Content creation for online businesses is a must. With over 10 years of experience creating content online and millions of viewers, I’ve seen firsthand the power of content marketing for your brand.
More importantly, choosing the right content creation platform is crucial for boosting visibility, aligning with your ideal customer, and building a strong brand presence. It took me over 10 years to iron out the nuts and bolts, but I believe this strategy will be invaluable for your business. Keep in mind, there are nuances to selecting any platform, especially if you’re an influencer with your own strategy. However, for online business owners trying to target their ideal customer with organic growth, these principles are key.
First, I want to talk about the benefits of content creation.
Benefits of Content Creation for Online Businesses:
- Builds Brand Authority & Trust – Consistently sharing valuable content positions you as an expert in your niche, making customers more likely to trust and buy from you. It also allows others to share your content and expand your reach.
- Increases Visibility & Organic Reach – As mentioned earlier, because I’ve been creating online content for years, my organic reach has continued to grow. Search engines and social media platforms reward frequent, high-quality content, helping more people discover your business.
- Drives Traffic to Your Website – When you create high-quality content, you want to direct people to your website or main landing page. Well-optimized content brings visitors and potential customers to your site.
- Boosts Audience Engagement – High-quality, relevant content that solves problems encourages likes, shares, and comments, strengthening your relationship with your audience.
- Generates Leads & Sales – Strategic content helps guide potential customers through the buyer’s journey, from awareness to purchase.
- Differentiates You from Competitors – If all things are equal, your unique voice, insights, and storytelling help set your business apart from the competition.
- Provides Long-Term Value – Some of my most popular posts were created over five years ago and are still ranking on the first pages of Google. High-quality evergreen content (such as blogs, YouTube videos, and Pinterest pins) attracts leads for months—even years.
Questions to Consider Before Choosing Your Platforms:
- What are your goals? Are you building brand visibility, trying to get sales, or both? It’s essential to get clear on this step before creating content. When I started my blog, I tried to show up on every platform—Twitter (now X), Facebook (business and personal), Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and eventually TikTok—all by myself. It was impossible to create consistent, quality content on all of them. I quickly learned I needed to narrow my focus and be more strategic.
- What is your niche, and who is your ideal customer? Once you know this, research where your audience is already spending time. If you are creating content for your ideal audience, you should develop your content strategy with them in mind.
Related: How to Find Your Business Niche
- What type of content do you want to produce? Will it be written, video, or audio? When I started, I focused on blogging because I had recently earned my master’s in professional writing and wanted an outlet for my skills after freelancing for a while. I was a former actress with young kids, and my husband worked (and still works) in entertainment as a filmmaker. He even came up with the name “Tinseltown Mom,” which reflected our life and experiences.
- Where does your audience spend their time? Match your efforts to their preferred platforms. When I first started, I chose blogging because “mommy blogging” was very popular at the time, making the written format the best choice for my main platform.
- Which platforms align with your strengths and goals? Each platform caters to different needs. For example:
- TikTok is great for short, entertaining videos.
- Instagram is ideal for visual storytelling.
- Facebook is best for community building.
- YouTube is perfect for long-form evergreen content. (It’s important to note that although YouTube is a great long-form content platform, it is still considered a social media platform because it allows users to create, share, and interact with content.)
- LinkedIn is a must for B2B businesses.
- Pinterest drives website traffic for lifestyle or creative niches.
Choosing Your Platforms:
After considering your goals, skills, passions, audience preferences, and available time, I suggest choosing one long-format platform as your main platform, such as a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel. According to HubSpot, long-form content is written content between 1,000–7,500 words, while long-form video is generally over 10 minutes, according to many experts.
This is my strategy: I create one podcast episode per week, then use that content to craft a longer blog post. I then repurpose that content into shorter formats for my weekly email newsletter and my main social media channels, which are currently Instagram and Pinterest.
For you, I recommend choosing your main long-format platform first. Then, ensure you have an email newsletter where you share all of your content and offers. Next, select the best social media platform that you can consistently show up on to create shorter content. While some social media sites allow longer content, I still recommend having a dedicated long-format platform known for in-depth content, where you can nurture an audience seeking more time on your platform consistently.
By strategically choosing the right platform for your content creation efforts, you’ll be able to grow your online business more effectively and build a brand that lasts.
Listen to the Podcast Episode!
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