We’ve seen that content creation is a targeted and tedious process – especially now in 2024. Long hours, sleepless nights, missed events are just some of its highlights. Want to avoid the hassles? Then you should know how to hire someone to create a content creation plan.
However, it’s not something as simple as going to the supermarket to buy something and be done with it.
We have put years of blood and sweat into the content writing & social media marketing fields but it’s only now that we know how and where to find the best content creators. So we have written this guide with the practical and step-by-step methods to make your hiring process a breeze.
Let’s get started.
5 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Content Creator to Create a Plan
“People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic,” says Seth Godin. So imagine you have a key create those relations and stories with your audience. You’d use it in a jiffy, right? That’s what a good content creator brings to your team – a chance to tell your story to the audience in a way that will convert them into customers.
So here are the five practical reasons why you should hire a content creator for your business.
1. Increase Your Business Reputation
The right content creator will help you increase your business reputation with high-quality content they create. Informative blog posts, engaging social media content and compelling videos, you name the type of content and they can create it.
Content with higher quality and relevance can position your brand as a trusted authority in your industry and earn the respect and admiration of your target audience.
2. Improve SEO Continuously and Regularly
Google, as a surprise, has been pushing updates for SERPS pretty regularly over the last years and the process has not stopped even today. For business people, it’s a long walk down the road to keep themselves informed & educated with all the new updates.
So a professional content creator will create your content with ultimate precision to make sure that it not only has a high quality but is also perfectly poised to rank on Google by following all the latest tricks and tips and make your business visible to more people.
The fact that almost 70% of online purchases start with a search engine makes knowing how to hire someone to create a content creation plan even more crucial.
3. Build Loyal Audience & More Connections
A successful business is always more than just its quality products and services. It has a special bond, a level of trust with its audience. Now what if our content could do more than just selling your products and services and establish that kind of relationship with your own audience?
That’s what a professional content creator does – speak directly to the hearts and minds to build a loyal and stronger customer base by increasing your audience’s engagement.
You create content to make your audience visit your website and turn them into customers, right? Are they able to find what they need to make their purchasing decisions? Content isn’t what you only fill your pages with, it’s what creates a pathway to action and makes them buy your services and products.
A good content creator will attract visitors and guide them clearly in a compelling way to take action, whether it is to sign up for updates, buy something or even just share your content with others. For example, when a CTA is added in a strategic way, conversion rates can increase up to 68%, a huge improvement.
5. Align Your Content with Your Business Goals
Content should always have a purpose. Are you sure yours has one and is working hard enough for your business? Does each blog on your website, each post on your social media platforms serve its purpose to increase the engagement, visibility and ultimately sales? If not, maybe your content goals in your marketing strategy are not following your business goals.
To ensure that your goals align, you must hire a professional content creator because only the experienced ones can help achieve your business objectives as strategically as you want.
How to Hire Someone to Create a Content Creation Plan: Steps & Tips
Well, as they say, “In recruiting, there are no good or bad experiences – just learning experiences!!” So how to hire someone to create a content creation plan?
As we have already navigated those waters and know what do and what to avoid, we won’t let you have a bad experience. Our years of experience has helped us refine that process here in this section to make sure that the content creator you choose is not just a hire but the right hire.
1. Create a Job Posting
Freelancing and other professional platforms give you an opportunity to find the best match and separate the experienced from the inexperienced. It all begins with a job posting.
Remember the difference between a job posting and a job description. The job description is for internal purposes and cannot be used for an external audience. Here’s a quick difference:
Job Posting: A kind of announcement to inform your potential candidates about the opportunity and includes details like company bio, job roles & responsibilities.
Job Description: An in-depth overview of the role that includes the summary, catalog of all the responsibilities, soft & business skills and minimum qualifications that you require for that role.
a. Give A Suitable Job Title:
So sign in to your preferred platform and go to the “post a job/hire a candidate” or a similar option and then to content creation services. Begin writing your job posting with a very precise job title. It should reflect the scope of work so it should be something like a Content Writer, SEO Content Specialist or a Digital Content Specialist.
b. Specify The Company Details & Probable Salary Range:
Introduce the name and structure of the company. Then mention the salary expectations the content creator should expect from the business. If someone finds themselves an overachiever for the job, they will simply not apply. Saves you time and money.
c. Define The Role & Responsibilities:
Next, mention the requirements including all the responsibilities and the type of content you need. Will they create content creation plans & calendars? Or write social media posts? Or long form articles? Be clear with the details as they’ll attract those who are qualified and are excited to take it on.
d. Highlight The Required Skills:
Now highlight the skills you want them to possess for that post. It could include SEO knowledge, CMS experience in WordPress, ContentERP, Hubspot etc or any specific writing styles.
e. Outline The Instructions To Apply:
The last section is where you mention all the instructions clearly on how to apply, what to include in their application and what projects or samples they should attach. This will help you understand their previous experiences and expertise in a better way.
Tip: Make sure you understand the difference between a freelancer and an employee. Sometimes, but not always, freelancers are way better for short term projects. On the other hand, the employee can go for years and can also understand your business better. Choose as per your needs.
2. Gather Portfolio Details & Reviews about the Applicants
Next up, take a look at the list of candidates who have applied for the job and filter the ones who are unqualified. Usually about 75% of the applicants are unqualified for the jobs they apply for, so it will take you some time to filter them all.
For the qualified ones, start collecting their portfolio details. In ideal situations, we usually also look up for referrals and work history before we interview the candidates. Their past work should also show you their work quality, variety and effectiveness.
If we want to hire or outsource to a freelance writer through a freelancing platform, we read the negative reviews as well. This helps us figure out what everyone complains about in their work and what exactly must we avoid.
If something is repetitive, we simply skip the candidate because we know the chances of us making the same complaint are pretty high.
Tip: If someone is really interested in your job posting, their cover letter and resume will be directly customized as per the job requirements. They’d have mentioned your website, expected payment and relevant experience and all other details.
3. Shortlist Potential Candidates for Interviews
Now that you have posted the job, received several cover letters and applications, it’s time to shortlist candidates. Make a list of the ones who you think are the best fits for an interview. It’ll take you a while to go through them all and shortlist the most suitable ones.
In our personal experience, only 1 to 2 out of 10 applicants are good enough to be considered for the next step of the hiring process. We get hundreds of applications just for one job posting so it takes hours, or sometimes even a couple of days, for us to sift through all of them to find the right ones.
Tip: Don’t forget to consider personal statements & work histories. That’ll show you if they’re inclined to stay & grow professionally or simply jump ships after achieving their short-term goals.
4. Schedule & Conduct Thorough Interviews
Next, you have to interview the selected candidates. Finalize the time, dates and the location (if the job is on-site) of the interviews for each candidate and convey this info to them as per the availability.
During the interview process, try to assess how well the candidate can align with your company’s or business’s work ethics. Ask them about their work preferences and career aspirations as well to get some deeper insights about their abilities.
What we find very considerable during the interviews is to ask them how they research the topics. Do they open the links on the first page of Google & jot everything down from there? Cause then, that new blog won’t provide any new info or out of the box suggestions and advice, thus making it similar to the ones already present over the internet.
If they use YouTube, Quora, Reddit, Medium, AnswerThePublic and other platforms as well to gather info and stats where people are genuinely answering queries, it’s a pointer that they know what to do and might be the writer you are looking for.
Tip: Make sure the writer can understand and acknowledge your mission statement and the content goals you convey during the interview. This would be the basis of their future assessments and projects.
5. Set Clear Expectations & Sign a Contract
So now that you have selected the best candidate, it’s time to move on to the next and last step which is to negotiate a contract and make them fully aware of your expectations.
What are the salary range and increment conditions? When do you hold your meetings? What are the work expectations and KPIs? Payment methods and on what basis, expected timeline for each task etc etc. You should convey everything very clearly to the final candidate.
No questions should be left unanswered and the candidate should ask as many questions as they want. This shows commitment and professionalism that someone is interested in understanding the business and taking it to heights.
Tip: Include a review period (of 30, 60 or 90 days) in your contract so that both the parties can evaluate if this new arrangement is working effectively for everyone.
Where to Find the Best Content Creators
Great content is never just about putting some words together, but rather what and how to string them together. And not everyone can do it exactly as you or your brand needs. But to find the perfect content writer is not a small feat.
