Hello,
It’s a bit of a lo-fi newsletter this week. No pretty pictures or the usual long read. Instead, I want to illustrate why sustainable content is so flipping important. In fact, I’d argue that it’s the most important thing you can do in digital marketing overall.
And here’s why:
Content that is sustainable has intent and purpose. It ultimately leads to consistent content output, an unfailing content system, and positions your business as a legitimate, trustworthy brand.
I put that as a nice quote but it’s actually just me saying it. I think it carries more gravitas as a quote.
But it’s also entirely true.
Having a sustainable content system means I deliver on certain things each week. On the weeks where I have more time, I do a bit more. And the weeks where time is pushed, I sometimes mess with the formats (ahem) but never the system.
That’s not to say the content system remains the same. Not at all. A couple of times a year I look over it for both myself and my clients and see what is and what is not working. This is on top of weekly once-overs on the analytics and monthly reviews.
These all help tweak what matters and give opportunities to make the best use of time and resources.
Instead, working in a way where I have a content system that underpins everything means that I can flex when I need. Is also ensures that everything goes out and works damn hard for its existence.
A content system that works for you
Now, I’d love to share my content system with you, but the thing is, it might not work for you. In fact, I have a slightly different system underpinning each client content because their individual needs are different. They use different platforms, have different goals, and different team sizes. This all means that the system I use for little old me isn’t going to work for a national company with a marketing or brand manager.
There are lots of considerations and moving parts that need to fit around the content marketing.
And that’s before we look at how the content supports the customer journey. All of these things are essential for creating consistent content.
It’s why all those out-of-the-box systems online might work for the person selling it or a business that they’ve had but they can make you feel a bit like a busy fool.
Last week, I had a lovely chat with Janine Coombes. I mention this because I can’t claim her brilliant brain thinking as my own. She asked the pointed question: for what end?
It was about something totally other than business but I realised it’s the question I ask a lot when looking at the individual pieces of content in a wider content system.
Why does this exist?
For what end?
What product or service is this ultimately leading to?
If I can’t answer these questions, then I go back to the client and ask them why they are creating this content in the first place.
Content needs to have a purpose, or else it’s a pretty waste of time at best or fulfilling an urge to boost the ego at worst.
If I’m brutally honest with myself, the originating purpose of this newsletter was a creative release for wanting to dig into ideas that might not necessarily fit onto my website. I’m not entirely sure its purpose has evolved past that.
Sustainable so you don't lose your mind
The other reason you need to be absolutely certain that the content you’re committing to create is sustainable is so that you don’t end up down burnout lane.
Always understand what the minimum is that you need to achieve your goals. This looks different for every business. Your minimum needs to work with you. Whether you’re having a bad week or you simply don’t feel like it.
Understand what are the need-to-haves and what are the nice-to-haves in your content output.
Then you can sustain that output no matter what life throws at you.
This week, I underestimated how much energy travelling to a funeral would take. It was a five-hour round trip plus the emotional time there. Knowing that I have options to play a little with this email has meant I could take some time to realign and not feel like I’m chasing my tail.
These options are:
Play with the format a little (as you can see here and as I’ve done before in the form of lists and poetry)
Adapt a blog for this newsletter (repurpose the content)
Do a round-up of nice content news that I think you’ll find interesting or helpful.
Each of those takes less time than my usual research and writing time on this newsletter. Yet, I’m still creating content that’s on a timescale which feels sustainable. The key is to understand how much time I want to spend on the normal format each week. Knowing that is sustainable most weeks helps with having a bit of a backup when I think there are 36 hours in a day.
Finally, when you put sustainable content at the heart of what you do, you think more deeply about what you want to achieve. This means the campaigns and content you create are more likely to land with your potential customers. And you’re showing up when you say you will for the reasons that matter to both you and your audience.
That’s got to be better than haphazardly chucking stuff out and hoping for the best.
That’s it for this week.
The newsletter will be back to normal next.
Fiona
ps. Everything in this newsletter is what I teach with the PIMP My Content programme. Happy to have a chat if you’re stuck with inconsistent content that doesn’t create sales.