5 Can’t Miss Ideas for Creating Great Content

By Stephanie Wetzel

At the end of the day, our role as bloggers is to create great, compelling content for our readers. It’s the reason we are here, the reason people sign up for our list, and the unspoken expectation that has been set in our reader’s mind.

But what constitutes “great” anyway? How does one define this undefinable term? Here are 5 must-read articles on the intricacies of content marketing that can help take your “great” content to new (and higher) levels of return.

# 5 :: Never forget to study what the “big” brands are doing.

They employ some of the best in the business and their strategies for content and engagement are worth noticing. Check out this break-down of Coca-Colas strategy from Copyblogger.

#4 :: Remember! You don’t have to be aggressive to engage.

Readers respect you for respecting them. Check out this detailed strategy Pat Flynn employs over at Smart Passive Income. With a 50 to 70% open rate on his emails, the man is doing right by his readers.

#3 :: Don’t leave them guessing.

I don’t support cat-napping, but this article from Firepole Marketing has some great points about creating clear calls-to-action. Your readers will always appreciate the directive. If you leave them guessing, they usually just leave.

#2 :: Engage readers with the techniques of fiction writing.

Your blog posts can be more than information, they can truly tell a story. Employ some of the techniques great fiction writers use and see what happens. This post from Problogger gets you started with four of them.

#1 :: Study what new technologies can bring to the table.

Don’t overlook “new” and “shiny”—they can be game changers for your business. Just don’t get caught up in the hype. Make sure your time investment is producing a return. Here’s a great content plan for Google+ from Copyblogger.