So now you know how to hire someone to create a content creation plan, but where should you start looking for your ideal candidate?
For your ease, here are some sources we have gathered that will connect you to some of the top content writers and creators.
Upwork is one of the oldest and most well-managed freelancing platforms and has some of the most experienced freelance content writers and there are less chances of being scammed here due to a strict check and balance between both the parties.
Post Detailed Job Description:
The best thing about Upwork is that you can post a detailed job offer and then receive proposals from all concerned and interested candidates along with direct access to their profile details and portfolio.
Automatic Job Invites:
Upwork also allows you to send invitations to top rated professionals to apply for the job you post even before they can send a proposal themselves. This helps encourage the best and most highly skilled professionals to apply for your job at their earliest to get selected.
The content professionals on Upwork are highly paid so make sure you have a good budget if you want to get extraordinary results.
Fiverr is another top rated freelance platform where you search your required task/job and the Fiverr algorithm recommends individuals to whom you reach out with all the details.
Search by Skillset & Experience:
You can filter your searches by any specific writing skills or expertise to hire the best content writer according to your criteria.
Evaluate Portfolios & Past Reviews:
Every freelancer on Fiverr has a portfolio of their experience and past work along with all the ratings and reviews their clients have provided them. This info will give you the insights about their capability and reliability.
Start Small With Low Budget Hires:
The best thing about Fiverr is that you can start with a low budget here. Professionals on Fiverr provide their services for as low as $5 which is a plus especially if you are on a very tight budget.
LinkedIn has to be the most professional platform for freelancers, outright businesses and high-end clients and is our 2nd most go-to platform to hire our writers. Not only is it an extremely preferred amongst all content professionals but also a go-to place for them to show their skills and experience by actually displaying it in the form of comments, blogs, industry connections etc.
Find Candidates With Recommendations:
The top rated content writers have several authentic endorsements on their profiles by other industry professionals. It becomes easier for you to know which ones are worthy enough to offer a role for your projects.
Engage With Content To Understand Expertise:
Good content managers and writers actively publish blogs and comments to show their expertise. You can take a look at their content to see if their writing style and expertise match your job responsibilities and criteria.
Create an Effective Content Creation Plan with Your New Hire
See how crucial it is to know how to hire someone to create a content creation plan? It covers a whole process that makes sure you select the best content creator to achieve your content goals.
Done with selecting one? Now it’s time for a proper plan to take this forward.
Tell them what you are hoping to achieve and for how long. The objectives need to be clear. Your content creator should know what is expected of him and how he should achieve it.
They might not get it on the first day so give them some time to adjust to the work requirements, brand personality, brand voice etc.
Work with your content creator to define your target audience and develop content strategies and goals. Help and identify the gaps and opportunities for improvements via a content audit.
Once everything is done and you have all the information on your fingertips, now create the perfect content creation plan with a content calendar to make sure that the production, approval and publication of content goes according to the plan.
Hold regular (we suggest keeping the frequency weekly or every 10 days) meetings and tell them about responsibilities and evaluate their work.
Maintain a Successful Relationship with Your Content Team
You see, the business grows when the team grows. There’s very little we can do alone and so much we can do together.
From our experience in the content writing industry, we say can say one thing with confidence: once you start keeping all the teams updated about everything, your teams eventually grow confidence in your decisions and follow it to perfection.
Content is all about creativity & trends and variety is its lifeline in digital marketing. Hence, don’t boss the teams around too much, give them some space to be creative and think out of the box.
So now we know how to hire someone to create a content creation plan, it’s time to kick start a successful professional relation to bring out the best in them. Hear them out and keep a clear communication. It opens doors to fostering a positive work culture. And also the team feels supported and valued.
Isn’t that what we all want?
Prevent burnout and have brainstorming sessions where everyone grabs a cup of coffee and pitches in with their ideas, no matter how absurd they sound. Not only will this help get some productive ideas but also give time to the whole team to interact with each other.
FAQs – How to Hire Someone to Create a Content Creation Plan
How much does it cost to hire a content creator?
In our experience, the cost to hire a content writer varies widely and primarily depends on their level of expertise. Typically:
Freelancers: May charge anywhere between $0.05 to $0.5 per word as per their experience & the topic complexity.
Agencies: Usually offer packages content writing that can range from $500 to several thousand per month.
How do I hire someone to create content?
To hire a content creator, you have to:
Define your content needs first of all (like type, goals, volume etc).
Choose the right hiring platform (freelancing websites, professional networks, agencies etc).
Post a job with detailed description, shortlist candidates and conduct interviews.
Clarify your goals and then sign a contract.
Is hiring a content creator worth it?
Oh definitely yes. Hiring a content creator is worth the investment. They should, however, be an expert and a professional enough to help you boost your SEO, engagement and conversions. Here’s a fun fact: content generates over 3 times as many leads as conventional marketing and costs 60% lesser.
How much do agencies charge for content creation?
Agencies usually have packages which include different content writing roles and responsibilities. Their basic packages can start from just a few hundred dollars while more comprehensive ones that may also include SEO optimization, social media management etc may cost you several thousand dollars per month.
How Can ContentERP Improve Your Content Management & Productivity
Well, here it comes, the crown jewel of your content creation plan, ContentERP. We have designed it to help you manage and streamline your niche blog and content websites in a more effective and efficient way.
Here’s how it will make your productivity skyrocket:
Manage Your Keyword Research & SEO
Now track your target keywords automatically or search for new ones in the inbuilt keyword research tool to make sure your content ranks higher on search engines.
Automate Your Content Workflow
No more running around the teams to have your projects completed. ContentERP simplifies content planning, creation and publication with automated workflows and assigns the topics to respective writers. Save your time & increase your productivity with content automation.
Get Performance Analytics
ContentERP gives you all the information and insights you need to make data-driven decisions. See how each writer is doing, track their working hours and efficiency at your fingertips.
By using ContentERP, you’ll be able to create a much more organized, efficient and a highly scalable content creation plan. Sign up today and take your productivity to the next level.
Conclusion
Knowing how to hire someone to create a content creation plan has now become an essential knowledge, one that can affect the future of your brand. The Content Marketing Institute says that 62% of the most successful content marketers have a documented strategy. So to succeed in content strategizing, you have to find someone who not only understand your content’s vision and your brand’s personality but can also use it in the content that actually performs.
It took us years to understand the hiring process and polish it to perfection, but with this blog, we have made sure you get the best hire right away.
So sign up for ContentERP and follow the steps we have mentioned to create not just content but more of an experience that will engage your audience and drive your growth quickly towards success.
Content is king, right? But this king can also be dethroned with one thing: the ineffective tone in which it’s delivered. And that is where a content style guide steps in to give the king a vote of confidence, not just as a set of rules, but as its voice and soul. You can imagine it as the seasoning in a gourmet dish. Without it, the dish may satisfy your hunger, but with it, the dish becomes a memorable experience for you.
A staggering 77% of consumers usually choose to buy from brands that share their values. And what communicates your brand’s values to your audience is none other than….your content style guide. So in this blog, we are going to tell you what a content style guide is, its crucial role in content creation, and the top 8 benefits it brings to your business.
Let’s start pushing your brand towards success, shall we?
What Exactly is a Content Style Guide?
Imagine you’re building a house. Every brick, window, and door must follow a master plan to make absolutely sure that the house stands strong and reflects the design you had intended for it. In a very similar way, a content style guide acts as the master plan for your brand’s content.
At its core, a content style guide is a strategic document that outlines how your brand communicates with the world. Its basic purpose is to make sure that your every blog post, social media update, or marketing material not only stands out but also perfectly follows the structure of your brand’s identity.
Essential Elements of a Content Style Guide
Brand Voice and Tone: This is the heart of your guide. It defines how your brand speaks, be it friendly, authoritative, or quirky. It helps you find that unique pitch that makes your brand instantly recognizable to all of your audience.
Language and Word Usage: Here, you decide on the specifics of language – simple or sophisticated, casual or formal. This section makes sure that the words you use anywhere match your brand’s personality.
Formatting and Style Rules: This part of your content style guide sets the standard for how your content should physically appear. From punctuation to capitalization, you’ll have every grammar and composition rule to follow.
