Stop creating content that doesn’t convert

The Kapost blog has a great post by Laura E. Peterson on creating what they call “brilliant microcontent” from a stable of Pillar Content.

A content pillar is, from KaPost, “a substantive piece of content on a specific topic or theme which can be broken into many derivative assets. These smaller pieces then drive traffic back to the main asset, which people download in exchange for their contact information.”

What Laura outlines as Pillar Content is actually three very strategic pieces of content that work really well together. I refer to something similar a lot called the Vanilla Ice Rule of Content Marketing, where I challenge digital marketers to create an intentional one-hit-wonder that they can live off of for a while.

I love how Laura’s simple plan outlines the type, format and goals for each of these content pieces.

Laura breaks Pillar Content into these 3 sales-funnel aligned pieces:

1. Appetizer
   Fun, engaging, curiosity-provoking – an infographic, SlideShare, or free webinar. Goal: engage and drive toward next piece.
2. Entree
   Major, hefty content asset – an eBook, a whitepaper, or a how-to guide. Goal: Gain email leads, educate.
3. Dessert
   Product or service-centric asset – a PDF, video or demo. Goal: Show how you solve their pain points.

The next step is to create smaller excerpts of content from your Pillars. Pull out data, stats, charts, quotes, screen-shots and more and share them on social.

Then build on this repurposed content with original micro-content. Laura has a great list of starting places for getting the original content just right.

Your end goal here is to engage an existing and new audience strategically around their pain point. Without forgetting that ultimately, it all needs to serve to increase sales. That is why you start with Pillar content that is well-aligned with helping potential customers jump through your sales funnel.

“As you get better and faster at producing microcontent, you’ll begin to appreciate its power to own the discussion, elevate your brand, increase awareness for your products or services, and grow your sales.” – Laura E. Peterson