What It Takes to Sustain Content Creation for Your Business

Oct 20

Creating content isn’t just a task—it’s a full-time job that requires focus, intention, and consistent effort. As a business owner, you need to understand your audience, build rapport, test new ideas, and plan strategically. Content creation and content marketing are essential, but they won’t happen unless you make them a priority. Whether you manage content in-house or hire an agency, investing time and resources is key to success.

Let’s break down the process into five simple steps to help you create a sustainable content strategy for your business.

Content Creation: A 5-Step Process

1. If It’s Not Written Down, It’s Not a Plan

One of the most important steps in content creation is devising a written strategy. Just like setting personal goals, writing down your content marketing goals and breaking them into actionable steps increases your chances of success. Your strategy should define your mission, identify your audience personas, and outline the types of content you’ll create and how you’ll distribute and promote it.

To summarize: Set clear goals, break them down into steps, and commit to a time frame.

2. Use Analytics and Insights

Keeping track of your content’s performance can be overwhelming, but it’s crucial for long-term success. Use analytics tools to review how your content is performing and learn more about your customers. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer built-in analytics that help you see what’s working and what’s not.

Using these insights, you can improve your future content by identifying trends, leveraging past successes, and delivering even more relevant content to your target audience.

3. Build the Right Team

Content creation requires the right people. Whether you use your existing staff, hire a freelancer, or bring on an agency, you need a team with experience, creativity, and organizational skills. Content doesn’t create itself—it’s a collaborative process that relies on talented individuals to execute.

If you’re building a team in-house, consider those who are organized and familiar with your business goals. If hiring externally, make sure to do your research or check freelancer reviews to find the best fit for your business.

4. Use an Editorial Calendar

An editorial calendar is more than just a scheduling tool—it’s the backbone of your content strategy. By organizing your ideas, campaigns, and timelines in one place, you can streamline your content creation process and become more efficient. Over time, you’ll be able to see which days or times of day work best for posting, allowing you to optimize your content for maximum engagement.

A well-structured content calendar can also help your team make informed decisions about future campaigns, ensuring you’re always improving and refining your strategy.

5. Know Where Your Content Goes

Content creation is only part of the equation. Knowing where to distribute your content is just as important as creating it. Whether you focus on social media, local news outlets, or YouTube, your distribution strategy must align with your business goals.

A good rule of thumb is to focus on one platform at a time. Dominate that space before diversifying into other channels. By taking a strategic approach to distribution, you’ll see a higher return on investment (ROI) and better results overall.

Should You Create Content In-House or Hire an Agency?

Now that you know what goes into content creation, the next question is: who will do the work? If you’re not managing content personally, you’ll need to decide whether to hire someone internally, work with freelancers, or partner with an agency.

In-House: If you have a talented “do-it-all” employee, they may be able to handle your content needs. Give them the resources they need to succeed and see what they can do!
Freelancers: Websites like freelancer.com and upwork.com can connect you with freelancers who specialize in content marketing. Freelancers can be a more affordable option, and many come with experience scaling projects for small businesses.
Agencies: A full-service agency can help you scale your marketing operation by providing a team of professionals, including project managers, designers, copywriters, and ad specialists. While agencies tend to be more expensive, they are built to handle larger workloads and provide a comprehensive solution to your content creation needs.