It’s tempting to think that the creation of web content has always been different from the creation of offline content.
After all, it’s the web, right? Everything is different.
But if you think about it, the content creation process for websites is not so very different from its offline counterparts.
That is to say, it is generally a top down process.
Whether you are the editor of a print magazine or a website, your job has been to build a publication schedule and publish articles, features, reviews, news, guides and so on.
Sure, you listen to your readers. That’s the same whether you work online or offline. And yes, you watch out for trends. You try to identify what’s new and, as always, you balance your editorial needs with the sometimes conflicting needs of those who place advertising in your magazine, or on your website.
But one way or another, the content funnel is fed from the top. It’s a top down process.
That process has worked just fine, both offline and online, until recently. Or, more specifically, until the growth of social media.
Social media spreads content from the bottom up. Yes, some people share directly from the funnel, as published content first appears. But the bulk of sharing takes place between friends, followers and contacts.
If I find a great article online, it probably won’t be because I’m a direct fan of the site where it is published. I’ll find it because it was recommended to me by a friend, follower or contact.
In other words, you can still funnel down to your “list” of direct followers, friends and contacts, but you won’t tap into the true power of social media – which is the sharing between the connected millions that goes way beyond your own list – unless you start looking at content creation in a slightly different way.
What is that slightly different way of creating content?
Step one is to stop publishing only from the top down, according to your editor’s content calendar.
Instead, take your inspiration, and build your upcoming content calendar, based on what your followers, friends and contacts like to share.
How do you do this? Start with some simple research. Take a look at the content you have produced which went on to be shared the most. Make a list, and identify any common qualities that made people want to share it across their own networks of followers, friends and contacts.
Next, do the same with other sites in your space. See which of their content pages have been shared the most. And again, figure out why.
Do some research on your favorite social media sites and see what’s popular, and what’s trending.
Once you have identified the elements that make content shareable, within your broad audience of prospects, write new content with those elements in mind.
This is how the funnel turns into a cycle. Instead of simply coming up with content ideas and publishing them from the top down, identify the most sharable content ideas within the social media sites you use, and leverage the elements that made them so popular.
Do this, and you’ll be reaching more than just the sum of your own, direct followers, friends and contacts.
You’ll be reaching a whole new universe of readers, simply by creating content that people love to share.
To jump start your search for shareable content, you may want to sign up for membership at Web Content Cafe, where we publish a new content idea daily, five days a week. And most of those ideas are social media friendly.
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