1. Content creation
handbook
Sergio Pinzon

2. Outline
• Content creation principles
• Mini creative writing
• The power of purpose
• Mini creative brief
• Writing content guidelines
• Blogs and articles
• White papers and e books
• Video blogs
• Podcast
• Webinar
• Plan videos

3. Content plan
What is the purpose?
What are you hoping to achieve?
What is your desired outcome
What are your 12-month social media
objectives?
What are your 6- month social media
objectives?
What are your 3- months social objectives ?

4. What is your target market’s biggest problem, need
or desire?
Themes for the quarter
Articles to write
Useful videos
Off message questions
Useful websites
Content
plan

5. How to create a content calendar
• Season
• Holidays
• Conferences
• Product releases
• Events
Assess the month

6. The power of
purpose

7. Effectiveness when you’re editing
and rewriting.
• “Does this blog post fulfil my goal of
making the reader donate to my
organization?.
• “My goal is X. Do you think this post
achieves that?”

8. The mini-creative brief
• Creative briefs provide a kind of map that clients and creative partners can use to determine
which avenues to pursue.

9. The mini-creative brief
CONTENT CONTEXT PURPOSE

10. The mini-
creative brief
• Content: The value of portfolio
diversification
• Context: Generic, non- sales-oriented advice
for young people who have expressed an
interest in investing but are still exploring or
preparing to start investing for their future
• Purpose: Convince these readers to open a
401(k) account and start investing

11. The mini-creative brief
• Content: A recipe for shortbread cookies with chocolate chips and
sea salt
• Context: The audience is Facebook readers interested in baking
and desserts
• Purpose: Get readers to buy your brand of sea salt

12. Type of content writing

13. Genre types
Press releases
Feature stories
Q&As (Questions & Answers)
Listicles
Small stories

14. Press release
A press release states the facts,
provides some context (why this
product is important), and
facilitates next steps (get more
information, see a demo, try the
product, buy a ticket, etc., etc.).

15. Press release example
• https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/01/homepod-arrives-
february-9-available-to-order-this-friday/

16. . Getting to know our new
CEO"
"Case study: how
customer X uses our
product/service . . ."
"Trends in independent
bookselling"
"Making big data work"
Feature stories
Feature stories
It’s more in-depth. It typically has more backstory, more personality, more editorial colour. It can be as entertaining
as it is enlightening

17. • https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/12/how-apple-and-
finisar-are-transforming-the-future-of-this-texas-town/
Feature stories

18. Q&A format
• This is particularly good at making an idea come alive – at
making something more personable and relatable.

19. Q&A format
• https://www.zipcar.com/ziptopia/our-stories/zipster-profile-beatrice-
fischel-bock-hutch

20. It is more “curated” – cut-and-pasted – than written)
How you add value by
• (a) contextualizing the entry.
• (b) explaining and elaborating on the entry.
• (c) providing your own sensibility to the entry.
Listicles

21. Listicles
• https://www.buzzfeed.com/norbe
rtobriceno/unusual-signs-thatll-
make-you-say-thats-really-
clever?utm_term=.pdO2g42EAl#.
mrlNPJNpOd
• https://www.brainpickings.org/20
16/10/23/10-years-of-brain-
pickings/
• https://www.inc.com/glenn-
leibowitz/a-simple-but-powerful-
method-for-getting-more-writing-
done-and-much-faster.html

22. Small stories
• Facilitating that conversation
means throwing something out
there to elicit comment,
feedback, and dialogue.

23. Small stories
Captioned photos
Commentary based on books or other relevant media.
Soundbites (Twitter)
Letters from customers or constituents

24. • https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2017/10/red-rainbow-over-sulov-
slovakia.html
• https://contently.com/2018/01/09/emotional-narrative-your-brand/
Small stories

25. How to choose the genre for your material.
This is what you want to say, and
this is the impact you want to have.
This is your goal.
You should have an idea of what
your audience expects to hear or
needs to hear.
How does the form of your channel
mesh with your content and your
goal?

