When you’re struggling for new content ideas, try these tips to extend the life of your industrial marketing content.
Producing quality content on a regular basis can be tough, but the good news is that there are multiple ways to get past that bout of writer’s block or to whip up something quickly when you’re short on time.
These tips are from a post by Heidi Cohen (with a little commentary from me), who maintains a blog focused on digital and direct marketing.
1. Plan post reuse in advance.
Heidi’s take: “Maximize blog content creation by effectively using each topic. This is particularly useful for bloggers who have difficultly coming up with new blog ideas. When you write your post, craft related, tailored pieces at the same time. Think tweets, images, emailings etc. Then drip out your content over time.”
My take: I often find one that one blog post is capable of creating multiple “spinoffs,” and are always good for a couple of lines of content for a Twitter or Facebook post. When I’m writing my blog, I keep a list of topic ideas nearby that I’m constantly adding to.
2. Create content for different media entities at the same time.
Heidi’s take: “This is another spin on planning content reuse in advance. The difference is that instead of creating different articles on different aspects of a topic for one blog, you’re doing this for a variety of other blogs or media entities.”
Actionable Blogging Tip: Allow other media entities to reprint your content on their blogs. When done well, this often includes a different spin on your headline and any accompanying images.
My take: Always write your content as if it is going to be republished. One thing I find helpful is to leave dates or any other time-sensitive information off of posts, to prevent them from being viewed as stale.
3. Get a little help from your friends.
Heidi’s take: “Ask a group of influential people an important question and gather their input into a post. You don’t need to limit yourself to bloggers. You can collect input from a wide group of people.”
My take: A good way to implement Heidi’s advice is to utilize LinkedIn groups to stimulate conversation. LinkedIn conversations are usually civil and the groups are full of knowledgable professionals who can give you good insights and get your brain jumpstarted.
The next time you find yourself in a time crunch, or staring at your screen waiting for inspiration to strike, look to your existing industrial marketing content for insight. Recycling isn’t just good for the environment, it’s good for your content marketing efforts.
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