As an online service provider, I want to constantly be making my content strategy better.

I believe in the power of my content to connect with and help other business owners navigate this online space.

So I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve and I’m going to tell you what I learned in just a second. First I want to tell you about how I began my journey with content strategy.

At the beginning of developing my content strategy, I was just throwing all kinds of ideas out there looking at whatever everyone else was posting and putting my own spin on the same idea.

I think this is how a lot of people get started because unless you go to school for online business (not even sure you can) you mostly learn by observation and practice.

Let me stop you, yes there are some specific principles that apply to all business but the implementation can be different and online seems to be a whole different beast because you can connect rather than shout at your people like in traditional marketing.

Anyway, I was writing on all of these topics that were interesting to me and trying to tie them back to my overall business idea and services. But it just felt like I wasn’t getting any traction.

I was posting a LOT, like 3 times a week. But I wasn’t really getting anything for it. Just frustrated and burnt out.

That’s when I started developing my content strategy and learning how I could take my topics and break them down to support my main focus. Which made writing way easier.

Through this process, I started reviewing my analytics and trying to understand what worked on my website and what didn’t.

Sure there is still the occasional post that I write outside of my strategy because I deeply believe that it needs to be said but I always look at my numbers because it is really the missing link between determining how your topic is in alignment with what your audience is looking for.

You could be putting out killer content but unless your audience cares about it they aren’t going to stick around. You’ll have some die-hard fans that are going to read everything you put out but cognitively people are only interested in reading what is important to them right then.

Now onto what I learned about strengthening my content strategy through my analytics and how you can apply the same principles to your content strategy.

Review

Always start with a review of what is going on. But look for what content is popular.

These articles that get lots of hits or get hits consistently are great posts to look at for creating more content.

What do I mean?

These popular articles are telling you exactly what your audience is interested in and you can incorporate more content surrounding those topics into your strategy.

Maybe they are supporting articles that talk about topics in parallel and you tie them together, or maybe you are writing content that drills down even deeper into the topic and could be thought of as an advanced post to that previous one.

The beauty of building on your popular content is that you know it’s already getting traffic and you can link to the other content you create to help people click around on your site. Thus staying longer and building the relationship with your content.

Compare Content Types

Not all content is created equal and this is true of the way you are presenting your content to your audience.

Do you only do written content? Long form blog posts? Short blog posts? Videos? Graphics? Podcasts?

The list of content types goes on and on. You’ll want to create one set of content in different types and test out what your audience prefers.

Maybe your audience really loves the written transcript that goes along with your podcast content.

Maybe your video content performs really well.

By either reviewing what content you’ve already got out there or testing out some new content and running an experiment you’ll get to find what content you like to create and what your audience loves to consume.

The best way to find out what content types your audience prefers is to review the analytics and see what content is popular and then reviewing what type of content is at that URL on your site.

Traffic Drivers

Another cool think your analytics can tell you to create a better content strategy is to review where your visitors are coming from. By finding your best traffic drivers you can focus on marketing your content in those locations and letting go of underperforming strategies.

Why is this important to your content strategy?

Besides giving you the freedom to say no to posting on social media platforms that aren’t working for you…you could develop better strategies for these underperforming platforms.

Test out different ideas for driving traffic from them or give them up altogether and focus on the places that are performing well for you.

Metrics & Goals

Use your analytics to Identify what metrics and goals you want to achieve. Not every goal is supported by the same strategies with your content plan. So having a clear idea and plan for what you want to work on and then breaking it down into the steps you have to take to make it happen.

This way you aren’t wasting your precious time on strategies that aren’t in alignment with your goals.

It’s easy to get this way. You hear of this next big strategy you need to try and so you throw yourself into it. And that is totally fine but it could be even more powerful for you when you know what you are aiming for. And then you can make the decision if this strategy is right for you to try now or try later when you are reviewing your strategies and trying new things.

This knowledge gives you real power to take control of your content strategy and not get sidetracked by this new shiny strategy or that.

In conclusion…

Make your plan and implement it, then review your analytics and see how you are doing.

It’s a constant process that your content strategy will evolve through. Sometimes what is working now may not work later because of timing and what your audience is looking for right now.

The biggest thing to remember in my opinion is it is a moving target. You are going to have to keep circling back around and trying out new things, tweaking your plan and reviewing again.

So don’t give up. You’ll get more efficient at the process as you get familiar with it. And your content strategy will improve as you focus in on what is working and how to amplify that.

Now it’s your turn!

What questions do you have about using your analytics to develop your content strategy? Let me know in the comments!

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Can we get real here for a second….

One you don’t want to spend all day every day making content even IF you had the time to do it.

Two if you are spending a huge amount of time trying to keep up with constantly creating content you aren’t necessarily growing your business even if you do get crazy visible. This is because you are filling your time trying to get more visible when you could be filling your time working with clients or making sales!

But what are you supposed to do?

You need to create content to get visible and connect with ideal clients…you need to create content that converts…you need to create content to stay valuable to your community….

That is a LOT of content.