Visual Guidelines: This part is often overlooked by many but is equally important. It primarily includes the use of logos, color schemes, and fonts and makes sure that there is a visual consistency across all content you have created.
Inclusive and Accessible Language: This part of the style guide sees to it that your content aligns and resonates with a diverse audience and follows all principles of inclusivity and accessibility. You can never know the exact individual personalities of your audience, right?
The Dynamic Nature of a Content Style Guide
Keep this in mind: your content style guide is not set in stone. Audience preferences change so it is supposed to evolve (and it should) with your brand and adapt to new market trends. This flexibility is extremely crucial to keep your brand relevant and engaging across all platforms.
For example, the way you communicate on a professional platform like LinkedIn may be hugely different from how to write or present your content on a more casual platform like Instagram. So your content style guide takes care of all these problems and makes sure that your content follows a specific consistency and adaptability for your brand.
Why Use a Content Style Guide – A Quick Overview
In the world of storytelling, there are no rules, only suggestions and best practices – and this is the essence of a content style guide. It is never just a rigid set of rules. It is more about creating a narrative that best represents your brand.
But why exactly should your brand invest time and effort in developing a content style guide? Let’s give you a quick overview of its importance before exploring each benefit later on in the blog.
• Improve Quality & Consistency
A consistent brand voice increases your revenue by up to 33%. It is a huge number, don’t you think? That’s exactly what your content style guide will help achieve – consistency and quality. Your every blog post, social media update, or marketing email will have a unified voice to achieve that consistent image.
• Have Clear Quality Guidelines To Reduce Errors
A content style guide sets clear expectations for quality. So it will be easier for your writers and creators to produce content that meets your high standards. As you’ll have a defined set of guidelines, the likelihood of errors in content will also decrease significantly. This is what will help you create a very professional and polished brand image.
• Increase Audience Engagement & Relevance
Understanding and implementing the right tone and style is very crucial. Why? Because that is what will push your audience towards a higher engagement and loyalty. A style guide will tell you all about your audience preferences and expectations so that your content can remain relevant.
• Enhance SEO and Online Visibility
Consistently high-quality content is what a search engine like Google is always looking for. So why not use it to your advantage to enhance your brand’s online visibility and ranking? A content style guide makes your brand uniform across different digital platforms and is hence vital for SEO and a better brand recognition.
What Should a Content Style Guide Include?
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter,” Mark Twain famously said. This quote tells us what a good content style guide should aim for: precision, clarity, and effectiveness in communication. But what exactly should be included in this all-important document?
Just as a painter selects his palette with care, so too must you choose the elements of your content style guide. Let’s break them down into their key components.
1. Voice and Tone
Defining Your Brand Voice: Your brand voice is the personality of your business in words and 40% of your customers want it to have a purpose. It should reflect your brand’s values and resonate with your target audience. Is your brand voice professional, friendly or authoritative? Choose the one that works the best.
Setting the Right Tone: The tone of your content can depend on the context and audience. For instance, your tone might be more formal in a white paper than in a social media post. So go for the one that matches the occasion and audience.
2. Formatting and Structure
Visual Consistency: This covers everything from how you format headings and bullet points to your use of images and infographics. Consistent formatting helps to make your content more readable and makes the audience recognize your brand quickly.
Structural Guidelines: It also includes the outlines about how different structure types of content. For example, blog posts might have a different format when you compare them to your press releases or email newsletters.
3. Language Usage
Preferred Grammar and Spelling: Decide whether you’ll use American, British, or another variant of English. You’ll also have to include specific spelling preferences and grammatical constructions. Why it is important? Because 59% of consumers would avoid doing business with a company that had obvious grammatical errors in their content. You won’t want your brand’s image to come off as a scammer or shady.
Industry-Specific Terminology: Accurate use of industry terms is, at times, crucial for increasing your brand’s credibility. As 58% of B2B marketers use content to build credibility with their audience, it’s a fairly common marketing practice to use jargons and specific terminology.
4. Accessibility and Inclusivity
Inclusive Language: Your content should be accessible and inclusive. It should also respect and acknowledge the diversity of your audience. Otherwise, be ready to lose your customers because 29% of all consumers are willing to switch brands completely if you won’t show enough diversity and inclusivity.
Readability Standards: Set a moderate standard for the readability of your content. This will make sure that your content is easily understandable by a wide range of audiences.
5. SEO Considerations
Keyword Usage Guidelines: Provide practical and useful guidelines on how to incorporate keywords naturally into your content for SEO purposes. 90.63% of pages get no organic search traffic from Google, and that is mainly due to poor keyword optimization. You won’t want your content to be among them, right?
Meta Descriptions and Titles: Try to follow all the best practices for writing effective meta titles and descriptions that improve click-through rates.
A well-thought and researched content style guide is a powerful tool for creating a consistent and memorable brand experience all while helping you manage your content’s lifecycle very effectively. Now let’s explore further the benefits of having a content style guide and how it can enhance your brand’s communication strategy.
8 Unbeatable Benefits of Using a Content Style Guide
A content style guide is not just a document; it’s a beacon in the sea of digital content that will help your brand find the ships of your audience easily. Let’s explore its major benefits that have been backed by research and real-world examples to show their impact and importance.
1. Creates Consistency in Content
Imagine sitting at your favorite cafe where every cup of coffee is just as good as the last. That’s the kind of reliability a good content style guide offers. It makes sure that every piece of content, whether it’s an Instagram post or a detailed report, has the same flavor – your brand’s unique flavor.
“For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate,” Margaret Heffernan, who is a businesswoman and author, said in an interview. In the futuristic world of content, this interaction comes from having an individually consistent brand voice.
Uniformity in Voice: Brand consistency can directly translate to a 33% increase in revenue. You can achieve that with a content style guide that will ensure that no matter where your content appears, it speaks with the same voice, tone, and style. This is what will create and reinforce your brand identity.
Recognition and Trust: When your audience sees content that looks and feels familiar, it builds a sense of trust. Trust is extremely essential for turning one-time visitors into your loyal customers and that’s what a content style guide helps with.
2. Establishes a Strong Brand Identity
Think of your favorite character from a book or movie. Why do you remember them specifically better than others? Because they stand out with their distinct personality. That’s what a content style guide does for your brand. It creates a personality and identity that makes your brand memorable and sets it apart from competitors.
Creates a Unique Brand Persona: Jeff Bezos says, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A content style guide helps in shaping these conversations by clearly defining how your brand presents itself. Consistent branding and a strong brand identity are what increase customer loyalty and trust. This will, as a result, make it easier for your audience to connect with your brand on a personal level.
3. Improves Time Efficiency in Content Creation
We’ve all been there – spending more time than we’d like on tasks that could be simpler. It’s frustrating and feels highly inefficient. The ultimate solution and secret ingredient to efficiency here is a content style guide.
It’s like having a recipe that everyone in the kitchen follows. You’ll be able to make sure every dish turns out just right without anyone having to second-guess the process.
Streamlines the Process: A content style guide saves time for writers, editors, and designers by providing clear guidelines on how to get on with content creation. This reduces the need for extensive revisions and rewrites. Employees usually spend about 1.8 hours every day searching for and gathering information. The solution? A style guide.
Facilitates Faster Decision Making: With a style guide in place, your content creators don’t have to constantly debate over stylistic choices or spend excessive time brainstorming new content ideas. This will help translate that lost time into a quicker content turnaround.
4. Enhances Communication within Teams
Ever played a game of telephone where the message gets jumbled as it’s passed along? Without a content style guide, communication within a team can be like that. The guide acts as a clear channel of communication and makes sure that everyone’s on the same page, quite literally.
Creates a Common Language: A content style guide serves as a reference point for all team members. This creates a common understanding and language. It is especially crucial in teams where members come from diverse backgrounds or are geographically dispersed, like a multinational company with remote employees.
Reduces Misunderstandings: With everyone following the same guidelines, the chances of misunderstandings drop significantly. Literally. Your team will start working together like a well-oiled machine. Chaos and low productivity are all that’ll ensue in its absence. According to a study by Fierce, for 86% of employees and executives, lack of collaboration or ineffective communication are the primary reasons for workplace failures.
