Coming up with the idea for a piece of content is a process, right? Planning out what you want to communicate and then figuring out the most effective method in which you deliver the message can leave you in a state of paralysis. Should you write an article? Should you shoot a video? Do you need photography and who’s going to take it? It’s hard enough to identify the message in the first place, and then you have to actually put it out into the world. But if we stop thinking about the big, polished, finished product and instead start embracing and loving the process, we’ll not only focus our message but also identify loads more opportunities for impactful content creation.
Here are 5 ways we can start injecting purpose into the content creation process:
Selfie time: document your ideas
You might be the type of person who engages the voice memo app on your phone every time an idea comes to you in the car, shower, or wherever else you do your best thinking. Instead of recording only audio, record video as well (okay, if you’re in the shower maybe just record the audio). Videos of thinking through a topic or question can be posted on your personal social channels and are guaranteed to spark conversation. And the ensuing discussion can completely change the direction of the big idea you initially wanted to publish. Show yourself taking into account the various viewpoints and embrace the opportunity to address them in an off-the-cuff manner. You can even use the recordings to go back in time and show why you were right about something -or even better - wrong about something, and documenting your evolution on the topic.
2. Summarize meetings
Sure, there have been a lot unproductive meetings you’ve had to sit though in your career. But that doesn’t mean you have to walk out having completely wasted that time. Use the following 20 minutes or so to go over your notes and summarize what just happened, who said what, and what ideas were generated. Even the most seemingly useless meetings could bore out a nugget of inspiration or an idea that’s worth exploring.
3. Embrace content brainstorms
For me, the most enjoyable part of my day is when I sit with content creators and experts in their field and we talk about everything from broad topics to nitty-gritty creative execution. What a piece of content could look like. What the tone of voice should be. How the publication strategy could play out. Who our audience needs to be and how we are reaching them. Content teams are made up of people who are trying to individually achieve different goals, and each voice at the table brings a unique perspective to the overall strategy. Everyone on your team needs to have a clear understanding of how the various disciplines of content marketing work together. Before you know it, the SEO analyst, the art director, and the social media manager will be sitting around the table singing Kumbaya.
4. Get out of the office
I used to tell the people who worked for me to get out. No one is having creative breakthroughs sitting under fluorescent lights in a cubicle while Joan 3 cubes over is having a coughing fit. If they needed to take their laptop outside in order to focus, by all means go. And no one is getting quality instagram content by shooting photos of the office. The same goes for those who are managing and overseeing a content team. Get out of the office and get down to the photoshoot. Go see the creative team in action. Take your team to a conference or a luncheon where they can find relevant inspiration from others in their field.
5. Be flexible, or more accurately, don’t be afraid of change
While this post is all about loving the process of creating content, you need to track the results of what you finally publish in order to validate the way you go about getting it done. The more you understand what resonates with your audience, the more you can tweak the process to drive results. And the more flexible you are in your process, the more you can affect positive change. Remember, people consume media through a variety of different platforms and channels, and those channels are constantly evolving or sometimes disappearing altogether. The most heartbreaking and damning words for any content team to hear are “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Don’t be afraid to get scrappy and experiment with different ways of getting the content you need. Understand that what works on Instagram stories works because that’s the way instagram wants it to work, and that’s how the audience expects it to work. Don’t force your arbitrary creative standards onto a platform where the audience doesn’t expect broadcast quality fine art, nor do they care to see it. In order to communicate authentically, you must be appropriate for the channel.