So today I’m going to share with you some things that I do to create content consistently without going crazy.

These work no matter how many channels you are trying to fill so don’t think these tips couldn’t work for you if you are only trying to fill up your blog feed.

Just keep in mind that as your content strategy grows and evolves these content creation hacks can stick with you and help you reduce the content creation load!

Repurpose content

If you aren’t repurposing your content you are missing a huge opportunity to cut down on the amount of time it takes to fill your content calendar.

I’ve got a full post on repurposing here.

But for the purpose of this post, you’ll want to know a few quick things.

Just because you posted a piece of content doesn’t mean it has lost any value so keep sharing it with your audience. If you feel like you need to switch it up a bit before reposting consider just adding an update section of things that you’ve learned since writing this first post.

And for another thing, your audience is always changing. Don’t believe me? Just look at one of your social media profiles. You get some followers you lose some followers.

It’s important to remember that your audience may not even know what you’ve posted in the past so re-imagine it, repost it, and repurpose it for your audience to get more out of what you’ve already done.

Talk it out (dictate)

This one was an interesting hack for me find. I realized one day that it was really easier for me to talk about a topic as the first draft than it was for me to try and write it out.

I suspect it has to do with the way I would try to edit and format and worry about the next step of writing the content rather than just getting it all out there and editing it later.

So when I need to get a lot of content out I dictate it to my phone first. Then I edit, chop it up, put it together and fill my calendar with it.

Give it a try you might be surprised at how much content you can get out of your head when you talk it out rather than trying to write it as a social media update or blog post.

Batch it

One thing you can do to up your content creation productivity is to do a bunch of it at once. That way you aren’t switching between tasks losing out on precious moments of productivity if you do.

Your batch process may look different than mine but here is roughly what I do.

I plan out a month of posts at once, 4 in total.

Then I write outlines for all of them.

Then I come back and write up the drafts.

Edit, create photos and schedule.

I see the biggest boost in productivity when I get to the graphics creation phase.

By getting into my software once and creating all the graphics I’ll need that month I don’t have to keep switching back and forth between the different activities.

I spend about 8 hours a month creating ALL the blog content I’ll need for the following month. Including scheduling, optimizing, and pushing it out to my social media channels.

This is because I sit down to get it all done at one time.

Stop consuming

This one may surprise you. But it is so important when creating your own content.

You’ll want to stop consuming other people’s content. You are wasting time and not fully stepping into what content you should be sharing with your audience.

If you don’t know what to write about consuming other people’s content for ideas isn’t going to help you connect with your audience or stand out from the crowd. You need to get out there and talk to your ideal audience and write content around what you learn from them not what others in your niche are doing.

It can be so hard to switch from consuming to creating, I know because I struggled with it. I didn’t have the confidence in my own ideas and I didn’t think I knew enough to get started.

But I did.

And you do too. Get out there and write your own content rather than using your content creation time to consume!

You’ve got this!

Write now edit later

This goes back to talking it out but don’t try and edit while you write. It will slow you down and stifle great ideas from coming to the surface.

Just get in there and start writing. Or dictate it out.

Just do it and worry about all the details later.

Now it’s your turn!

What content creation hacks do you use to create more in less time? Let me know in the comments!

Your content can attract clients to your site.

So you spend hours working on it.

Laying out your plan.

Crafting the perfect copy.

Putting together your cohesive graphics.

Scheduling….and then…

nothing.

You aren’t getting hordes of potential clients flowing into your lead funnel.

What’s happening?

Well, without a deep dive into your branding and your content strategy it’s hard to say exactly.

But there are a few mistakes that I see again and again with my service-based clients.

No clear plan of the overall picture

Every plan needs to start with the end in mind.

How else will you get where you are going? Or no when you’ve gotten there?

If you don’t have a clear idea of how your content fits in with the overall plan you are trying to achieve it’s much like a shot in the dark.

And when you do have a clear plan for how your content supports your programs and services marketing you’ll be able to guide your customer along the journey from lead to client.

Not enough audience research

The content you put out isn’t answering the questions your audience has.

This comes from the assumption that you think you know for a fact what your audience wants to hear from you and then you create your entire content around that idea.

But what are the symptoms?

You hear crickets. Your content falls flat.

Your audience has questions that you are able to answer to create amazing client attracting content. But you have to know what their questions are…not just what you think they are.

Weak or no Calls to Action

Putting out great content is not enough to get your visitors to take action.

You need to ask them to take action through Calls to Action in and at the end of your content.

Even I, in the beginning, didn’t use Calls to Action on anything. I thought just having information about my services would be enough. That and getting eyes on my website.

Providing more than one opportunity for people to sign up to my list, reach with an inquiry, or schedule a call.

People like to have t clear path of what to do next and as the content creator that is your job.

No consistency

It’s a lot of work to write good content and get it out there consistently.

But it is very important. In fact, being consistent is one of the most important things you can do for your brand.

Do not let your content get stale or sit while you continue waiting for inspiration to strike.

And this is another benefit of having a plan you don’t have to wait for inspiration to strike.