5. Increases Working Efficiency
Have you ever been part of a team where everyone seems to be rowing in different directions? It’s chaotic and unproductive, right? A ship can’t follow a set path with its propellers rotating in opposite directions. A content style guide acts as a captain for your content team’s boat to keep everyone synchronized and heading in the same direction.
Streamlined Workflow: A content style guide simplifies your decision-making processes and reduces any back-and-forth discussions. With a clear guide, the amount of time you’ll be spending revising and editing content will drop significantly. This means more time can be devoted to creating fresh content. The ultimate result? A whopping 218% more income.
Clarity in Execution: With clear guidelines, your team members will know exactly what is expected of their efforts and the content they create. This will help in reducing confusion and increase productivity.
6. Helps New Hires and Team Onboarding
Remember your first day at a new job? The mixture of excitement and anxiety? Now, imagine walking into a role with a comprehensive guide that clearly lays out how to communicate as a part of the team. That’s a big sigh of relief!
Accelerating Ramp-Up Time: For new team members, a content style guide is like a road map. It helps them quickly understand the brand’s voice and style. That is the best way to quickly integrate into the team.
Consistent Training Tool: The style guide also makes sure that every team member, regardless of when they join, receives the same foundational training on your brand’s content standards. Nobody will be skipping anything important or learning different ideologies anymore.
7. Improves SEO & Visibility
In the digital world, being visible is as important as being relevant. Here’s where SEO comes into play. After all, nobody wants their brand to get lost in oblivion, right?
Enhances Search Engine Rankings: Consistent and high-quality content, guided by a style guide, is favored by search engines. A report by HubSpot states that companies that blog consistently have seen up to 55% more website visitors. And much of this is made possible with the best SEO practices.
Has Uniform Keyword Usage Guidelines: A good style guide includes proper and practical SEO guidelines. This also includes a consistent keyword usage across all content, which is crucial for improving online visibility.
8. Helps Your Brand Image to Update and Adapt
Change is the only constant. And that is especially true in the fast-paced world of digital content. A style guide that’s rigid and does not adapt is like a tree that refuses to bend in the wind – it’s only a matter of time before it breaks. A flexible, adaptable guide is like a bamboo that can bend with the winds of change but never breaks.
Adapts to Changing Trends: A content style guide is not a static document, it never should be. It can evolve with changing industry trends, audience preferences, and brand evolution. This flexibility makes sure that your content remains relevant and effective over time and in the future as well.
Simplifies Revisions: You may need to tweak and edit your guide due to various reasons (due to a brand update or a shift in industry trends etc etc). Having a central content style guide makes it easier to implement and communicate these changes across the team.
These benefits collectively contribute to a stronger, more cohesive brand presence, both online and offline. By creating a very comprehensive content style guide, you will lay the foundation for a consistent, high-quality communication that will ultimately make your brand shine and succeed like never before.
Unlock the Full Potential of Your Content Style Guide with ContentERP
If you’re juggling the complexities of managing your content – from the chaos of keyword research to the puzzle of team coordination – a good content management and collaboration tool might just be the solution you need. Let’s introduce you to the ultimate future of content management: the evergreen ContentERP.
ContentERP is basically designed to streamline the management of niche websites and blogs. With it, you can focus on what you do best: creating great content, while following your style guide inch perfectly.
Curious to see how it can ease your content management woes? Here’s why ContentERP is a game-changer:
Streamlined Workflow: Organize everything from keyword research to publication in one intuitive platform.
Enhanced Team Collaboration: Easily assign tasks and monitor progress, keeping your team perfectly aligned.
SEO Mastery: Leverage advanced tools for keyword research and analytics to elevate your content’s search engine ranking.
Customized for Niche Sites: Specifically designed for managing multiple niche websites with ease.
ContentERP isn’t just a tool; it’s your partner in content excellence. It empowers you to manage, produce, and track your content effortlessly, making it a must-have tool for serious content professionals like you.
Conclusion
Wrapping up our journey through the importance of a content style guide, these benefits make it absolutely clear to us that a content guide isn’t just all about following some random rules to get a handful of views online. Instead, it’s a proper roadmap to create a distinct, engaging, and recognizable brand voice.
And when it comes to bringing these strategies to life and reaping those benefits fully, ContentERP stands as your game-changing ally.
Imagine having a tool that not only organizes your content but takes it to the next level to make sure that every piece resonates with your audience. That’s the magic of ContentERP.
So embrace the change, step into the world of organized content workflow with your content style guide and ContentERP and watch your brand grow.
In today’s business world, collaboration is the only thread that keeps all your shining ideas, detailed strategies, and goals connected together. As Henry Ford wisely stated, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” His philosophy makes perfect sense when we take a look at content collaboration tools – the digital softwares that make your idea actually happen.
This is an era where almost 16% of companies are now working remotely, so the relevance of content collaboration tools has simply skyrocketed. Hence, we felt the need to provide you with our top 8 expert tips to evaluate and choose the content collaboration tools that are actually fruitful for your business.
Are you ready to take your productivity to the next level? Keep reading then.
What Exactly Are Content Collaboration Tools?
In the simplest of words, content collaboration tools are softwares that let you work together with your own team members, regardless of their physical location. These softwares have functionalities that can include file sharing, real-time communication, etc. to help you complete a project in the best collaborative fashion possible.
These tools are act digital meeting rooms where your team will come together to create, edit, and manage digital content. And believe us, they are more common and crucial than you can really think. You see, it’s reported that around 83% of professionals depend on technology for teamwork. So which softwares do they primarily use? The answer is content collaboration tools.
Roles and Functions in Different Industries
In creative industries, these tools assist in developing, reviewing, and finalizing visual content, supporting tasks like graphic design and video editing.
In IT and project management, they help in documenting, tracking changes, and coordinating software development or project planning.
In marketing and content creation, they help with planning, executing, and monitoring content strategies.
Why Are Content Collaboration Tools So Important?
Enhanced Productivity: By streamlining communication and project management, these tools, not just a little, but hugely increase team productivity. McKinsey did a survey recently and came to the conclusion that effective communication and collaboration through social technologies could raise the productivity of high-skill knowledge workers by 20-25%. Imagine raising your profits by this much. Won’t that be a gust of unbelievable and fresh air?
Breaking Location Barriers: There are over 5.3 billion internet users worldwide. Well, that also means teams are often spread across the globe. These tools help you close those distance those gaps and enable your teams to work as if they’re in the same room.
Cost Reduction and Efficiency: By using these tools, you don’t have any need left for physical meetings and travel. And that means a huge cut in operational costs while boosting efficiency.
Why are Content Collabaration Tools are Important
So now we know what content collaboration tools are and their crucial importance, it’s time to know how to choose the best ones for your team. You have to focus on two key aspects: the overall requirements of your team and your budget constraints.
Assess Your Team’s Needs Before Choosing Content Collaboration Tools
Before diving into the tool selection, it’s absolutely crucial to understand your team’s specific needs first. What are your exact needs? What do you primarily require a platform for? File sharing, project management or real-time communication or anything else entirely?
Here’s what you should consider first about your team before choosing your software:
a) Team Dynamics and Workflow
Take an in-depth look at the nature of your team’s work. Are you a fast-paced marketing team that needs a channel for constant communication and rapid content turnaround? Or are you perhaps a part of the software development team that’s looking for some project tracking features? Understanding these dynamics and requirements is crucial to help you decide and choose. Your workflow will tell you what your pain points are.
b) Communication Styles and Preferences
Are you a picky person? What’s your or your team’s preferred style of communication? Instant messaging, emails, or face-to-face meetings? Softwares like Slack or Microsoft Teams offer you various communication channels so they can be used to cater to all of your diverse communication preferences.
c) Team’s Budget – Cost vs. Value
As a businessman, we know your biggest fear is money spent without a purpose or value. Budget constraints are definitely a thing, but you have to weigh the cost against the potential value and ROI of your tool. Free tools might be tempting, but let’s be real. But they often come with limitations in features or scalability so that renders them almost useless.
Here’s what can help you choose:
Scalability and Flexibility: Make sure that the tool you choose can scale with your team’s growth and grow with you. So investing in a slightly more expensive tool that can grow with you and your evolving needs might just be more cost-effective in the longer run.
Trial Periods and Demos: Wanna try first? Many tools offer free trials or demo versions so pick those and see which one fits best for your team before buying it.
