Ever struggle coming up with content ideas?
If you do, you’re not alone. Not by a long shot. It’s one of the common frustrations we hear from business owners, and one of the reasons they reach out for us for help.
I recently gave a presentation at a Small Business Month event about how to plan and create 3 months of content in an afternoon and the feedback was awesome! So I thought I’d share it with all of you.
The key to success lies in having a system. A simple process you can follow that guides you, provides direction and the steps to follow so you’re not wasting your time procrasti-scrolling (I learned that word at the breakfast) and so your content is cohesive, valuable to your audience and helps create trust in you and your business.
So here we go…
Step 1: Come up with 13 Frequently asked questions your ideal customer is dying to have answered. Not 12. Not 14. 13.
These might be questions you hear from your clients when you’re working with them. Problems you hear about on sales calls. Issues you see posted in forums and community groups. The important element is that these topics need to be of interest to the people you’re trying to attract as clients. Enough of an interest that they’re willing to interrupt their day to get the answer.
If you’re unsure about what the FAQ’s are, ask one of the AI powered tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. Give it a simple prompt like…
‘Act like a [insert your role here] who works with [insert ideal customer here] and give me a list of 20 of the most frequently asked questions about your service. Use a separate bullet point and give a short description of each one.’
Start by listing out as many as you can, the more the better. Then cut them back to the 13 questions that are of the MOST interest or likely to have the greatest impact.
Step 2: Write a blog for each of your FAQ’s.
Before you write your blogs, see if there is a logical sequence for your FAQ’s. For instance if the answer to one of your questions is likely to rase another of the FAQ’s, then put them in that sequence so you’re creating a pathway for people from where they are now, through the journey of answering questions that brings them closer and closer to buying from you.
Once you’ve done that, you can write your blogs. Your blog should be detailed enough to give the person reading it some clarity about what they need to do next. It doesn’t have to be detailed enough to teach them how to do it, that might just be a little overwhelming. If people get to the end of the blog and think ‘right, I’ve at least got some direction now’ then you’ve delivered value.
Again, if you’re unsure, don’t feel confident writing or just want to save some time, get some help from our new best mate AI.
The caveat here is that you really need to edit the work afterwards. AI will create content based on everything else it reads on the internet, so by definition it’s unlikely to be unique.
You’ll also need to check any facts, and make sure it’s got your personality, or brand personality injected into it.
When you’re happy with your blogs, schedule them to go live on your website a week apart. And guess what, you just created 3 months of relevant topics, and 3 months of blogs. The SEO gods will LOVE you!
Step 3: Repurpose your blogs into social media and direct marketing content.
You didn’t do all that work just to add blogs to your website. As important as they are to your overall marketing, writing and posting blogs alone won’t get you website traffic, or inquiries. You have to take the next step.
Using each blog as a cornerstone piece of content, take two of the more compelling snippets and create social media posts. It could be a simple status update, it could be you going live on your socials, or recording a short video. There are SO many ways you can repurpose your blog into a social post. Create 2 of them and post them up on your socials in the same week as the blog. Add the blog URL to the post to help drive website traffic. (SEO gods are happy once again)
Similarly, you can take a snippet from the blog, flesh it out a bit and use it as an email newsletter to your database. Ideally focus on one element of the blog and then include a ‘read more’ link to your website for people so they can read the rest of the blog. As with the social posts, send this newsletter in the same week the blog is live so you’re creating consistent messaging across all your touch points.
It’s not rocket science, and only takes a little bit of planning and you’ll have 3 months worth of content that engages your audience and helps position you as the expert in your field.
For added points, pick one of the two social posts per week and use it to create a social media ad. You don’t need to spend a lot; say $20, per week. You’ll reach literally thousands of new people and massively amplify the reach of your brand and your marketing. Link the ad to the blog on your website and you’ll not only improve your SEO and position yourself as an expert, you’ll start creating a whole audience of potential new clients who can be retargeted with more direct ads, offers and compelling calls to action.
Of course, if you know you should be doing all this but just can’t see how you’ll find the time, our fabulous team of marketing superstars are standing by to help so reach out for a chat!