Content creation hacks that put success on repeat

Here’s the deal. Are you a Colbert or Corden? Let me explain. 

They're 2 of the most famous late night TV show hosts. But one has millions of more views... How? 

Think of your brand or channel as a:

• talk show (Stephen Colbert) or;
• variety show (James Corden).

Which one are you? Do you rely on one format or experiment with many? Do you even know what format is working? Do you try, fail, and get back up? Do you learn from your success and repeat what's working? Do you constantly seek new eyes and audiences?

Make a little content inventory. Ask yourself, which types of content do I create? And which types of content does my audience like? Do I even know that?! I mean, sometimes it's hard to define what we like ourselves, not to mention knowing what other people are into.

To get your answer, try out different content formats on blog and social media: deep dives, case studies, white papers, videos, polls, infographics, checklists, FAQ sheets, calculators, comparisons, "best ofs", challenges, etc. It's a surefire way to become more of a variety show, entertain and reach more people.

Here's a tip for you. Earlier, I talked about brainstorming in formats. This is it in its purest form. To make brainstorming easier, don't forget to keep a structure and also brainstorm in formats. Here's my brainstorming template to help you kick this off. Try it out and let me know how you get on!

Now that you've experimented with formats, you'll find out which of your content hits. Based on your audience engagement and reach, you can see what matters the most to them. Analyse which formats perform the best to find your outliers. 

Now, turn your best-performing content into a series. Let's say you tried infographics or challenges for the first time and these formats performed surprisingly well. You should now think what other content you could express in these formats. 

For example, take up weekly or monthly challenges of trying out some product or service in your niche, or post more infographics about burning problems in your industry and how you could help solve them.

If you want more views, you need to make versatile content. If you keep using the same formats and messages which get no interest from new audiences, you'll be trapped in your existing segment.

It’s easy to get stuck in your comfort topics and formats. But that content only get you so far - the only ones seeing it are your followers. If that satisfies you, it's okay, but it's not the way to grow. 

Turn it around and unlock new markets for your brand. Here's a clue if you want to grow: go from niche to general. 

With your next content piece, pay attention what's your value proposition to the following audience segments:

• fans - your true believers and followers;
• random - people in your industry who haven't come across your brand, but have general industry knowledge;
• new - people who haven't heard of you at all.

Define the key problem and cover it from angles that matter to all audience types. Try it out and see what happens.

Feel free to use my content creation hacks template to save time and elevate content creation process. Get the template and let me know how you get on!

If you want to grow your brand with some simple hacks anyone can do, let me know. Get a head start, because many tech companies are missing out on this!

Are you ready to shift gears? I’d be happy to help you out with content strategy and copywriting.