Evaluating Features of Content Collaboration Tools
When choosing the best content collaboration tools for your team, evaluating the key features is also crucial. Let’s delve into these features to ensure you make an informed decision.
1. File Sharing and Storage
Think about it: we’re in a world where around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created each day. That’s an absolutely mind boggling, staggering amount! And in this sea of data, file sharing and storage are crucial for you and your team in content collaboration.
They make sure that the right information is accessible at the right time and place. Can you imagine the huge boost in productivity when your team members can access, edit, and store files from anywhere at all?
What to Look For: When evaluating file sharing and storage capabilities, focus on:
Cloud-Based Solutions: These offer remote access and enable your team members to work from anywhere.
Security Measures: Data is probably the most sensitive entity right now in the world, that’s a fact. So encryption and secure backup options should be non-negotiable for you.
Storage Capacity: Make sure that the tool you have chosen can handle your team’s storage needs without you having to update your plans or packages.
Large File Handling: The tool should effortlessly manage large files. This is a very common requirement in many projects.
Features of Content Collabaration Tools File Sharing
2. Version Control
Version control is like a safety net of digital collaboration. It gives you a historical record of the project’s progress and enables your team to track any changes, identify who made them, and understand the exact context behind each edit. This feature is crucial if you wanna maintain the document integrity and prevent the chaos of multiple conflicting versions.
In a digital workspace, where 30% of the day is spent searching for information, version control also saves time and keeps a neat historical record of the documents. Time is money, right? Here’s your money saved.
What to Look For: Effective version control systems should offer:
Comprehensive Change Logs: Understanding who made what changes and when.
Restoration Capabilities: Handy for those ‘oops’ moments when you need to revert to a previous version.
Transparency and Accountability: Ensuring that every team member’s contributions are visible and traceable so you know exactly who contributed what to the project.
3. Team Communication
Let us paint a picture for you: A team spread across four continents, working on a single project. Without a smooth communication process, it’s never going to work. You’ll be trying to solve a puzzle blindfolded without any solid communication medium.
Clear and efficient communication directly translates to a successful team collaboration. It will help everyone in your team to stay updated with the project goals and contribute effectively in the best possible way. In the digital age, good communication tools are probably the most effective real-time problem-solving platforms for everyone.
What to Look For: Choose tools that provide:
Integrated Messaging Systems: For quick, contextual conversations.
Commenting and Annotation Features: To enable team members to leave feedback directly on the content.
Real-Time Notifications: To keep everyone updated on project developments and changes.
Features of Content Collabaration Tools Team Communication
4. Project Management
In the world of project management, you get the best out of your team only if you keep the train on the tracks. For a digital content manager, t’s a juggling act of tasks, deadlines, resources and whatnot.
A good content collaboration tool helps you manage this juggling act with grace. You get to make sure that projects don’t just get completed, but shine in their completion. From brainstorming ideas to deadline tracking, these features help your projects progress smoothly, resources are utilized efficiently, and goals are met within set timelines.
What to Look For: A productive project management tool should include:
Task Allocation and Tracking: Ensuring every team member knows their responsibilities.
Progress Monitoring: Offering a bird’s-eye view of the project’s advancement.
Resource Management: Enabling efficient distribution and use of resources.
Deadline Management: Keeping the project on schedule and alerting to potential delays.
5. Integration with Other Tools
In a world where 89% of companies are investing in digital transformation, the integration of various tools in content collaboration platforms has now become a downright necessity for almost all businesses. You can’t have 100 different, standalone softwares every step of the way. So integration will make sure that your content collaboration tool works perfectly in harmony with other applications, be it social media channels, CMS, email tools, or workflow automation like Zapier, HubSpot, Slack, etc etc.
The result? Reducing the need to switch between applications. The effect? Streamlining your workflow and enhancing efficiency.
What to Look For: Here’s what your content collaboration tool should include:
Seamless CMS Integration: Look for content collaboration tools that integrate with popular CMSs for one-click publishing.
Broad Application Compatibility: Your chosen tool should work well with a range of applications, including social media and email platforms.
Workflow Automation: Integration with tools like Zapier can automate parts of the content creation and distribution process, saving valuable time and effort.
Features of Content Collabaration Tools Integration
6. Consider Ease of Use
An intuitive interface in content collaboration tools does not just help you get around with ease, it also lets you adapt and be more productive. A user-friendly interface makes sure that team members can quickly learn the tool without wasting a lot of time. This ultimately improves the overall efficiency of the team.
What to Look For: Your content collaboration tools should be:
User-Friendly Interface: The tool should be straightforward to navigate and use.
Quick Access to Features: Essential features should be easily accessible for all – nothing too complex or hefty.
Ready to Use With Minimal Training: The tool should require minimal training so you’re your team members can get up to speed very quickly.
7. Assess the Security Features
Cyber threats are now steadily on the rise, so for you, the security of a content collaboration tool is non-negotiable. A secure tool protects sensitive data and maintains the integrity of your content and communication.
What to Look For: Your content collaboration tools should have:
Data Encryption: Your precious data should stay safe and encrypted both in use and at rest.
Secure Backup Options: One of the most crucial requirements to protect you against data loss.
Access Controls: To manage who can view and edit documents.
Features of Content Collabaration Tools Access Security
8. Considering Cost
Cost is a crucial consideration for any business tool. It’s not just about the initial price tag; it’s about the value it brings relative to its cost. A tool that offers a flat pricing structure with unlimited users, for example, can be more economical in the long run, especially for growing teams.
What to Look For: The features of your content collaboration tools should be:
Cheaper With Transparent Pricing: Avoid excessively expensive tools or those with hidden fees.
Scalable As & When Needed: The tool should accommodate your team’s growth without significant cost hikes.
Value for Money: Assess whether the features and benefits justify the cost.
So there you have it, our expert tips to choose the best content collaboration tools for your content management lifecycle. Keep in mind what to look for and how to choose these as they might become the very pillars your success will stand on.
Ready to know about the best content collaboration tool now?
Why ContentERP is Your Ideal Content Collaboration Tool
ContentERP is a revolutionary content collaboration software that has been designed to streamline your management of niche websites and blogs. We have focused on creating an exceptionally smooth content workflow so that you can manage the content creation process from keyword research to publication without any hiccups at all.
Streamlined Content Management: Centralize your entire content process from research to publication, perfect for niche site owners and bloggers.
Team Collaboration Made Easy: Assign roles and build teams efficiently, fostering seamless collaboration.
Drip-Fed Content Queue: Keeps your team consistently supplied with tasks, ensuring steady content flow.
Comprehensive Site Management: Control multiple sites from one platform, a game-changer for managing various projects.
Advanced Keyword Research Tools: Improve your SEO strategy with built-in keyword research tools to help you top those search engine rankings.
Insightful Analytics: Gain valuable insights into your content’s performance like your team’s worked hours, expenditure and revenue.
Efficient Time Tracking: A Chrome Extension Time Tracker monitors work hours to help you do a comprehensive productivity analysis.
Hence, ContentERP lets you manage, produce, and track your content effortlessly. And that makes it a must-have tool if you are serious about your business’s growth.
Integrating ContentERP as Content Collabaration Tools
Conclusion
Our digital world is progressing at an unbelievable pace, so selecting the right content collaboration tools may very well be the difference between success and failure for your business. By focusing on the key features of collaboration tools mentioned in this blog, you can give yourself the perfect chance to improve and enhance your workflow productivity in a significant way.
Remember that a tool that meets your team’s needs and objectives is not just a software but an investment in your team’s future success.
And with its powerful features like team collaboration and insightful analytics, ContentERP is your best option to streamline your content management process like never before. So are you ready to transform the way you manage your content?
“Content marketing is all the marketing that’s left,” the marketing mastermind Seth Godin famously said in a live seminar back in 2008. Such relevant words, right? Even now, after 15 whole years, a digital content manager – the very person who manages it all – stands at the front of the queue that creates those catchy, attractive online narratives.
But what does it take for them to achieve a far-reaching success in this extremely crucial yet dynamic role?
Your wait is over. In this guide, we will take you through the top 10 proven skills that lay the ultimate path to success for you as a top-rated digital content manager throughout your brand’s content management lifecycle.
Keep reading until the very end.
