Creative content is one of the most important tools available for helping you on the marketing end of running your business. Nowadays, you have more marketing opportunities than ever before in order to reach your target audience. A strong, compelling content strategy is one of the best ways for doing this, and builds engagement and communication with your customers.
What is creative content and how can it help your business?
Google determines who finds your business, in part, by what type of content you share. Written content helps your business stand out and get noticed, but only if you approach it correctly. You must provide people with the type of engaging content they want that is both creative and original. This means coming up with a creative idea for writing and approaching your content marketing.
This includes:
- Focusing on your brand and keeping your message consistent
- Storytelling
- Positioning yourself as an expert in your industry
- Creating engaging content
- Making your content shareable
What are some of the most popular types of creative content you should be producing for your business?
Photographs
Forget stock photography. Your photos should be original and customized to your business. Anyone can post stock photos online that suit the theme of your message. But you’ll always have more success by taking your own photos and using those. It makes your visual content more interesting and shareable.
If you don’t want to take a picture every time you add content to your website or anywhere else online, considering building your own content library. You’ll have the convenience of stock photos, but your pics will be completely original. It’s also some easy visual content to post on your social media platform, potentially reaching more people.
And if you aren’t a professional photographer, don’t worry. There are plenty of people you can hire who are photography hobbyists who can help you get pro-quality pics for an affordable price. Or take an online class in photography to help you improve your skills.
Blog Content
Blogging is one of the most obvious and powerful content tools you have at your disposal. Blogs help you flex your creative muscles and share your message with your audience. Blogs inform and education, so if there is anything you think your audience would like to know more about, this is how you get that information to them.
Keeping a blog active and filling it with useful content is challenging for busy business owners. But it’s also vital if you want Google and other search engines to notice your business and make sure other people notice it too. Some of the things you can do to make regular blogging possible include:
- Outsourcing your blog content needs
- Creating a content editorial calendar so you don’t need to waste time figuring out what to write about every time you need to post a new blog
- Setting up Google alerts so you’re able to share your thoughts on current events in your industry with your audience
- Asking staff for their input on blog content
Videos
Videos are an essential content tool for businesses. There’s no way to grow your business these days without having some kind of video content somewhere online. Whether you choose to make a few videos to enrich the content on your website or you establish an entire YouTube dedicated to topics in your industry is up to you. The important thing is that you offer your audience a look into your business from the unique perspective of video.
Why Does Your Business Need Creative Content?
There are several reasons you need to be creating and sharing content with your audience. For example:
Helps you establish your brand and become a brand leader
Creative content helps you define your brand so others aren’t defining it for you. A strong and consistent brand message builds trust and means your audience knows what to expect for you. The content you share defines your brand and then helps hone that definition over time. It also allows you to build a relationship between your customers and your brand.
Allows you to tell a story
Creative content is a way to be just that: creative! The more creative you are with content the more of a buzz you’ll generate. It’s okay to push the envelope with creativity, as long as you stay on brand and you don’t go so far as to offend. But doing things differently and being a leader in your industry when it comes to content makes a big difference for how your audience sees your business.
Gives you an opportunity to empathize with you customers
Content offers a variety of opportunities for you to build a strong bond with your audience. It lets you deal with their problems personally when they come to you about a complaint or concern. It helps you learn more about what bothers them and come up with ways to help them with these challenges. And it keeps you in-the-know about things that are important to them.
Engage your customers in meaningful ways
This one goes hand-in-hand with the previous one, but it’s broader. In addition to empathizing with customers, creative content is a great way to engage with customers. It allows you to reach out to them, get to know them better, and provide them with information, entertainment, and more. Great content personalizes your brand and makes it so people view your business as something that is living and breathing.
Where Do You Get Creative Content?
Your options are endless. You can create it all yourself, but most business owners are overwhelmed by the idea of doing so. Another great option is to work with content providers or content services that create content especially designed for your brand. This makes things personal without having to invest full-time in content creation.
It’s also possible to use a combination of methods to get the content you need. Some things you might want to handle on your own, while other things are better outsourced. The goal is to make sure you have the content you need to achieve your goals and meet the expectations of your audience. Finding a way to make creative content work for you is an essential part of growing your business in today’s online world.
