Content Creation & Strategy Is Less About You

Credit: Kyle Johnson

Don’t jump the gun yet. Let me explain.

The content creation and strategy process may start out “being about you,” but eventually the focus should shift to your audience.

Your goal is to figure out how to provide the most value for your fans/customers through your content.

During the initial stages of the creation process, and even strategy, spend time figuring out what kind of content you want to do to market your brand. It’s the time when you figure out what you want to create, what platform you want to build on and any and all artistic approaches.

But, once you figure it all out, you must flip the switch immediately.

Start thinking about the wants and needs of your audience.

What value can you give your audience through your content?

How can you create content that’s valuable in their eyes? What’s the middle ground between what you want and what they want? Is there something specific that they enjoy the most about your content?

Figuring out the answers to these questions will help you determine the next steps for your content and strategy.

Here’s a personal example:

Back in 2017, I created an entertainment podcast called Grass Routes Podcast with my friend Brandon killabh Hall. Content wise, we were able to find a niche lane within our market. 

Our focus starting out was on telling the unique stories of influencers and celebrities like Joe Budden and Cyhi the Prynce. Over time, our audience caught tidbits of our personal lives and stories within the episodes, which made them want to learn more about me and Brandon as people. Soon enough, they voiced their wants and we listened.

We made the decisions to have our own episodes called Rooted, where we not only address personal things about ourselves but also provide our own unique thoughts on pop culture. Once we listened to our fans and decided to do our own and guest episodes, major improvements followed.

Our platform has gone viral and was picked up by most of the major music publications out now, we’ve been in talks about guest appearances and content opportunities with major brands and record labels, and more importantly we’ve built a loyal community that’s leading us to our “true 1,000 fans.”

But, none of this would’ve happened if we didn’t simply listen to our fans and made the content more enjoyable for them.

Your audience will openly tell you what they want and value, you just have to be willing to listen.

Remember, it’s not about you, it’s mostly about them.

Thanks for reading! You can find me on Instagram and Twitter talking about content strategy, pop culture, video games and life!