10 Proven Skills for a Digital Content Manager to Succeed
1. Understanding Your Target Audience
We’ll jump into the heartbeat of effective content strategy right away – it is about knowing your audience. This timeless mantra basically holds the secret to successful content management. Understanding your target audience means stepping into their shoes and exploring their world in a very literal sense.
It’s the art of speaking their hearts.
Imagine a day in the life of your audience right before you come up with content ideas. What challenges do they face? What solutions are they mostly looking for? Your content becomes a conversation, a dialogue that engages and informs only when you are able to truly understand your audience.
But how would you see through their eyes?
Paying attention is Key: Use social media tools to take a look at the conversations your audience is having. What are the buzzwords? What are their pain points?
Data-Driven Insights: Dive deep into analytics. What content are they consuming the most? What are their online behavior patterns?
Creating Personas: Craft detailed audience personas. Don’t just create mere sketches, create some detailed, vibrant portraits of the individuals you’re speaking to. Your personas should be comprehensive and meticulous.
But keep in mind that your audience isn’t just statistics and data points but also people with unique stories and needs. When you create your content with a thorough, deep understanding of your audience, your content starts linking your brand’s message to the minds of your audience.
2. Writing Skills
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words,” Mark Twain once said. While he may have understated the challenge, there’s truth in his humor. For a digital content manager, writing is all about writing messages that engage and then leave a lasting impression.
Good writing skills are like having a one-on-one conversation with each member of your audience, no matter how diverse. You should have:
Conversational Mastery: Imagine sitting down for coffee with your reader. Your words should flow naturally and should have a clarity, relationship and a sweet touch of personality. Brainstorm for new content ideas if you are running short of topics.
Emotion in Every Sentence: Strike a chord – directly. Your writing should be able to raise their emotions, be it excitement, curiosity, or trust, all while giving your brand’s message.
Here’s a fascinating fact: a good, persuasive writing can increase the website’s conversion rates by up to 20%. That’s the power of well-thought and crafted words so take them as more than just letters on a screen.
Here’s how you can make your writings better:
Adapt Your Tone: Like a chameleon, your writing should adapt to the colors/narrations/trends of different platforms and audiences. A blog post might be informal and chatty. On the other hand, a white paper is much more formal and detailed.
Never Stop Learning: Great writers are also great readers, mind it. So take in different writing styles and keep up with content trends, and most importantly, always be open to improving your skills.
In short, your writing skills as a digital content manager are at the center of your content strategy. They’re what are going to make your audience feel connected and understood – and even valued.
3. SEO Knowledge
It is said that Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first. This witty but a very thought-provoking statement tells you about the importance of SEO in the digital content world. For you as a digital content manager, SEO knowledge includes not just understanding algorithms but also creating content that humans and search engines both like and desire.
How you should generally handle the SEO mechanism:
Balance The Keywords and Content: It’s a very delicate dance. Your content should include all those ‘rankable’ keywords very effectively as this will improve the readability of your content while pushing your search engine rankings to go up.
Staying Ahead of the Curve: SEO is ever-changing – you can be sure of that. Did you know, for instance, that Google updates its algorithm many times a year, with the most recent one coming at the end of November? So keep yourself updated to ensure your content remains visible and relevant.
Remember, at its very core, SEO improves your visibility and connection. It basically makes sure that when someone searches for something you’ve written about, your content not only appears but also answers their query effectively and engagingly.
4. Visual Design Skills
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” goes the ancient saying that reminds us of the extremely crucial importance visual elements have in storytelling. In this digital space, a digital content manager’s visual design skills should be at the center of creating informative and attractive content.
So how to improve your visual game in content management?
Consistency in Text & Visuals: The visuals you choose should complement your writing and its context. It’s like you are pairing the perfect wine with a meal. Each one enhances the other, right?
Know The Design Principles: Basic knowledge of design principles – balance, contrast etc – can improve the visual quality of your content a lot and make it more engaging and memorable.
To help you digest the importance of visuals, here’s a fact: visuals can increase the desire to read content by a staggering 80%. In an era where digital content is in absolute abundance, good visuals can make your content stand out to draw the viewer’s eye.
5. Social Media Management
Social media is now more of an investment of valuable time and resources if you look at how effectively it is being used for marketing. As a digital content manager, you should think of social media management as hosting conversations with friends – your audience.
So understand the art of engaging, entertaining, and informing, all while creating a sense of community around your brand.
Each social media platform has its own different and individual personality. They have their own vibes – Twitter is like the witty one, Instagram is the visual storyteller, LinkedIn is the professional. So match your content with each platform’s vibe and make sure to choose the right topic of conversation for the right group.
Trend-Spotting: Stay updated with social media trends because it is like keeping up with the latest coffee shop gossip. That will help you keep the conversations/comments etc fresh and relevant.
Insights as Conversation Starters: Use analytics to know what your audience loves to talk about. Which posts generated the most conversation? What time does your ‘coffee shop’ – your content – get the most visitors?
In social media, your role goes way beyond posting your content. Think of yourself as the host of a never-ending digital party, where each post is an invitation to engage and each comment by your audience is a chance to connect.
6. Video Creation Skills
“Give them a story to tell,” as the saying goes in the world of digital content. In today’s online world, your audience gathers around the video content like the campfire. As a digital content manager, it is going to be your duty to create videos that attract and engage.
How can you create a narrative visually?
Creating with Purpose: In each video, every scene and every frame has its own distinct role. Whether it’s a how-to video, a brand story, or a product showcase, your goal should revolve around making your audience feel a part of your brand’s journey.
Emotional Connect: The power of video lies in its ability to arouse, to induce emotions – like laughter, curiosity, empathy. It’s like you are having a heart-to-heart convo with your audience with visuals to create a personal experience.
User-Friendly Tools: You don’t need a Hollywood budget, it’s as simple. Tools like Adobe Premiere Pro or even smartphone apps can help you create extremely attractive videos. Simply use what you have to tell the best story you can.
Your video creation skills are much more than just producing content, they’ll help you get attached with your audience. Each video gives you an opportunity to engage your audience in a new, dynamic way. It’ll invite them into your world, show them around, and have a chat.
7. Email Marketing
David Newman knew which benefits he was talking about when he said that emails had an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches—at scale. In the world of digital content management, email marketing is the one and only medium that makes you send a personalized letter to each member of your audience.
Want to add a personal touch in every email? Here’s how:
Conversational Content: Imagine you’re writing to a friend. Your emails should have a conversational tone and they should make each recipient actually feel like you’re speaking directly to them.
Storytelling in Subject Lines: The subject line is going to be your first hello. Make it intriguing, inviting. It should feel to them like the start of a great story that they can’t wait to read.
Testing and Learning: Use A/B testing as a way to learn more about your audience. Which headlines catch their attention? What content drives engagement? It’s a never-ending journey of discovery.
In email marketing, you build relationships. Each email is a chance to deepen the connection with your audience, to offer value, and to invite engagement.
8. Analytics and Reporting
Analytics and reporting give you all the information about your audience and also let you have a conversation with your content. They help you to look beyond the numbers and graphs to understand the story about your audience, your content’s impact, and the ways you can improve your content even further.
Use Data For Insights: Each data point acts like as a piece of a puzzle because when you put them together, they reveal patterns and opportunities. This helps you come up with actionable steps to improve your content strategy.
Tools of Clarity: Use tools like Google Analytics not just as an observer but as a detective. What does the bounce rate tell you about user engagement? How does the click-through rate inform content relevance?
Analytics and reporting in digital content management go beyond the numbers so use them to guide your content’s future course.
9. Project Management
Project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward. Joy Gumz is a project management trainer and knows that in the world of digital marketing, a solid, fool-proof project management is all a brand needs to stay afloat in the sea of content. That makes it a crucial skill for a digital content manager to acquire and implement.
Coordinating Tasks and Teams: Think of your content projects as a series of dance steps. Each movement (task) must be perfectly timed and coordinated with the rest of the team. You have to know who’s doing what, when, and how.
Resource Balancing Act: Just like balancing a budget, managing resources in content projects means making sure every hour of effort takes you towards your ultimate goal. As a digital content manager, your first responsibility is to maximize the impact while minimizing waste.
In project management, you’re doing more than just checking off tasks and meeting deadlines by managing collective talents and efforts of your team to create content engages and inspires.
