Embracing these 5 creator fundamentals when striking the balance between quantity and quality

Sometimes we all need to be reminded of the fundamentals, right? Kelsey McKeon was a contributor for our latest e-Book, "Turning Down the Volume Game and Turning Up Quality Content" and she reminds creators to embrace the process of scaling. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day of content creation and not take a step back to appreciate the progress. Kelsey's post was a reminder to think critically about striking the right balance between high-quality and content creation at scale. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn for more.

Kelsey McKeon

Content Marketing Manager, US 

GetAccept

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When it comes to content, balancing quality and quantity is a high-wire act that often the best marketers struggle to execute perfectly. Fortunately, a few small steps with content often go a long way.

Here are 5 pieces of advice for content marketers trying to strike the right balance between producing high-quality content and content creation at scale.

1. Know who you’re creating content for 

The almost never-ending stream of ideas for content can be daunting for many marketers. It’s often tough enough to manage your own ideas for content that will help your team hit its metrics, and keeping up with the pace of content creation gets even more challenging when you factor in requests and requirements from others in your company.

Having a deep understanding of your audience and ideal customer profile (ICP) will help you as a creator narrow down clear goals and priorities for your content. Your ICP’s desires and pain points will guide:

• What topics your content will cover
• What types of content you create
• How that content gets distributed
  

Knowing your ICP will help you identify keywords and search engine results pages that match your buyers’ intent. You can also listen to sales calls, shadow product demos, interview subject matter experts, and scour social media to see what your prospects are talking about and where they’re consuming the most content. That will help marketers narrow down the idea list and prioritize the right content for their buyers. Understanding your ICP will also help you repurpose your marketing content into useful content for sales reps.

2. Don’t reinvent the wheel

Everyone wants to be responsible for an innovative new content piece, but sometimes the key to creating high-quality content at scale is to start with the content you already have. Done right, updating and revamping your content can have significant SEO benefits for your site, such as increasing or maintaining search engine ranking positions and boosting traffic to the updated content. 

Avoid redoubling any previous content efforts and conduct a high-level content audit. Decide on thresholds for performance and identify candidates for content updates and repurposing.  

Have a blog post from two years ago that’s driving a lot of traffic? Refresh the content and create a video summary to share on your YouTube and social media channels. Have a white paper that’s not performing quite as well as you’d like? Interview a subject matter expert about the material and publish it as a blog post. 

3. Mute your internal editor

Content creators and marketers often struggle with perfectionism. The pressures of creating something that checks every box and will meet every goal can cause creative stalls that make it tough to scale content effectively.

Turn the volume down on your “internal editor”: that voice in your head that edits your work as you go and causes you to get stuck. There are other people who will edit your work and provide constructive, objective feedback. Remember that a piece of content does not have to be in its final form to be ready for review by a second set of eyes.

4. Work smarter, not harder

When the content to-do list seems endless, it’s time to start working smarter, not harder. Start by knowing when to ask for help. Creation isn’t always linear, and different marketers have different areas of content expertise. 

A skilled writer, for example, might not be the best fit to create a polished product demo video. Assigning the right projects to the right people, both internally and externally, can make sure deadlines are met and content is published regularly.

You can also work smarter by prioritizing quick wins over biting off more than you can chew with a mammoth project involving multiple stakeholders.

5. Maximize your creative time

Most people know when they work best: some are early birds, some are night owls, and many fall somewhere in between. When working to meet content production deadlines and goals, know when you’re the most productive and protect that time.

Hybrid and remote work can be a blessing and a curse for protecting creative time. On the one hand, remote work presents a unique opportunity to focus on content production without the routine distractions of an office environment. On the other hand, meeting-heavy days and at-home distractions can hinder the content development process, too. 

One solution is to block dedicated distraction-free time on your public calendar. If you’re a morning person, for example, blocking off a few hours in the morning once a week can help carve out dedicated time to concentrate on content creation. 

The other important thing to remember is that creativity doesn’t happen strictly between the hours of 9 AM and 5 PM. Make asynchronous work schedules work for you and your creativity.

Creating content at scale is all about progress over perfection

Creating impactful content that meets your goals is possible. Start by understanding your buyer personas and using them to narrow down the scope of your content.

Then, focus on the existing content you can update or repurpose to save yourself some creative time. Stop self-editing your work as you go and focus on making progress with a piece one word or design at a time.

Finally, find ways to be more efficient in your day-to-day, whether that’s through declining meetings to hit your content deadline or by asking for help when you need it. Creating high-quality content is within your reach.

Want to read the full eBook? Check it out on the Juice. 🧃