What comes under content creation? 15 hacks for getting started if you are a complete beginner

If you are a beginner or just starting with content creation for your business, you will have a lot of questions. What? How? When? Where? Why? But the biggest question that puzzles all new entrepreneurs is ‘what comes under content creation?’

Is it writing? Is it design? Is it blogging? Is it videos? Is it only social media? Heck, that’s a lot to learn, right? Hey, I got your back. In this post, you will get access to 15 hands-on content creation hacks. Awesome, isn’t it? Bonus: When you use these hacks, you’ll start 10 steps ahead of the competition, save a ton of time, and create content that converts.

30-second summary

Hey all you fans of Flash, if you’re here just for the crème de la crème, I get you. Well, that’s why I created this 30-second section so that you can catch a glimpse of what’s about to unfold. Like it? Why not, read it all.

• Ideas: A lot of content creation means a lot of content ideas too. Learn how to go about it with 3 simple hacks
• Structure: Having ideas is good but knowing how to present those ideas is great. Learn how to present your ideas with 3 simple hacks
• Visualization: Nah, there are more ways to do content than just write about it. Learn about 3 simple visualization hacks
• Compiling: All said and done, you’ll need to ultimately put it all together so that it sells. Here are 3 hacks to compile content
• Publishing: Well, all this content is not meant to stay in your digital warehouse. Learn 3 hacks to publish it efficiently

Hey, if you’re just landing here, check out the first 2 parts of the series ‘Everything about Content Creation: Basics’.

What is content creation? And what does it mean for your small business?

How to create content for social media? 5 proven tips for getting started

What comes under content creation?

Without going fancy over content creation or giving you some x-step formulas to work upon, let’s get to the basics. What comes under content creation? Well, everything that you see when you go online is some form of content.

Do you need to learn how to create it all? Heck, no! Do you need to know about all forms of content? Yes. Because awareness of types of content will help you decide which content type will work best for your individual business.

Let’s start with the 5 broad types of content categories:

1. Written text (e.g. website copy, blogs, social media captions, marketing copy, ads copy etc)
2. Images (e.g. social media post visuals, infographics, product photography etc)
3. Video (e.g. audio-visual content, films, short videos, screen recordings etc)
4. Audio (e.g. podcasts, songs, commentary etc)
5. Animation (e.g. animated films, animated clips; illustrated videos, 2D/3D films etc)

Fabulous! Now you know about the broad categories of content. Remember, there are a ton of variations under each of these categories. I made a detailed list of types of content you can create. Check the list of 20 types of content you can create for your business.

If you are wondering I did not answer your question about what comes under content creation, don’t fret! That’s where we are headed. For the sake of simplicity, I have divided the entire content creation journey into 5 steps.

PS: My Content creation course covers these exact steps in detail. If you are interested in learning the ropes of content creation, you can reserve your spot here for special pricing. I promise you will get the deal that I will only offer to a select few. Grab your spot here.

01: Content ideas

Everyone you meet will have an idea for your content. But do they all qualify for creating content? Perhaps no. In fact, when you start your online business and try to create content to promote your product/service or get some sales, you might have a lot of ideas too. Should you just start creating content with these ideas? It might be a bad idea. Here are 3 content creation hacks for the content ideas stage.

3 hacks for content ideas you can start using today:

Gather ideas

• Don’t keep the ideas in your head. They will be gone before you know it. Maintain a content ideas bank. Nah, nothing fancy, just a plain simple online document that you can access anytime, anywhere. I recommend using something like Notion, Google Keep, Notes, Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.
• This is where you will record all your ideas without qualifying them. Treat this as a bank where you dump all the ideas, good or bad, yours or others, practical or impractical, whatever.

Sort Ideas

• Sort the ideas based on how you get your customers. What is their journey till they buy your product or service? How do they eventually come to pay you? Write down all the stages of your customer journey and start grouping your content ideas under these stages. By doing this, you will clearly see which areas have more content and which areas need more ideas. You will also clearly see the gaps in your content plan.

Plan ideas

• Third, use a basic calendar to plot your content ideas. Spread the ideas around the customer journey. Depending on your current business offers, you might choose to talk more about particular stages.

Remember, you are not developing any content ideas here. It’s all about building a massive list of ideas grouped neatly under identifiable categories.

PS: if you are unable to come up with content ideas for your social media, download my free ‘Unlimited Content Ideas Generator’ ebook. You will be able to come up with hundreds of qualified content ideas within minutes.

Get the free ebook here.

02: Content Structuring

Amazing, you’re already rolling! Oh boy! When you approach content creation with focus and a plan, it looks way too easy, right? The next step in what comes under content creation is all about putting a structure to your ideas. Let’s dive into 3 hacks that will help you plan better and faster than your competition.

3 hacks for content structuring you can start using today:

Identify your content type

• Remember the types of content we identified earlier? Yeah, the 20 content types you can create. It’s time to pick the ones that will take you the least amount of time to create and get your content maximum eyeballs. You can choose the content-type based on the following factors:
  1. Are you comfortable creating this type of content?
  1. Have you done this before?
  1. Do you have enough resources to create this content?
  1. Is this type of content common across your industry?
  1. Will you be able to create this type of content for the next 6 months?
  1. Can you do it yourself or you will need external support?

Create a template

• Once you have zeroed in on your preferred type of content, it’s time to create a structure aka template. Remember, having a template will save you a ton of time, allow you to mass-produce content, and replicate the content as many times as possible.
• Confused about how to create content templates? Well, you don’t have to worry about it. There are a ton of free resources available on the internet. Check out my favourites Hubspot, Neil Patel, and Copyblogger.