26. Designing articles
Choose a good title.
The title should be concise and
descriptive
Have clear conversion goals.
Subscriptions
Add personality with author bios

27. Written blogs
Considerations
The biggest hook for your reader is the title and first paragraph.
Identify the objectives of the blog post
Determine how to wrap up your content and create a call to action
Seed your products and services where it makes sense
Word Count: 500- to 700-word
Keywords
Images and branding
Themes. Pay attention to what other people are doing for blog posts

28. White papers
• A white paper “is a technical document that describes how a
technology or product solves a particular problem.
• These are primarily used by business-to-business.
• Most white papers are sponsored by particular companies to help
market their products.
• The tone and content has a strong component of technical or
professional information.
• A white paper is expected to have at least six pages of text and to
provide useful information about a business or technical issue.
White papers

29. E-books
• E-book- an electronic version of a printed book that can be read
on a computer or handheld device designed specifically for this
purpose.
• E-books are expected to be entertaining as well as informative.
• These are more commonly used in the consumer market.
• Well executed e-books have lots of white space, interesting
graphics and images, and copy that is typically written in a
lighter style than the denser white paper.
E-books

30. Written blogs
Considerations
The biggest hook for your reader is the title and first paragraph.
Identify the objectives of the blog post
Determine how to wrap up your content and create a call to action
Seed your products and services where it makes sense
Word Count: 500- to 700-word
Keywords
Images and branding
Themes. Pay attention to what other people are doing for blog posts

31. Videoblogs
Have a great title that contains the right keywords so
that it can be searched and found
Make your intro snappy so people want to watch
more.
Don’t go on and on for five (5) minutes about who
you are or your viewer will stop watching.
Teach high value content, usually no more than
three key points.
Keep it under five (5) minutes if you can.
Add a call-to-action in the wrap up.

32. Podcast
Podcasts are one of three lengths: 10 minutes, 30
minutes, or 60 minutes.
Podcats formats are Presentation, Q&A, Co-hosted
This continuing accessibility makes podcasts a natural fit
for opinion, information, or entertainment products and
services.
Podcast Alley, and iPodder. org.

33. Marketing with podcast
The first option is to recruit paid sponsors
to advertise on the podcast, much like
with any radio or television station.
The second method to monetize podcasts
is to offer fee-based content.

34. Webinars
A webinar, or teleseminar, is a
seminar that is conducted live over
the web and (unlike a podcast) is
designed to be interactive.
Webinars are often recorded so
listeners can hear the information
when it is convenient.
People attend webinars to learn, and
it is critical to meet that expectation
or the audience may go elsewhere.

35. Plan videos
Audience
Themes and approaches
Length

36. Themes and
approaches
• A style of promotional communication that
features information.
Rational appeal.
• A style of promotional communication
designed to stir emotions such as humour,
fear, warmth, irritation or sexual arousal.
Emotional appeal
• A style of promotional communication that
relies on our sense of ‘what is right or
wrong’
Moral appeal

37. Examples
• Burger King vs McDonald's Commercial
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvh8uT68hFQ
• P&G 'Thank You, Mom' Campaign Ad: "Strong"
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdQrwBVRzEg
• Push to add drama" in hd
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7EMzVaNCk

38. Length
recommendations
• 20 seconds (Stories/ IGTV)
• 45 seconds
• 1 minute
• 2 minutes

39. L E N G T H R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
• M a k e v i d e o s a s l o n g a s n e c e s s a r y , b u t a s s h o r t a s p o s s i b l e

40. Script
Problem: water crisis Solution: charity work Mission: how X
organization will help
Call to action: visit
site and donate

41. Planning your video
TEXT VISUAL
Problem: water crisis
Solution: charity work
Mission: how X organization will help
Call to action: visit site and donate

42. Making your video
TEXT VISUALS MUSIC