Are you dealing with a little (or a lot) of content creation stress? Are you struggling to create engaging content that gets seen while maintaining any semblance of work-life balance? You are not the only one! In today’s market, content marketing is PART OF THE JOB.  As any kind of business owner or entrepreneur can attest to, it seems like digital marketers have to hustle even more just to keep up, thanks to the advances in AI. AI has definitely changed the landscape of content marketing to make it EVEN more about QUALITY content over quantity. If you are already stressing about your content marketing or content creation in general, then you KNOW content creation can quickly turn into a hated part of your job. But I’ve been there, done that, and have some research to help you out!

Here are 7 tried and true tips to reduce content creation stress, and even make content creation fun again!

1. The first step in reducing stress is to make sure that your content goals and business goals align

Obviously, we all want to be the best, gain a ton of traction, and appear at the top of every search query we’re going for. But unless you have a giant marketing team and a huge budget, those aren’t realistic expectations. And unfortunately, a GREAT way to quickly experience burnout. 

No matter the size of your team or budget, and even if you have an entirely digital marketing agency,  you need to have clear expectations and a strategic approach to your content marketing. Know how much YOU (or your digital marketing agency) can handle and what will actually move the needle for your business. There’s no sense in putting a ton of time into social platforms if your ideal client isn’t hanging out there.

2. Build your content strategy around what’s actually SEARCHED

 Nothing will increase your content creation stress levels around content marketing more than to realize you busted your hiney to create something that nobody wants. Or at least something that nobody is searching for.

One of the most important shifts I made in my business was to realize that search engine optimization and keyword research were an integral part of any content marketing project. Now when I come up with a great idea for content, I plan keyword research as part of the content production process so that I know I can and will reach my target audience with new content ideas. 

Please know that no amount of research and keyword hacking strategies should take the place of effective communication strategies- which I outline more in this free guide.

Bonus tip- Feeling stifled with keyword research? I often like to come up with new ideas first and then do keyword research. I think this really helps to keep my creative energy up without feeling stifled by the search numbers and keyword dates.  This ultimately results in more creative content and less work stress. Win-Win. 

3. Build on more than one platform, but work SMART

It seems as though every time there is a shift in the algorithms on social media or even more Google updates, content marketers hit the freak-out button. This is not totally unfounded. But if you have strategically built out your content marketing efforts to include more than one long-form platform, you should be able to ride the waves without taking too big of a hit. 

This does not mean you need to double your content, it just means you need to repurpose it in a SMART way. 

I always recommend that clients and students plan out their blog posts first and then repurpose them for whatever other type of content they plan to create. If you don’t want to (or cannot) keep up with all of the trends on different platforms, consider hiring a social media specialist and let them repurpose blog posts for you!

While this blog is not dedicated to repurposing content- go grab this content repurposing sheet. It gives you my exact strategy to take one blog post and turn it into multiple social media posts, pieces of email marketing material, and even video content.

4. Create high-quality content

One of the best ways to ride out any changes in the latest trends is to always create high-quality content. At the end of the day, we, as content writers, should be creating content that helps people. So if you always have the question “Is this helpful?” at the forefront of your mind when you’re creating, you’ll avoid the double-edged sword of algorithm updates and have consistently great content. 

Bonus tip: Don’t create and publish content on the same day. Always create and then edit the next day when possible.

5. Set up your marketing schedule so that you can work ahead 

Let’s face it: we know that we are going to need to create content on a regular basis, but unless we plan well to make it happen, there will never be enough hours in a day to get it all done. Lack of planning just leads to butting up against tight deadlines and unnecessary stress. Planning out your content calendar in advance allows you to work ahead, batch work, and plan out your marketing campaigns around your promotions. When you plan out your content creation process so that you are ahead of deadlines, this not only saves you a ton of time and stress, but you’re able to spend less time on content creation overall because you are taking advantage of batch working. 

There is no escaping the need for great time management strategies in growing your business. Without a time management strategy, it will be harder to manage team members, have a healthy personal life, or even be able to take regular breaks and vacations. 

I have sung the praises of my friend Chelsi Jo’s Systemize Your Life and Systemize Your Business as being integral to my success. But if you’re not at a place to invest in that yet, here is one HOT tip: time how long it takes you to complete tasks so that you can plan accordingly. You can have the best software platform in the world for your project management, but you will never reach optimum performance if you don’t know how long things take.

Listen to Ep 26 and Ep 133 on streamlining your content creation process. And inside of The Organic Marketing Framework, I give you my exact process and workflow.

Bonus tip: Block out time on your Google calendar for creative work. This allows you to get your creative juices flowing AND still enjoy creating content for your business.

6. Create helpful content, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself to solve all the world’s problems in one post

For a long time, I felt like I had to give ALL of the tips and all of the strategies in one single piece of content. But in fact, we all need to be reminded of things multiple times to make big, lasting changes. One of the most excellent ways to meet your client’s needs is to remind them (over time) of the strategy and tips behind your methods again and again.  Have one clear goal per piece of content. Know what you are going to teach and what you want the reader to know, learn, and do at the end of that process. Don’t overcomplicate it! Your audience (and the algorithm) will thank you, I promise.

7. Use templates and create a documented content marketing strategy

Whatever form of content marketing you are working on, having and using your templates not only saves time but also reduces the mental load of content creation. And all of this frees you up to be more creative! Have a to-do list or a workflow for each type of content. In the list, include every little thing you need to do from idea inception to hitting publish. That way, no one forgets things, and everyone knows exactly what needs to be done. Save time AND don’t have to reinvent the wheel every week? Can I get an AMEN!? 

Episode Ep 134 has ideas for 15 different templates that you could create

Don’t Let Content Creation Stress Make You Lose Sight of the Big Picture

At the end of the day, your worth is NOT in the quality or quantity of content that you create. You are valuable because God created you, and Jesus died for you! All the relaxation techniques, systems, and strategies are great, but they won’t get to the heart of the matter if your satisfaction and peace aren’t found in Jesus. Yes, take care of your mental health. But know that you are loved by the most High God and valuable beyond words. When you know that, and apply the tips explained here, you can face stressful situations boldly, knowing that you’ll be okay. And when the algorithm inevitably changes AGAIN, you’ll know that you have things in place to still be successful and weather the changes.

If you are still struggling with content creation stress, let’s set up a call and chat about how our team can potentially help create content for you. We’ll establish clear goals for your content and put together an effective strategy to get more traffic to (and more sales from) your website. 

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