Content Essentials
What content is (and is not)
I will assume, since you're here, that you are well-aware of what content is, right? In the event that you don't, content is a very core piece of your business. Content is information or graphics designed for your audience with the specific purpose of building the "know, like, and trust" factor. It comes in many formats, which we will get to in a minute, but this allows you to use your content in so many places and so many ways.
Content is information or graphics designed for your audience with the specific purpose of building the "know, like, and trust" factor.
If you're wondering where the "purpose" part of the course comes in, this is it. Your content is not (and should not be) simply filler material on your website or social media accounts. It is not a flag you simply plant in the ground to check off the box on your to-do list. Good quality content serves an important role of helping your ideal customer along their journey to get from discovering you to buying from you.
Formats
There are nearly as many formats of content as there are birds in my house (which is a lot), but it's helpful to get a handle on your options so that you can maintain flexibility when sitting down to create.
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Facebook post/stories
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Instagram post/stories/IGTV
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Twitter “tweet”
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Tik Tok
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LinkedIn article
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Blog post
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Video blog post
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Podcast episode
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eBook
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Checklist
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Online Course
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Online Mini-Course
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Online Workshop (or in-person after COVID)
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Infographic
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Pinterest graphic
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Quiz
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Video Tutorial
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Workbooks/Worksheets
Homework
Use the prompt in your workbook to jot down both which formats you'd be most comfortable creating and which formats your ideal customer would be most likely to consume.
Your ideal customer
You may have heard the "ideal customer" also referred to as your customer/client "avatar", but I both hated that movie and feel like it sounds a little de-humanizing. Let's stick with your "ideal customer" for now.
Really and truly, how much time and effort have you put into considering what kind of person might buy from you? Is it possible that you've established this business purely because it's something that you want to do, rather than to fill a need? If so, that's okay! We can use this moment to turn the tables and put the spotlight on who we are serving.
Your ideal customer will dictate almost every step you take in your business and that is because your business exists as a result of their support. This means that it is very important to really flesh out who this customer is and what their drivers in life may be.
There are a couple of ways to start thinking about this and I don't believe one or the other is better. You will have to choose which suits your situation the best.
The first is to imagine someone real, someone that you've met, that you would believe to be your ideal customer. If you go this route, you may think of a current repeat customer who buys almost anything you create. Maybe it's someone that you want to sell to - like a dream client.
The second option is to imagine (again, if applicable) that you are your ideal customer. This is something I've been revisiting with clients because many feel they themselves are their ideal customer, but they also feel like there is something wrong with that. There isn't. Most people create a product because there was a gap in the market at some point and they stepped in to fill it for themselves. It is not negative to view yourself as the ideal at the beginning, however (and this is a big however), as your audience grows and shifts, you will have to be very aware of those shifts so you can rise to meet their needs and desires as they change.
They will change because people change, the markets change, the world changes. If you are only serving yourself and cannot flex to meet the audience you have, you will lose them. While you may not need to worry about this at the moment, it is a good idea to be open.
Feel free to work through the following prompts in your workbook.
Tell me about your ideal customer - who are they? Do they identify as male, female, or non-binary? What is their age?
What is their life like? Where do they live and work? Do they have a family? Pets? Plants? What kind of dwelling do they live in?
What hobbies do they have? What are their interests outside of work?
What are their values? What do they believe? What are their goals?
What problems do they have? What issues do they struggle with?
Where do they spend their time online? What accounts do they follow?
As you're developing this person, can you see why knowing the answers to these questions is important? They give you the key that unlocks the content you will create for them.
Homework
You've already done the prompts in your workbook (if not, go do those now), but let's go a step further. Build a vision board of your customer. This can be a physical board with magazine cutouts or something virtual, like a Pinterest board. Choose images that embody this person, such as the house they live in, the clothes they wear, or the places they like to travel to. A visual, paired with your written narrative, can work to make this individual more three-dimensional.
Content pillars (or buckets)
When you think about your business and your ethos, what are the core pillars (or values) that support it? How can you translate those into categories to organize your content under? Ideally, you would want to choose roughly 3 to 5 of these to work with.
For example, a recent client of mine, Larissa of Fuzzzy Green Fibers, has been working on focusing her branding in on the type of client she wants to attract and serve. Looking at her overall goals and values, there are three core pillars that stood out as perfect buckets for content.
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Earthy stuff
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Yarn stuff
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Witchy stuff
(A quick note here is that these buckets are visible only to you and do not require you to share them with your audience. Therefore, it's perfectly acceptable to use words like "stuff" when describing them.)
To dig a little deeper, "earthy stuff" would lend itself to her values around environmentally-friendly practices, yet also give space for her to discuss her love of gardening. This opens up a whole host of options via video, audio, or written content.
The "yarn stuff" could house tutorials via video or .pdfs, and blog posts about the best color combinations for specific knitting patterns.
And finally, she touts a "witchy soccer mom" style overall on her website and social media, and has a monthly subscription called "Professor Trelawney's Divination Club" (which includes her own blends of teas with the yarn). We discussed including guides on how to read tea leaves in her boxes, but that would also make a great blog post.
As for myself, one of my core buckets is "Intentional marketing". I've already created various content around this, such as a blog post titled "How to build your ideal customer profile" and my Brand Clarity Workbook that I offer in exchange for email addresses.
Is this starting to come together for you? These buckets give a solid foundation for starting to build up your content library. They really should center around values or common themes, and remain fairly broad. Typically, it's ill-advised to create a pillar that is strictly something that you do. In the event that you would like to eventually pivot your business, a more generalized category gives you far more flexibility.
Homework
Try and think of three to five different pillars that define your business that you could build your content under.