Intro to the Seven Types of Content

Creating consistent magnetic content works.

Whether it’s writing a blog, sending an email, recording a video, creating a podcast, or showing up on social media, having content that shares the right things with the right people at the right times drives results.

That means at each stage, you need to do some work to decide:

It’s a different combination for every campaign and company. There’s no single content marketing strategy that will be the most effective every time. Changes in technology, email marketing platforms, blogging best practices, algorithms, your company stage, and world events are all additional variables, too.

That’s why we’re so passionate about holistic marketing strategy at New Lore:

Different missions, different people, and different resources all add up to different content needs and they require unique solutions.

So how do you settle in on a solution that works for your business and aims at the right goals? Get clear on your strategy, then create workflows that make it happen.

Building a Content Creation Workflow

Maybe you’re going the DIY route.

Or you have an in-house team to handle the copywriting and content creation

Or you want someone else to take care of it for you by writing your blog and emails every week.

There are so many good content creation workflows that can get the job done. You should find the right fit for where your business is right now.

But once you have your core strategy mapped out (and we can help with that, if you are stuck), you’ll still need specific topics for each piece of content.

Those topics need to start with someone instrumental in the company’s work and mission.

(That doesn’t necessarily mean they have to do the typing or creating itself (whew), but they definitely need to contribute to the core of the stories and information.)

There are copywriters out there who can do amazing research and write powerful blogs and emails, but they can’t dive into your past or your vision without you. If it’s fully automated or hands-off, it will always be disconnected from what really sets your work and message apart.

Disconnected and somewhat generic isn’t going to be an asset as marketing gets more personal and community-focused than ever.

That’s why every one of our copywriting projects starts with gathering message clarity and engaging details right from our clients. We won’t just go research the industry blogs and pull together something generic.

We have a process to coordinate, transform, and create unique content, while still managing to do things efficiently.

You can tap into a process, too:

1. Create a Content Vault:

• Outline core calls-to-action
• Determine broad topic buckets
• Gather sub-topics in each bucket (these are the individual content ideas)

2. Create content

• Determine the goal or call-to-action
• Pull a content idea and outline it based on a content type structure
• Write, record, create assets, and collaborate as needed

3. Put it out into the world

• Share across multiple platforms, following a system that makes sense for you
• Tie it in with additional content pieces throughout the week/campaign
• Engage with your audience

4. Assess, repurpose, and keep going

As long as your strategy makes sense, your messaging is good, and your people are listening, this works. It’s not everything your business will ever need to do to grow and make sales, but there will never be a time where you don’t need to do it.

Finding Content Ideas that Work

Ok…so you need to be able to pull content ideas together. Got it.

How?

That’s an answer a lifetime and a half of human communication, learning theory, influence, writing how-tos, and storytelling traditions couldn’t fully answer.

Kind of awesome, right? (We think so!) We love that there’s so much depth to all of this.

But we also get that it makes it kind of hard to just…get started.

And you need to be making a profit and supporting your team, not just luxuriating in the glory of learning about writing and marketing theory. The good news is you can be effective NOW, even if you’re still always learning something new.

So we’re going to break down some practical prompts that you can use easily during your lifetime of learning. You’ll find the series right here on the blog!

→ You can also grab a spot at a great workshop with Christen that covers all of this and helps you build your own Content Creation System. There are live dates and any-time recordings ready for you!

The Seven Types of Content

We’ll give a very brief description here, and then build a post that breaks each one down with examples and more specific tips and resources. Just so you aren’t stuck on this post scrolling forever.

**Keep in mind that there are often topics that end up being hybrids of these, like teaching-preaching about the need to increase access to the main concepts of financial literacy and what they are, or news-teaching about a big algorithm update where you explain what some features are, and then talk about what’s new.**

1. Teaching – You’re giving specific information explaining concepts that can be defined, modeled, and learned. These are your how-tos, definitions, history lessons, data round ups, and the like.
2. Preaching – Grab your soap box. You’re going to take a stance, get people riled up, encourage them, get some motivation flowing, and talk about what matters to your people and your mission.
3. Questions – Ask them or answer them. This is a very helpful, simple, and broad category, and it’s really good at helping your crew feel like you are listening to them.
4. About/Behind-the-Scenes – You can talk about current events big and small, show your processes, introduce yourself and your people, share your background and origin story, and more. You want to build a connection and bring some humanity to your posts.
5. Social Proof – One of the most powerful tools in your box. Gather case studies, testimonials, reviews, and anything else that shows that people your audience trusts can vouch for your work and that working with you is generally enjoyable.
6. Community and Inspiration – This becomes a bit of a catch-all spot, but you want to talk about news in your industry or town, tag people who are doing cool things, shout out big days and celebrations for team members or clients, and tap into your broader community and other proofs of concept, like recent studies.
7. Sales – Sometimes content should be a pure sales call, especially in social media, email sequences, and launch campaigns. Outline the opportunity or product and ask for the sale or other follow up (like a webinar, phone call, or quote request). This can immediately drive better results when it’s done intentionally.

How often should you use each one?

That depends on your message and strategy, but it’s almost never on a strict rotation. A good starting estimate for a service-based business could be:

• Teaching and preaching → 50%
• Social proof → 20%
• Specific sales messaging → 10%
• About you and behind-the-scenes → 10%
• Questions → 10%

*Remember: Sales should also happen in the calls-to-action from the other content types, but you also need to make sure to do stand-alone sales content in each campaign.

Your breakdown will depend on what content your people need to hear before and during working with you. Start with your best guess, watch the numbers, and keep adjusting your marketing strategy as you go!

If you want help with any of this, we have options from consistent Pocket CMO strategy and support, to one-time strategy roadmaps, to a community of experts and other business owners to keep you moving and learning.

PS – Want to read more about the Content Creation System and see how it works? Here’s a template you can grab right now and get started!

Want someone to take some content creation off your to-do list?

Our Copy Brewers App connects you with our team of copywriters and tech pros right on your phone…you can order a single email, a handful of blog posts, an email sequence, or even set up a monthly support package!

We’ll make sure you have consistent, engaging content that gets the right info to the right people, at the right time.