I get this question all the time, I would say it is the #1 question that I get from small business owners. Everyone wants to know the magic formula of how often to create and post content. Online research leaves many business owners confused and overwhelmed – the idea of posting 16 times a month, trying to get 401 website pages, or creating a detailed content marketing strategy is just too much for many overworked and time-crunched business owners. So, how often do you need to create content for best impact and return?
I take a very realistic approach to content creation and how often you should create and post content. The short answer – is as much as you can. The more you create and post, the more your business will grow, so do as much as you can! For many small business owners, I suggest creating one new piece of content per week. This is the slow and steady approach but highly achievable and rather effective.
There really is no golden formula, though there are many factors that come into play like the type of business you have, who your target market is, or what your potential clients are accustomed to. Trying to figure out the perfect strategy can be pretty hard for many business owners. Again, I like to take a simpler approach. I ask small business owners to consider five simple elements when developing their content creation goals. These elements will help you understand what you are really able to achieve and set the correct expectations for your content creation. As Johnathan Dane, Founder at KlientBoost: pointed out “Content is our #1 channel for driving conversions.” Content truly is king and soon you will be able to deliver quality content on a consistent schedule to drive more traffic and leads to your website and business.
Let’s consider these five elements to help you set a goal on how often you should create and post content.
1. How much content are you realistically able to create? A rather simple question but one that usually takes some time to answer. If you create a goal that you just can’t achieve, it will end up hurting you and often the content you create. Setting a goal to create four new pieces of content each week is a great goal but rather unachievable for most small business owners. Take some to evaluate your week- how often will you have 1-2 hours of dedicated time to create content? Where can you make 1-2 hours of time? It can seem like a large time commitment but it is truly worth it. Hubspot found that companies who published content 1-2 times a month generate 70% more leads than those who did not do content marketing; that is a very powerful statics! Even if you can only create one piece a month- it will still help you grow your business and bring in new leads.
2. You must create good and relevant content, not just words for content sake.The content you create is the voice of your business, you need to create content that supports that voice and establishes the fact that YOU are the expert in your field. Just putting out content that doesn’t align with your voice will create market confusion, incorrect traffic and leads, and a dilute your brand image. Good content takes time to research and craft so make sure you have the right expectation about what you will be writing about.
3. If you want to see real results, you need to be consistently creating new content. A steady stream of good content will bring continuous traffic to your website and leads to your funnel. New content will keep your site fresh and up to date, and all of the content will be working to support your SEO strategy. Make sure you set a goal that won’t burn you out or use up all your ideas too fast. You want your goal to be something you can achieve month over month no matter the season or circumstance. Additionally, consistent posting will slowly increase the number of pages on your website, which over time will increase the traffic and ranking of your website.
4. What is your competition doing? This is always a great place to look- if your competition is creating content three times a week, you really should shoot for that number or higher. If that isn’t achievable than think of ways to set your content apart from theirs. Checking out your competition will give you a good understanding of where you should be. This doesn’t always mean you have to go above and beyond what they are doing- it just gives you some good insight into what you could be doing and what your potential clients have come to expect. Using this information you can create a content creation goal that sets you apart but isn’t overkill or underwhelming for your audience.
5. What type of content will you create? When I talk about content creation 80% of people instantly think I mean “writing blogs” and about 20% will think I mean “social media posts,” and while both of those are correct they are a little short sighted. There are many different types of content you can create, some are very fast and simple and others will take more time. Some different types of content to consider making are: ebooks, informational guides, white papers, infographics, YouTube videos, blogs, Slideshares, podcasts, social media posts, Facebook Live videos, and webinars just to name a few. Not every type of content will be a good fit for you, think about what you like to create and what you are good at creating. Also, keep in mind that using a few different types of content will help you have a well-rounded online presence!
These elements help your understand, realistically, how often you are able to create and post content, what types of content you want to post, and what expectations you have for your posts. From here you can set a consistent goal for you to achieve. Schedule time on your calendar and don’t let yourself put it off, you really need to commit to creating good content consistently if you want to see results.
This process may also open your eyes to the fact that you truly do not have the time to create quality content, and if that is the case then feel free to email us at info@marketingmaiden.com to ask about our content creation options.
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