10. Research Skills
In the digital content world, having some good research skills will help you draw a map to hidden treasures (engaging and impressing your audience). Research skills help you understand trends and verify the facts that make your content not only informative but also authoritative and engaging.
Diving Deep into Data: Imagine yourself as a digital archaeologist. Your task is to dig deep into the vast world of the internet for those pieces of information that will give your content depth and credibility.
Understanding Trends and Patterns: Just like weather patterns are predicted to know about the exact climate of a location, use your research to identify the trends shaping your industry. What’s the next big thing? What are the pain points and preferences of your audience?
What Are the Challenges of Being a Digital Content Manager
Well, every job has its challenges and your role as a digital content manager in the digital world is no exception. In this role, you are very likely to face a unique set of challenges that will ultimately test your adaptability and creativity.
Understand these challenges, it is going to be the first step in mastering the art of digital content management.
Keeping Up with Technology: The digital world is constantly changing and evolving. New platforms, changing algorithms, and emerging trends can make it feel like you’re being left behind every day.
Creative Constraints: Keeping a balance between creative expression and the demands of digital marketing can be tricky. How do you keep following your creative vision while meeting SEO and other technical requirements?
Data Overload: With so much data available, it can be overwhelming to determine what metrics are most important and how to use them effectively.
The Core Responsibilities and Qualifications of a Digital Content Manager
A digital content manager carefully grows a brand’s digital presence because this role involves a variety of responsibilities and demand a set of skills and qualifications.
Key Responsibilities Your Job Might Include
Content Strategy Development: Creating and implementing a hugely effective content strategy that aligns with the brand’s goals and audience’s needs.
Content Creation and Management: Overseeing the creation and efficient management of engaging and relevant content across various digital platforms.
SEO and Analytics: Utilizing SEO best practices and analyzing data to optimize content performance and reach.
Team Management and Collaboration: Leading and collaborating with content creators, designers, and other stakeholders to produce high-quality content.
These should be Your Essential Qualifications
Educational Background: Typically, you should have a degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, or a related field.
Experience: Any previous experience in digital content creation and management, with a proven track record of successful content strategies.
Technical Skills: Expertise in SEO, content management systems, and basic understanding of HTML and web publishing.
Soft Skills: Strong communication, organizational, and analytical skills, along with creativity and adaptability.
Integrating ContentERP into Your Journey As a Digital Content Manager
The journey of a digital content manager is both exciting and challenging. And that’s exactly where ContentERP steps in as your best companion on this journey.
A Central Hub for Your Content Universe
ContentERP is just like your control room for creating content you love and managing its lifecycle. It brings all aspects of your content strategy together – from planning to publishing. No more scattered spreadsheets or unclear communication for you and your team.
Streamlining Creation and Collaboration
Remember when we talked about the art of content creation and team management? ContentERP makes them easy peasy. It helps you manage your team of creators, assign them any tasks, and track their progress in real-time – simply and efficiently.
Keeping Pace with Analytics and Reporting
ContentERP also has analytics and reporting tools that give you insights into how your team is performing and what your financial picture looks like. Get a clear, concise report on your desk every morning.
The Cherry on Top: Time Management
And let’s not forget the all-important aspect of time management. ContentERP has top-class features, the Chrome Extension Time Tracker for instance, that help you and your team manage time efficiently. This is how you can make sure that every minute your team spends will contribute towards meeting your content goals.
Conclusion
Phewww..feels like we’ve been on quite the journey in this article, right? We’ve talked a lot about your skills, the challenges you might face and even took a brief look at the responsibilities and qualifications of a digital content manager.
Each skill we’ve gone through in detail – from understanding your audience to leading your team –improves your role and makes you the best in your role.
As a digital content manager, you act like a top-level chef in a big digital kitchen. You’ve got all your ingredients right there on your table – SEO, social media, analytics, etc – and now it’s up to you to mix them into a recipe that delights and satisfies your audience.
So, make sure that you keep improving these skills and kickstart your journey as a digital content manager in the digital world with ContentERP. After all, every day will be a new adventure in the world of content.
In this flourishing and cutthroat (yeah, we’ll be blunt) digital marketplace, where an estimated 20 million to 28 million e-commerce sites exist globally, your website’s survival depends on standing out. Hence, creating engaging content becomes more than a necessity – it’s an art, a lifeline for your business.
So that’s exactly what we’ll aim to do now – help your e-commerce website reach a new (or ultimate) level of success. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive into the heart of creating engaging content with five essential tips and secrets that will make you capture the heart and mind of your audience.
Let’s get started.
5 Tips for Creating Engaging Content for Your E-commerce Site
Creating engaging content for your e-commerce site goes way beyond merely describing what you want to sell. So here’s how you can skyrocket your sales by following our top 5 secret tips as a digital content manager of your website.
Know Your Audience Inside Out
This is the ultimate key to unlocking your personalized e-commerce success. “Your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one,” said John Steinbeck. His insightful approach is highly relevant in e-commerce because that is where understanding your audience can convert your generic/shared content to genuinely engaging and well-targeted.
Create an Attractive Narrative
· Audience Personas as Your Guiding Stars: Picture this: each product on your site is a solution to a problem, a fulfillment of a desire, or a path to a goal for your audience. It is not just a simple commodity. So, developing detailed buyer personas can guide you in creating the best engaging content for your e-commerce website.
For example, suppose your e-commerce site sells fitness gear. In that case, one of your perfect personas is ‘Fitness Enthusiast’ Emily, who is result-oriented and values quality and detailed product information. See what we mean?
· The Language of Your Audience: Once you know who you’re talking to, communicating becomes more transparent and effective. Finalize your buyer personas quickly. Does your audience include professionals who prefer technical details and data? Or are they everyday consumers who appreciate a friendly and straightforward approach?
Try to use their language, tone, and style as much as you can in your content for a stronger connection.
Utilize Data to Engage & Understand Preferences
· Data-Driven Insights: Use all the in-depth analytics. What products or ads are they viewing the most? Which blogs are they reading? Tools like Google Analytics can offer much information about their behaviors and preferences.
· Feedback Loops: Do not, and we mean it do not underestimate the power of direct feedback. Keep encouraging reviews about your products, conduct many surveys, and engage your buyers in social media conversations. This will help you to gather insights about your audience’s needs.
Personalization Is The Heart of Creating Engaging Content
· Customized Experience: Use your collected information to create personalized experiences. For example, If a specific audience group shows deep interest in eco-friendly products, you should modify your homepage to display more of these items.
· Content That Speaks to Them: Once you have a clear picture of your audience’s preferences, create engaging content directly addressing them. If ‘Fitness Enthusiast’ Emily is concerned about sustainable materials in fitness gear, a blog post about ‘Eco-Friendly Fitness Apparel’ would attract and engage her.
Bridge the Gap Between Your Products and Their Needs
· Solution-Oriented Content: Every content you create should bridge a customer’s need and your product as a solution. For example, if you’re selling kitchen gadgets, you should create content focusing on common kitchen issues and how your products provide the perfect solution.
· Storytelling in Product Descriptions: Even product descriptions offer you an excellent opportunity for engagement. Instead of just listing features, tell a story about how the product improves the user’s life. That, in our opinion, is the best way to engage your customers.
Tell a Story with Your Products
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell,” Seth Godin, a marketing guru, once said. And we agree with him because, in the e-commerce world, this couldn’t be more accurate.
First, stop thinking that your products are mere items for sale. They are like different characters in a story playing a crucial role in your customers’ lives. So, let’s explore how you can transform your products.
Master The Art of Storytelling in E-commerce
· Beyond Features and Benefits: You should begin by looking beyond what your product is and what it does. Consider the experience it offers, the problems it solves, and the joy it brings.
For example, if you’re selling a coffee maker, don’t just discuss its technical specifications. Tell them a story of morning rituals, the aroma of fresh coffee, and the calmness of starting the day with a perfect cup. See how attractive that is?
· Emotional Resonance: Every product has the potential to breathe emotions into you. Let’s take a piece of jewelry – in addition to being a metal and stones, it’s also a symbol of love, a memory for most. Use all these emotional aspects in your product descriptions and marketing content. This will create a fiery response.
