Solomon Thimothy, CEO and founder of Clickx, explains how to manage your content to remain popular for years to come
Producing and sharing content is crucial for establishing yourself as a thought leader. It also requires significant time and dedication. Will your content be outdated as soon as it’s published or will it withstand the test of time? After years of writing hundreds of blogs, ebooks, video content and more – I’ve learned that content is invaluable when it comes to building credibility, thought leadership and even a business.
I also know that committing to writing content is not easy. If you’re a business owner like myself, chances are you once said you’d write blogs. Years later, you can probably count how many blogs you’ve actually written. But for those of you who are truly committed to creating great content, there’s more than just writing for the moment. With all the time, energy and effort put into creating and publishing your content, it’s important that you think not only about today but also about tomorrow.
Creating content that stands the test of time requires a different approach; One that will still make your content valuable, even a decade from today.
So how do you future proof your content? Here are four ways to make your content valuable for today and tomorrow.
Make it personal
While you can report on industry changes or happenings, it’s important to write your content from a place of authority and experience. If you’re knee-deep in your industry, it should be easy to provide relevant examples and personal experiences.
The opposite of making your content personal is essentially being a reporter. You can provide statistics, report on recent industry changes, new policies or technology, but anyone can do that – whether they are in the industry or not.
By personalising your content, you provide unique insight into an industry problem or challenge that no one else can, making your content valuable for the future.
Whether it’s sharing a real case study, your experience, failures or successes, making your content personal not only allows you to connect to your readers on a deeper level, but also helps future proof your content.
Make it educational
If your goal is to become a thought leader, educating those around you is key to building up your authority and truly demonstrating your in-depth knowledge of the industry. Focusing on creating educational content is a foolproof way to create content that will be read for ages.
Just like many of the textbooks or novels we read in high school are still the ones your children are reading today, educational content surpasses the test of time.
If you’re asking yourself what type of educational content you should be writing, the answer is everything! We all learn differently. Some may learn best by watching a video tutorial, others by having a checklist and so forth. Educational content comes in many forms – so should yours.
Most importantly, however, is to truly focus on the wide spectrum of people who may be in need of learning from you. Instead of assuming everyone knows everything I do, I like to think that there are marketers who may just be starting out and need to learn more basic content and concepts.
Think of educational content as your own journey. What were the things you wanted to learn early on? What are the things you are interested in learning today?
Sharing your knowledge is a powerful way to get your content noticed. Quality, diverse educational content can help you become the go-to resource in your industry for both newbies and seasoned professionals today and tomorrow.
Make it focused
Focusing your content can be incredibly difficult. On one side, you feel like you’re missing out on so much that you could discuss. On the other hand, you feel you are repeating yourself or have little left to say about any given topic.
So how do you focus your content? Be sure to know your audience and focus on their passions and pain points. When I write my content, I have my clients in mind. From answering frequently asked questions to providing them tips or teaching them how to go one step further, focused content means you’ll always have an audience.
Make it meaningful
This is perhaps the hardest request for all of us. I often find myself thinking about how meaningful or interesting my blogs, videos, or ebooks are. The real key to creating meaningful content is to not simply say what everyone else is saying. Don’t be a reporter. If your business area is undergoing a change, a new policy is coming into effect, or a new technology is changing the way you do things, don’t focus on the what. Leave that to industry blogs.
Instead, focus on explaining how and why these changes will have an impact. Everyone can find the latest update about the industry, but they won’t find an in-depth explanation of how this will impact them going forward.
Going beyond the basics will keep you at the forefront of those in your industry, keeping them coming back each and every time just to know your thoughts.
Rather than focusing on being the first to discuss a topic, retrain yourself to create content that is personal, educational, focused and meaningful, and your content will go a long way.
