How To Create More Quality Content (With the Little Time You Have)

If you’re a marketer, you know the importance of quality content.  You hear it every day.  Google the phrase, “Content is king,” and you will be rewarded with over 1.1 million pieces of content.  The latest search engine algorithm tweaks reward sites that consistently produce original pieces.  Without memorable, engaging content, you are simply shouting your brand’s message at customers and, more likely than not, driving them away in droves.

Velocity Partners recently reported that, “Nine out of ten B2B marketers will be producing much more content,” this year compared to last.  Meanwhile, Social Media Examiner found that, “64% of marketers [say] that producing enough content [is] their number-one challenge.”

The dilemma for B2B marketers, especially those with preciously limited time and resources, is how to keep the content coming without compromising either its quality or their other duties.  There are only so many hours in a day and so many topics we can approach from a fresh, useful perspective.

With that in mind, I have a few suggestions for marketers who are at their wit’s end about what content to put out next.

Your business probably has a significant amount of content pieces that have gone unused or unseen for months, if not years! Why not brush the dust off and repurpose them? (Note: I am not referring to your office’s “Call Me Maybe” or “Gangnam Style” tribute videos.)

All joking aside, look back in your blog archives, at older white papers, etc. and see if there are messages that still ring true.  Perhaps you wrote a piece detailing how to handle a social media crisis.  You could take a few of the key insights from that article and repackage them relating to this week’s Burger King and Jeep Twitter hacks.  With a few minor tweaks, you have a brand new blog post that is both relevant and sharable.

Marketers can also take old content pieces and convert the message to another medium.  For example, record a GooglePlus Hangout or a podcast where you and your team discuss your latest whitepaper.  Not only are these relatively low-maintenance productions, but they can also reach sectors of your audience that are more averse to reading lengthy content.

Another quick and easy way to produce engaging content is through crowdsourcing.  Many B2B marketing blogs post lists recounting their favorite blog posts and videos of the week.  Ask each member of your team to send one or two articles they found interesting, organize them into a list, and voila! A blog that took minutes to create that will garner page views and prove you are on top of your industry’s happenings.

What do you think about the continued increase in content being produced by B2B marketers? Do you agree with Velocity Partners that there is “too much” content being distributed every day? How have you and your team been able to keep the content coming without sacrificing quality?