chef Local food producers / suppliers How food affects our health Spices in the kitchen and where they come from How to tell what is good and what isn’t How to pair food and drinks What to have with beer / wine
You build houses	You do HR consulting
Trends in building materials Energy efficiency Trends in the architecture of family homes Buy a turnkey house, or go for your own project The most common mistakes when building family homes Insuring / financing the build	Mistakes at job interviews How to succeed when looking for a job How to find the ideal employee Trends in the labour market Employing foreigners – risks and benefits Body language, facial expressions How to dress / groom yourself

We could carry on like this for much, much longer. But it’s better to try it out for yourself. So give your imagination free rein and get stuck in. Or simply drop me a line 😊