Our 3-step system for content creation
Our best tip: Repurpose
Reformat a piece of content and post it on multiple channels.
You need to post something TODAY and you’ve. got. nothing…
We’ve all been there. For us, more times than we’d like to admit.
As content creators (for multiple brands) we’ve learned how to avoid this situation- even for last minute posts.
It’s a simple three-step system we call:
Category - Content - Channel:
Start by creating a content guide for your business. Ours looks like this:
Most likely, your content will have the same goal as ours: to educate, inspire, and promote your offer.
Customize your guide by listing the formats you’ll focus on, the channels you’ll be posting on (we’re not on YouTube yet, but you might be!) and then taking some time to think through your categories, content ideas, and voice.
When it’s time to create content, you’ll pick a category and content idea. Quotes, jokes and copy will all align with your voice. Then you’ll create a piece of content you can use on as many of your channels as possible.
Here’s an example:
We wanted to create an educational blog feature using an image we took at a photoshoot.
We started with this image:
Then we edited it and layered in a PDF resource we were giving away as a download. The new image looked like this:
Then we wrote a blog with photo shoot tips and added the PDF as a download to the blog. Then we took snippets of the blog copy to create social media captions and to highlight the blog in our newsletter.
We recycled the blog copy and created another post- a reel of our time-lapsed photoshoot.
This same sequence would work well for a YouTube video instead (or alongside) of a blog.
Not every piece of content has to live on ALL of your channels. We certainly don’t create a blog for every post we make! And not all of our social media posts make it into our newsletter. The point is to stretch every piece of content you create as far as you can, because different people are on different channels, and people need to see as much of your content as possible.
Quick tips:
Do you have a physical product or a physical location that your audience regularly posts about? This is called User Generated Content and it’s a gold mine. Just share or repost what they have shared and tag them. Not only is this easy content for you, it’s social proof that what you offer is in demand and loved by your customers.
The shelf life of social content is short. Feel free to repost content that performed well again and again. You could even play around with a different image, video or caption, but essentially use the same content.
List and batch. Keep a running list of content ideas. Then when you’re ready to create videos, shoot photos, or design graphics, you have a starting point. Then batch, batch, batch. Film as many videos as you can at once. Keep them organized so you can find and edit them when the time comes.
Use a system for keeping track of your posts and ideas. You can use a social media scheduling tool like Sprout or Later. You can create a Google doc or a dedicated Google calendar to plan out your posts. You could list it out on a piece of paper. Just getting your posts out of your head and into a system will make content creation so much easier.
Final tip: Repurpose
Did we say that already? It’s worth repeating. Take that content piece and turn it into a reel, a carousel, an image, or use it in your email newsletter.
Need a printable guide? Get it here.