Not making the most out of it

Many times people post their content once and then let it sit. They are not making the most out of it.

With the way, social media is your content is there and gone within a moment and by sharing it again you increase it’s value again and again not water it down.

One of the best ways to fix these problems is by creating a plan and a system for yourself so that you can stay on top of your content marketing and get it to work hard for your business.

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Struggle with consistent content creation?

In my Content Bank Planner, I teach you exactly how to create a content library for your business. And best of all I show you how to get an instant boost of content in your library without even having to write a single new word!

I walk you through how I store and organize my content so that it is easy to pull from on days when you have a gap in your social media content or just have NO idea what to post!

Having content ready to go for your business frees up your time to get to more important tasks in your day. Never struggle with being active on social media again. My ladies come to me with no idea where to start putting together a library of content that they can repurpose over and over again, they feel like they can’t ever get ahead of their social media because they are always creating. But it doesn’t have to be that way when you have an organized system for your content. Create when you want but most importantly repurpose when you need to.

Get my Content Bank Planner and create a system to organize and store all your content so that you can quickly fill your schedule.

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Content, content, content…

So much to create for your service-based business.

Maybe you want to…

• promote your services
• grow your community
• increase your visibility online
• engage with potential clients

Maybe you want to focus on some of them, maybe all of them. But boy that is a lot of content to create and manage.

Which is where your content strategy comes in. Besides making your content easier, in general, to create it also has a few other important characteristics that help you build your online presence which we will get to in just a second.

But first, let me ask you a question.

When was the last time you sat down and planned out your content calendar? And not just what you are going to post when and where but HOW it supports your overall business goals?

We as service-based businesses don’t have time in our busy schedules to create and share fluff with our audiences. So again when was the last time you looked at how the content you are putting out ties into your goals?

Or do you just post to post because that’s what everyone online says you need to do to grow your following and build your brand?

Overall your content strategy helps keep you on target with your big business goals and every so often you should check in with yourself to see that everything is still in alignment. Now onto why your content strategy matters and how it is important to your service-based business.

Gives you a goal and purpose

Like a mentioned above your content strategy gives you a goal and purpose to work towards every time you create content for your business.

Without knowing what the goal of a piece of content or the purpose of a content campaign you are putting out you’ll find it really hard to keep consistent and focused. You’ll have a harder time planning and your content may be all over the place confusing your audience.

And a confused audience is a no-no because they won’t be pulling out their credit cards ready to buy they will be scratching their heads wondering why you are talking about hair care all of a sudden when you’ve been talking about cooking on your blog.

This isn’t to say that your content can’t change and adjust it just means that you are changing and adjusting with a purpose not willy-nilly.

Create regular content

Having your content strategy matters to you creating regular content for your audience.

It helps to know what is coming up when you sit down to make content for your business but also that you are creating content regularly around your zone of genius.

This is really important to establishing yourself as the expert in your niche and making sure that you aren’t overloading one topic too much.

How do I know?

This happened to me.

I thought I was doing a really good job of rotating through branding topics, web design & strategy topics, content creation, and social media marketing only to find out I was really relying on content creation too much.

Therefore confusing people with what I did rather than helping me stand out as the business with the solution to their problems.

Ouch. I saw a LOT of people I connected with online hire other designers for graphics and their website because they associated me with only creating content.

I’ve since adjusted my message and reworked how I tie all these things together and it has helped tremendously.

Just having that clarity and regular content is consistently filling my calendar with new leads who know what I can do to help them.

Creates a consistent experience

I really want to say a consistent client experience here but it is so much more than that. Your content strategy helps you show up consistently from the very first time someone lands on your site all the way through client workflow and follow up.

When you have your content strategy in place you aren’t showing up differently in different places online, everything is coming back to your goal and your purpose.

That way your audience and clients know what they are going to get from you and have a great memorable experience that keeps them coming back to your website for more information…not forgetting who you are when they click away.

See what is working and what isn’t

We want to spend more time being efficient and effective with our businesses right?

Well, your content strategy can help you do that.

Any time you set a goal you are setting yourself up to see what is working and what isn’t working with your content. You may think you know what topics are going to hit home and connect with your audience but until to sit down and test it out you don’t really know for sure.

This also is really important for when you are making directional changes because you may find more information you can cover about a topic just by analyzing what people are interested in on your site.

Makes marketing easier

Having a strong content strategy can make everything about marketing your service-based business online easier.

It makes planning a breeze and lets you plan your promotional content to be in line with your valuable content.

It’s nice when everything plays well together and feel like the natural next step for your audience. Again you wouldn’t want to be talking about hair care and then start promoting an ebook with cooking recipes. This kind of incongruency leads to a lot of questions and makes people wonder if you really are a legitimate business.

Builds your brand

Having your content strategy helps you build your brand online because you are fully showing up in your zone of genius and remaining consistent. That allows you to build the know, like and trust factor with your audience.

And when your audience knows you then you are more likely to get in front of more eyes because your audience is recommending you, sharing your content, and becoming your superfans!

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