You Already Have Something to Write About
The blank page problem is real—but it's not the hardest problem.
The hardest problem is getting past the belief that posting requires something important to say. It doesn't. It requires having something true to say. And if you do work you're proud of, you already have that.
Let’s start simple with some basics.
What Content Marketing Actually Is
Content marketing is not advertising—it's documentation with a strategic point of view. The Content Marketing Institute provides a succinct summary:
“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Thankfully, reaching and motivating your audience is easier than it sounds: You already know things your clients or customers don't. Writing about what you know builds trust before anyone's even had a chance to hit your contact form. That trust inspires action.
#Goals
Going viral online is not the end goal of content marketing. The goal is to be findable and credible when someone who needs your help goes looking.
To make sure your content is easy for your audience to find, it needs a place to live, and it needs to be well organized. You can learn more about that in our Information Architecture (IA) resource.
Speaking of structure: Let’s take a look at the basic structure of a post for content marketing.
What a Post Actually Is
We’ll get into the mechanics in a future article, but the top-level anatomy of a post is simple:
A title that says what it's about
A body of content that delivers on the title
A closer that gives the reader something to do next
An excerpt to quickly summarize the post for archive views or other areas featuring multiple posts
That's it! Everything else is refinement.
Where a post lives on your site—what category, what section—also matters. A great post filed in the wrong place doesn't get found. If you haven’t yet, bookmark that IA article we mentioned before.
In the meantime, let’s talk subject matter.
You Already Have Something to Write About
It’s never too late to learn how to get started with content marketing. We’ll make it easy to break free of “I don’t know what to say,” when it comes to drafting your first post.
First, focus on the “work” itself. Whether you’re talking about a product or service, or reflecting on a group of projects, consider: What problem(s) got solved? What did you accomplish?
You could stop there. Or add interest by including your unique expertise or point of view. What about your product or service saves people time, money, embarrassment, or joy? In what ways? What experiences led you to provide a particular product or service in a certain way?
Process is another angle. If you’re offering services, how do you approach each type of project, and why does it matter? How do you know when it’s time to refine or adapt, and how do you tackle a need for change? If you’re selling a thing, how is it made?
Writing doesn’t have to be complicated—just informative and factual with an approachable style. Focus on what you know and what parts of it are most important to your audience. Share it in simple, plain language. Be open and inviting, and include clear ways for the reader to engage.
Once you get into the habit, sharing what you do, how you do it, and why you do it becomes second nature.
Building the Practice
Smash that publish button over and over again. You’re not connecting with anyone until you publish! So, here are some quick tips to help get you into the writing groove:
Write first, refine later. Don't feel pressured to optimize before you start. Get an outline down, start drafting the post, do what you can to stay in the flow, and polish as a last step before publishing.
Consistency compounds. One post a month for a year is more valuable than a perfect post you never finish. The more you publish, the more content there is to leverage for marketing, and the easier it will be to reach your audience.
Start with what you know. What's the last question someone asked you that you had to explain from scratch? Write that down. That's your first post.
Wrapping Up
The first step is getting started. Write something down. It doesn’t have to be perfect or publishable from the start. Think about what you know—the low-hanging fruit—and shape it into something publishable.
When you feel stuck, remember we have resources to guide you through the post setup process. When you’re ready to think about where the content lives, tap into our IA article. And stay tuned for more resources on content coming soon
Don’t have time to create posts for content marketing? Need help organizing your content? Let’s talk about how our team can make your content marketing lift easier.
