There’s epic content, and then there’s EPIC content. What’s the difference? Pretty obvious—we just capitalized the second one. *ba dum tss*
All jokes aside, epic content is the type of content you read that makes you say, “Holy sh*t, this is amazing!” It’s the type of content you want to share with everyone you know. It’s more than just a 1,000-word blog post. It’s something like the Email Outreach Playbook from Mailshake.
That one piece of content took six months to create! But it has resulted in 50,000 website visitors, 590 paying customers, and around $500,000 in annual revenue.
So what’s it take to create something that good? Here’s their process:
Step 1: Find a Topic Idea. Mailshake didn’t start with a brainstorming session or keyword research. They started by talking directly with their customers about their pain points. Then they asked their support team what common issues come up. Finally, they talked to people in their target audience who weren’t their customers.
Step 2: Conduct Keyword Research to Validate the Need. Once they had a topic idea, they did keyword research to see if searchers were interested in the topic, and to make sure that the keywords they were going to use matched the words searchers were using.
Step 3: Create the Table of Contents. They listed everything their target audience needed to know about the topic. Then, they created an outline of everything.
Step 4: Reach Out to Influencers (Before You Start Writing). Mailshake didn’t write everything themselves. They reached out to influencers (and competitors!) to get their input and advice on the topic. They included the influencers’ wisdom in their playbook, which made the content even stronger. Those influencers were also much more likely to promote the playbook once it was published.
Step 5: Use Design for a “Wow” Effect. Design matters! Great content can become average without a great design, and Mailshake realized this.
Step 6: Launch It Like a Product. Mailshake decided to market their free playbook like a product. They gathered reviews on it before launching, promoted it in communities, and launched it on as many email lists as they could.
That’s the gist of it. If you want the full scoop, you know what to do →