03: Content Visualization

Look at you ninja! You now have a rich content bank, you know the type of content you want to create and you have access to content templates that will help you get started. Easy-peasy, right? The next important step that comes under content creation is content visualization. Content visualization is simply a way of defining how your content will look like. What will the end user see? What colours, font, images etc? Now, you don’t need a designer to do it. Basic content visualization is simple.

3 hacks for content visualization you can start using today:

Create an image bank

• First, create an image bank. Collect as many images as you can that represent your brand, your product or service. And you don’t have to spend a penny at this stage. Subscribe to royalty-free image websites and start. My favourite is ‘Unsplash’. There are a lot of other players but this one is amazing.

Organize content

• Second, keep the following handy in a separate folder:
  1. Your brand fonts
  1. Your brand colours (RGB, CMYK, HEX codes)
  1. Your brand logo or logos in PNG or transparent background format
  1. Your brand tagline, if any
  1. I use OneDrive for all my resources, you can choose to start with Google Drive or Dropbox too

Visualize your content

• Third, start the visualization process by adopting any of the following three ideas:
  1. Text on the picture (if you’re creating an image)
  1. Subtitles on Videos (if you’re creating videos)
  1. Text formatting basics (use of headings, sub-headings, titles, links etc)
  1. Remember, a lot of content creation platforms offer all the tips and guidance on optimal size, dimensions etc. When in doubt, always look for what the platform recommends.
• Bonus hack: If you are not comfortable using any of the image creation techniques, start with basic software like PowerPoint or Keynote. Use basic shapes like boxes, circles, speech bubbles, notification styles etc to capture your message
• Bonus hack 2: Sign-up for Canva free account and check out their template gallery. In fact, you can start creating all your content from Canva.

Remember, you’re a business owner. Content creation is just a part of your business.

Dev Matharia

04: Content compilation

Ok, this is the easiest part of it all. Why? Because you’ve put in all the effort, you’ve done the hard work, and now it’s time to put it all together. It’s time to stitch the parts as a piece of content. This is also the stage where you will bring out your key message which includes:

• Your main content i.e. image, video, text, audio
• Your captions, if any
• Your CTA or call to action
• Your links (sales page, funnel, downloads, website, eCommerce store etc)
• Your brand keywords, your industry keywords, hashtags if applicable etc

3 hacks for content compilation you can start using today:

Batch create content

• Go for content batching here. Ooh, too techie, eh? It’s rather simple. Compile your content in batches. For e.g. create the main components on day one. Create allied components like captions, CTAs, links etc on day two. Put them all together on day three. This way you will never get stuck on the hamster wheel of creating everything in one go. This is where a lot of creators fail. Batch it, whatever way you like and compile it on a day when there is no creation part involved.

Organize content elements

• Use separate folders for every post and add media in folders. Below is a screengrab of how I segregate my blog post content. Trust me, the more you organize in the beginning, the better you will do when your content volume goes up.

Compile by type of content

• Compile content by types for better productivity. For e.g. image type on day one, video type on day two, audio type on day three.

05: Content publishing

Well, here we are. From content ideas to content publishing, this is exactly what comes under content creation. You may argue that is it really so simple, Dev? I would be lying if I tell you this is all you need to know.

But this is a great way to get started with content creation if you are a beginner or just starting. The more you want to learn before you start, the greater the confusion. When it comes to creating content for social media for your business, the best strategy is to learn the basics and start.

Hey, it’s time to dig deeper into the fifth and final stage of content creation i.e. content publishing. In simple words, now that you have created and compiled all the content, it’s time to publish and place the content in front of your ideal audience.

3 hacks for content publishing you can start using today:

Plan and schedule the content

• Never publish manually until it’s a last-minute content piece. By planning, creating, and scheduling your content in advance, you will retain your sanity and continue to focus on other important areas of your business. My hack: schedule it all in advance at least for 7 days.

Use auto-posting tools

• Use tools like Facebook Creator Studio, Tailwind, Buffer, Hootsuite, Preview, or any other content scheduler of your choice. Make sure the scheduler is able to auto-publish.

Publish across platforms

• Don’t just publish once. Publish the same content across social media channels. Make sure you change the captions, CTAs, content formatting according to the type of platform. By publishing your content across multiple platforms, you will attract more eyeballs and eventually more customers.
• Bonus hack: Create content for all sizes during batching. For e.g. create one image and resize it for Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram on day one. Create one video and resize it for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok etc on day one.

Oh boy! You’ve come a long way. From a beginner in content creation to the next level. This is fascinating.

When it comes to your online business, you may not always be able to outsource everything under content creation. It’s always beneficial to know the basics, the right strategy, the correct way, and DIY.

Dev Matharia

Make your you don’t turn into a content creator. By scheduling, batching, adopting a content planning system, you will not only save a ton of time creating content, but you’ll also be able to focus on things that are crucial for your business.

Conclusion

• You’ll need a lot of content ideas to start
• Pick the type of content and stick to it using a template
• Envision how you want your audience to perceive your brand and visualize your content
• Save time, money, and effort by planning your content in advance
• Don’t just publish the content once. Utilize all available platforms where your audience is already present

That’s all folks! The five stages of what comes under content creation. If you liked this post, please leave a comment. It helps me continue to create content that will boost your business. Why not share it with someone who might need this information or someone who is just starting with content creation for their own business.

PS: Part III of the content series ‘Everything about content creation: Basics’.