For some, the term “digital content” immediately brings to mind surfing the web. But, you don’t need to be on a computer or phone to see digital content. It’s literally everywhere and it’s powerful.

Imagine this:

You and your family are in your car driving home and decide to stop at the supermarket to pick up the bread you need for dinner. Little John in the backseat asks you to turn on the radio so he can hear some music. But, instead of music what do you hear? An ad for Choo Choo Chocolate Milk (your kids favorite!). You could recognize that train sound anywhere!  “Great, he’s going to ask for that all day.” you think.

Now, you get to the supermarket and there’s a billboard right next to the dairy section. It’s bright with flashing lights. It says, “Hop on the train to Choo Choo land!” You keep walking toward the bread.

Finally! You make it to the self-checkout and little John says, “LOOK! IT’S CHOO CHOO CHOCOLATE MILK! Can I have some pleaseeeeee?”

Bam – That’s the power of digital content. Taking on many formats makes to unstoppable.

Types of Digital Content

Digital content/digital media is defined as any content that is in digital form.

There are 5 types of digital content.

They are:

• Video
• Audio
• Text
• Images
• Visual Stories (think Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram…etc).

Things like podcasts, Youtube videos, and blogs may be some of the most recognized types of digital content but even things like digitally updated GPS and weather reports are forms of digital content.

The Importance of Digital Content

Over the years digital content has become increasingly important. The ability to store a digital file of something, release it to the public, and then have the ability to update or change it and release it again virtually within seconds is wonderful.

I remember a time (do I sound old yet) when you would see newspaper stands all around on city corners. Some people only got their news from these physical printed newspapers. But, if something changed from the time it was printed to when you happened to read it, you’d have to wait until it was updated and printed again before you would get that new info. Now, that can all happen in the blink of an eye.

From a business standpoint, this makes all the difference between being seen and not. A business owner can create a whole digital marketing plan to create awareness of their brand and distribute it to people on the other side of the world all from a laptop.

Creating Digital Content for Marketing

So, how do you go about creating this digital content and use it in marketing? Well, no matter what you are creating, a good place to start is with market research. Some things to consider are:

1. Who do I want to see this information?

This will help you to determine exactly what type of content you should create.

2. Where will my audience see this content?

You want to be sure that your digital creation is going to be available in the appropriate place. Do they want to listen, watch, or read my content?

3. SEO – Keyword Research

Finding out the best words or phrases and where to place them within your content is essential. There are algorithms that search through digital content to pull data to the correct places. It’s important to choose the right things to say for it to be seen in optimal places.

Use resources like SemRush and AnswerthePublic to find out what topics your audience want to know about and what words they are using in searching to find out the answers. Use that information to create something with real value. Those algorithms also look for quality.

Ensure your content is easy to digest and appealing to your audience.

Digital Content Strategy

I wish there was a solid answer on exactly what should be used to gain a specific result. But that’s just not the case. There are many strategies out there and many people find success in different ways. You’ll need to research and test out different strategies to figure out what works best for you to reach your desired goals.

One of the things that I hope everyone tries is digital content repurposing. Create one piece of digital content and then use it in multiple ways. (more on that in my next article)

Ready to Create?

You don’t need to be an expert on content creation. You can use the information available to you to create some awesome content to fit your needs.

If you become overwhelmed or don’t have the time or desire to do it yourself, you can always hire someone via a direct website like this one or through a website like Upwork or Fiverr.

Go out there and get started!