Create Characters and Scenarios
· Use Your Products as Characters: Give your products a particular persona. For instance, if you sell adventure gear, paint your products as trusty companions on a customer’s next great adventure. This efficient and effective approach will turn those objects into essential, exciting elements.
· Setting the Scene: Create attractive scenarios or settings for engaging content. That is where your products will play a crucial role. Use imagination and descriptive language to paint a picture. If you’re selling home decor, describe a cozy, inviting living space where the families can gather and create unforgettable memories.
Use Multimedia for Storytelling
· Show, Don’t Just Tell: Use high-quality images and videos. That will bring your products and stories to life. Videos can be very effective in showing your products in action. This will also help create a dynamic view of what your product is capable of.
· Interactive Content: Consider creating interactive content like virtual tours or AR experiences. Especially for products like furniture, this experience can be incredibly persuasive.
Follow the Formats for Creating Engaging Content
Blogs and Articles: Use your blog to tell stories directly related to your products. For a fitness equipment store, different articles on health and wellness lifestyles can complement all the products you are selling.
Customer Stories: Feature the best customer testimonials and stories. There might be nothing more relatable than hearing from someone who has experienced the product first-hand.
Creating Engaging Content – Tell A Story With Products
All successful YouTubers have followed this visual content strategy, so why not try the same pattern for your website?
The Power of Professional Photography
Invest in High-Quality Images: The quality of your product images directly impacts customer perception. Studies show that 60% of consumers consider image quality ‘very important’ online shopping. So you don’t just have to show your product; you have to present it in the best possible light. Quite literally.
Creating a Visual Identity: Your product images should reflect your brand’s identity. The styling, lighting, etc., should be consistent in all your pictures. That will help create a recognizable visual signature for your brand.
Creating Engaging Content Through Videos
The Rise of Video Content: A study showed that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. See how powerful videos can be? So create product videos, explainer videos, and behind-the-scenes. This will add an exceptional, attractive visualization to your storytelling.
Showcasing Products in Action: Videos offer you a very unique advantage by showing your products in use. This also provides a realistic preview. It becomes effective for products where functionality and experience are your key selling points.
Maximizing Engagement with Interactive Visuals
360-degree Views and AR Experiences: Let’s explore something uncommon and relatively new: AR for products. Start offering your customers an interactive experience with 360-degree product views or augmented reality (AR).
Using Visuals to Enhance User Experience
Optimizing for Mobile: Ensure your website visuals are perfectly optimized for mobile viewing. With over half of global internet traffic coming from mobile devices (57.8% to be exact), your images and videos HAVE TO load quickly and display beautifully on smaller screens.
Quality vs. Load Times: It is also about website performance as well. So, keep a balance between high-quality visuals & website performance. Compress and optimize your images to ensure they don’t slow down your site. This is crucial for you because a one-second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% reduction in conversions.
Visuals Are Your Silent Salespeople
Infographics for Complex Products: Use infographics as much as possible to explain complex products or highlight their key features and benefits. They can be an effective tool for you to communicate a lot of information in an accessible format.
User-Generated Content: Encourage your customers to share photos and videos of them using your products. Give them a discount to do this if you have to. This will provide social proof of your product’s quality and add some authenticity.
Creating Engaging Content – Use High Quality Visuals
Focus on SEO-Optimized, Value-Driven Content
“Content is king, but engagement is queen, and the lady rules the house!” This quote by Mari Smith perfectly tells us the benefits of creating engaging content for e-commerce. You have to create content that is both SEO-optimized and packed with value. Only then will you be able to ensure that it reaches your audience and engages them over its whole content lifecycle.
Master the Art of SEO in E-commerce
· Understanding SEO Fundamentals: SEO for e-commerce is not just inserting keywords. You have to understand how your customers search and what they search for. With over 3.5 billion Google searches per day, the correct SEO strategy will help your e-commerce site to jump right in front of the right audience.
· Keyword Research – The Starting Point: Use keyword research to find your potential customers’ terms. Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer can provide you with all the information and insights about the search volume and competition levels.
Create Engaging Content That Provides Value
· Beyond Keywords – Solving Problems: Every piece of content on your e-commerce site should aim to solve a problem your customers face. Whether it’s product descriptions, blog posts, or FAQs, the main focus of your content should be to help the reader.
· Educational and Informative Blog Posts: Develop a blog strategy that complements your products. For example, if you sell cooking equipment, your blog could be about recipes, cooking tips, etc; you get the idea here.
Balance SEO with Readability
· SEO with a Human Touch: It is essential to optimize your content for search engines. But also remember that humans will read and engage with your content. So, keep a healthy balance by writing SEO-friendly and user-friendly content.
· Using Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords can be incredibly effective, and we have seen that. They’re less competitive and often more aligned with later stages of the buying process.
Use Engaging Content to Build Trust
· Trust-Building Through Content: You should always create engaging content that improves your credibility and expertise. You can accomplish that via detailed product guides, customer testimonials, etc.
· Regular Content Updates: Keep your content fresh and updated. One way to do it is to revisit and update it regularly. That helps with SEO and ensures that your audience always has the latest information.
Creating Engaging Content – Create SEO Optimized Content
Encourage and Showcase Customer Reviews
In an age where consumers increasingly rely on peer opinions, customer reviews have become the most critical pillar in building trust and credibility for your e-commerce brand.
Use the Power of Authentic Feedback
· Promoting a Review Culture: Encourage your customers to leave reviews as much as possible. Sometimes, a simple prompt post-purchase can significantly increase the number of reviews you receive. According to a survey by BrightLocal, 76% of consumers are willing to leave reviews if you ask them politely.
· Making It Easy to Leave Reviews: The more straightforward the review process, the more likely customers will complete it. So, make sure that your review system is extremely user-friendly and accessible.
Turn Reviews into Storytelling Opportunities
· Narratives in Customer Experiences: Each review will tell a story of a customer’s experience with your product. Start by highlighting these stories on your product pages, social media, and even marketing campaigns.
· Responding to Reviews: Engage with the reviews you receive. Thank customers for positive reviews and address any concerns they may have.
Manage Negative Reviews Constructively
· View as Opportunities for Improvement: Negative reviews are very challenging; we admit that. But they also offer many insights into areas where your product or service could be improved. So grab that opportunity for growth and development.
· Professional and Empathetic Responses: Always address negative reviews professionally and empathetically. Don’t act frustrated or weary ever. If possible, offer solutions or assistance as much as you can. It may turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal one while showing that you’re committed to customer satisfaction.
Creating Engaging Content – Post Customer Reviews
So now you know what secrets you must follow to transform your business, it is time to tell you about revolutionary software that can significantly improve and enhance the creation of engaging content for your e-commerce website.
ContentERP is our comprehensive solution that we have designed in particular to streamline the content management process for niche website businesses. Here’s how ContentERP can revolutionize the content creation process for your e-commerce site:
Streamlined Content Workflow: Organize all aspects of your content process in one platform. Reduce all your clutter and start boosting your team’s efficiency.
Enhanced Team Collaboration: Easily manage teams and assign roles via ContentERP. This will allow you to streamline engaging content creation, from brainstorming content ideas to publishing.
“Drip-Fed” Content System: Automate all content assignments to your team. This will help maintain a steady flow and consistency in content production.
Centralized Site Management: Manage multiple e-commerce sites seamlessly from one central location, saving time and resources.
Keyword Research Tools: Optimize your content for SEO, ensuring your e-commerce site ranks higher and attracts more traffic.
Real-Time Insights and Analytics: Track content performance, fine-tune your strategy, and make data-driven decisions to enhance engagement.
Efficient Time Management: With the Chrome Extension Time Tracker, monitor team productivity, ensuring efficient content creation and publishing.
Creating Engaging Content With ContentERP
So download ContentERP today to take your e-commerce content strategy to heights you have never achieved before and ensure that every piece of content you and your team create is precise, efficient, and effective.
Conclusion
In creating engaging e-commerce content, remember it’s not just about selling products. You must create experiences, build solid connections, and tell stories to your valued audience that inspire them.
With the strategic use of ContentERP, you can streamline creating engaging content and ensure that every piece of content you write attracts your audience and drives results (and sales, for that matter).
Start by following these valuable tips and insights and watch your e-commerce site succeed and become a vibrant marketplace of stories and solutions.
