Content creation: Writing challenges

You’ve probably asked yourself two questions lately: How can we produce high-quality content, and how can we do that weekly? 

If you are working with content marketing, you’re probably familiar with the struggle to continuously produce quality content. How can you come up with authentic and original topics when most of the information is already out there? Let’s examine what distinguishes those companies that manage to produce relevant content week after week. 

There are many advantages to creating content. If done right, you will attract prospects to your website, generate leads and increase sales. Continuous content production is one of the most effective ways to build and develop your personal and corporate brand. It will position you as a thought leader in your industry. 

But not everyone has enough knowledge, time, staff and writing skills to produce great content continuously. Let’s take a closer look at the key challenges and solutions in creating content on a regular basis.

Do you need help with your content creation? 

Key challenges in content creation

Original thoughts

The ability to create authentic content is difficult in times when everyone seems to share their ideas and opinions. No one creates value by copying or rewriting existing content from the internet.

The goal should always be to add new valuable thoughts, opinions and angles. The problem is that marketers (who creates the content) don’t always have the insights needed to create unique and valuable information.

Therefore, content should always originate from a specialist—a person who is very knowledgeable within a particular field or topic. Now, let’s look into the next challenge–time—which is something these people lack.

Time

The biggest threat to quality content is the stress of constantly creating content. Content creation is not just writing a text or recording a video; it is a process that takes time.

It starts with researching the topic, gathering information, interviewing experts, answering buyer persona questions, planning the content, involving SEO, and then producing the content. Not to mention, it should then be refined and promoted. And last but not least, reviewing the results, analysing and optimising existing content. Mostly, experts are busy and don’t have the time to be involved in the entire content creation process.

Writing skills

A poorly written piece of content isn’t very valuable. Written content needs to be engaging, interesting and well written overall. High-quality writing skills are required to get the job done properly. Not all experts have the skill to create a compelling article.

How to overcome the main challenges

So the real challenge is to bring to life the original thoughts, ideas or opinions formed in the mind of an expert. This needs to be done by someone with the right skills and who understands the content creation process. How do we overcome these challenges?

A valuable and authentic piece of content needs two components: a writer and an expert

• The writer: interviews the experts and ghostwrites the article
• The expert: is the designated author of the article 

The writer needs to work very closely with the experts across the company and interpret their thoughts and ideas correctly.

As a CEO or CMO, make sure you have someone responsible for creating content. It could be a one-woman/one-man show, a small content team or an agency.

Make sure you have an editorial board team with relevant company representatives, where you discuss topics and formats as well as proof-read, evaluate and analyse content and audience reactions to make sure the content meets your business objectives. Without dedicated teamwork, it is difficult to create quality content.

What are the required skills of a ghostwriter?

Most of this article has actually been ghostwritten by my colleague Niyat. We spent about 30 minutes, where I shared my thoughts and reflections on how companies can produce quality regularly. She then compiled and structured the content into what I consider is a compelling article! 

Except for having excellent writing skills, a ghostwriter must understand the process of content creation. S/he must have skills such as listening and understanding very well what the expert is saying (or is trying to say) and much more.

Are you looking for a ghostwriter? Download this document to find the required skills a ghostwriter needs to possess. 

If you want to learn more about content creation, take a look at our in-depth content creation guide.