If you’ve known me online for any length of time, you’ll know that content is one of my favourite things to talk about.

Which is why I was SO excited to write today’s post!

As a little girl reading book after book and writing in journal after journal, content has always been part of my path.

When I introduce myself as a content creator, people can sometimes do one of the following: (a) look at me with a puzzled look on their face, (b) ask “what does that mean?” or (c) ask me every question under the sun to find out what it entails as a job.

After I explain what I do and how I help bloggers and business owners grow their online presence through content marketing, an answer can usually be “Hey, I need someone like that!”

And that’s why I’m here. So first, I wanted to run through exactly what content creators do - the same explanation I try to give everyone.

So what exactly is a content creator?

A content creator is someone who is responsible for the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media. They usually target a specific end-user/audience in specific contexts. A content creator can contribute any of the following:

Blog posts
Email newsletters
Social media copy (one of my favourites!)
Video marketing/editing
eBooks
Graphic design
...and more!

They can also create offline content such as brochures, client packets and so on, but today, we’ll be focusing specifically on digital content creation.

4 of the best reasons you need an online content creator

#1 | CONTENT IS THE CORE OF YOUR BRAND

Your web design, images, fonts and colours do make up a huge part of your brand. But content is what makes people take action.

Think of visual marketing as a first impression and content marketing as the impression that lasts. Telling the story of your brand is what builds loyalty (people buy from people, remember?) and in order to tell your brand’s story you need to use words.

Visuals don’t give the full message. On my Coaching page, if I simple put a picture up of me on my laptop, would that help people understand what it is I actually do?

It’s a generalised example I know, but it still backs up the fact that words are important. Mix the two together, with branded visuals and actionable copy, that’s the start of a pretty perfect online marketing strategy.

#2 | CONTENT WILL CONNECT YOU WITH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Your website acts as the shopfront for your brand and is there to do one job - tell the right people about what you do and connect you to those people. There are many ingredients that help to accomplish this, but content is involved in every aspect of the process.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways content can help build relationships with your audience:

Each blog post can contain a personal story, so while you’re teaching them, you’re also connecting with them.
If you write about something they struggle with and show that you understand, they’ll feel understood and be able to relate to you.
Content enables you to use your own voice to share what’s special about your brand and what makes you different.
It adds up to the whole mission, values and the “why” behind why you do what you do.

#3 | CONTENT IS A SURE-FIRE WAY TO INCREASE YOUR TRAFFIC

I can’t bear it when I go to someone’s website and there’s just a series of images on there with no information whatsoever.

I get that some people want to show off their photography and design skills, and they’re fantastic skills - but there’s one problem. While you write to impress your reader first, there’s also something else you’re working to impress: search engines.

There is MUCH more that goes into writing a blog post than we think, so it’s important to make sure we’re covering every aspect, from headlines and subheadings to sentence and paragraph length.

Be sure to select your keyword for each blog post and when it comes to your homepage, you want to include all your best offerings on there - shop my Instagram, your opt-in, mailing list, whatever goodies you’ve got.

This way you can make sure you’ve got the best of both words. Photos to enhance your brand and humanise yourself, and SEO-optimised content to let people who visit your website know who you are, what you’re offering and who you help.

#4 | CONTENT TAKES WEBSITE VISITORS ON A JOURNEY

Let’s say you’re looking for a wedding photographer (you know I’m all about weddings right now #bridetobe!)

You find one and head to her homepage. But all it features is a slideshow of her images. Nothing else. What do you do next? What step do you take? What action is there for you to do?

In this example, there’s a call-to-action missing.

In this example, the likelihood is, because you don’t know where to click next and there’s no action for you to take, you’re more likely to find the exit button and leave her website. See how simple this is? Your solution - take your audience on a journey. Think about where you want them to click and give them those options.