9 easy steps to create engaging content

Follow these 9 easy steps to create engaging content for your brand:

1. Think about what you know

Think about what interests you. Make a list of things you know about you brand and products, what other people want to hear about them, and the topics about your industry that get you excited. Update the list regularly.

2. Find good sources of content

Collect the websites, blogs, books, and other resources that do the best job of producing content about your niche. Track them and add new ones as you find them, and get rid of those that are less valuable over time.

3. Read, read, read

Set some time aside every day to read content about your topics from thought leaders, and analyze what works for them and why. It’s also important to read content that’s bad — that way you can determine what’s wrong with it and why it doesn’t work.

4. Save content that could help you later

Save pieces that resonate with you. When you read an article or blog post that sparks an idea or that you believe can be improved upon, it’s important to save the link and write some accompanying notes so you can revisit it as part of your content creation process. Doing this can ignite ideas later on.

5. Hold regular editorial meetings and refine ideas with your team

Meet weekly with your colleagues so they can share the great content they’ve found, the topics they believe are most important, and customer questions they’ve encountered. Next, come up with catchy headlines that are interesting to all of you and will attract readers. Assign one to everyone each week.

6. Set deadlines

Deadlines provide focus and motivation, but they must be shared. Put them on an editorial calendar and make sure that everyone sticks to them.

7. Write

A natural extension of reading, keeping notes, and perfecting ideas with your colleagues, this is where the rubber meets the road. Share an anecdote with your readers to illustrate a point, write a brief case study about how one of your customers used your product to solve a problem, etc. Be meticulous about the language you use and how it will be received.

8. Get edited

Good content comes in part from good editing, so you need an editor to ensure that what you’ve written is clear and to the point. Discuss the changes your editor makes, and why, so you’re better prepared the next time you set out to write an article.

9. Repeat

Follow these steps over and over again as part of your content creation process. The more you do it, the easier it will be.

source: http://socialmediatoday.com/pamdyer/1861831/9-steps-creating-good-content-your-brand