Content Creation. Itโs a big term! If you have a business online or even if you purchase from businesses that use social media platforms, youโve most definitely come into contact with content creation. So what is it exactly?
โContent creation is the foundation of all modern digital marketing efforts. Itโs defined as the process of conducting research, generating strategic ideas, crafting those ideas into high-value collateral and then promoting those pieces to a target audience. Digital content takes many forms, including web pages, blogs, infographics, videos and social media posts.โ Credit: Brafton.com
Simply put, content creation is creating or making original posts, stories, reels, imagery etc. for your own business / personal page, for your specific audience, in a planned and thoughtful way. In the context of a small business, content creation is anything you post online about your products or business. Itโs the story you post, with the picture you took, with the caption you wrote.
Cool. Got it.
Now what? Youโve got your Instagram Post open for editing, and youโre about to write a caption. *blank* Hmmm.
What do you write about? Maybe this is your first post and you donโt even know where to start. Or maybe youโve been writing a post every day for the past 5, and youโve got a bit of a creative block going on today. Either way, youโre stuck.
We get it. Probably more than most ;) Content creation is hard, diligent, and consistent work. It needs the creative side of your right brain, with the planned regularity of your left brain. Even with changing algorithms and the constant change that social media outlets make, the general consensus is that despite all of those things, posting your content regularly is still the best starting point. Yep, even your small business.
Sometimes you just donโt have a clue what to post. Our social creative team is constantly brainstorming new ways to present our products and business online. Itโs a tiring job because it never ends! You finish up your content for the day, and before you know it youโre sitting at your phone the next day trying to come up with that day's content.
Thereโs lots of things that can help you avoid or brainstorm through a creative block!
1. Content planning - it sounds daunting but itโs really not that bad! Depending on how far in advance you want to prepare, content planning is simply planning out the things you will post and say, in a timeframe that works for you. Maybe you want to content plan every Monday for the coming week. Maybe you want to content plan for 2 weeks at a time. Maybe it's half a week at a time. More important than what timeframe you choose, is that you are intentional about preparing your content in advance. It gives your creativity the space it needs to come up with ideas and brainstorm. Some of us perform well under last minute pressure, but a lot of us donโt.
2. Taking photos with intention - if youโre on social media with a business, you need photography. It could be as simple as your own cell photos (which can be stunning, let's be honest!) or it could be planning some photography with a photographer's help. If you plan to take photos, think about the things youโre shooting and if thereโs more that you can do while youโre in that frame of mind. You could plan a couple extra photos for upcoming social media posts. Youโll thank yourself later!
As an aside, if youโre looking for tips and tricks on how to photograph products youโll love our blog post โProduct Photography Tips and Tricksโ!
Itโs going to happen from time to time. We have it as well! Creativity has often been described as a muscle - some people have it naturally, but at some point we all need to exercise it. The more you try to work through your creative ruts, the better youโll be at getting out of them.
Sometimes it takes looking at your social media or products from a different perspective. Sometimes it means walking away, making a coffee, and coming back to it fresh. You can also glean ideas from other businesses that inspire you - if you do this, we would encourage you to take inspiration and make something more tailored to you and your business from that inspiration.
If those things arenโt working, donโt you worry. Weโve got you covered. Weโve come up with a list of idea starters for your posts! When you get stuck on what to post, or need to kick start your brainstorming, feel free to save this image to your phone to reference!
We know running a small business can be creatively challenging, and your social media presence is no different! We all need a fresh perspective every once in a while, and we hope that these ideas will help you when you do get a little stuck!
Xo
-the girls