Creating original content is the best way to demonstrate your expertise and build your brand online, but you need to find a content area that works for you.  We tend to think of content in terms of blogs or written words. Writing how-to articles, check lists and informative blog posts are certainly an avenue to pursue, but it’s really hard work to do it consistently, so you need to make sure you love it. I wanted to be a writer since 8^th grade, so writing is truly my thing. But if you detest writing there are other things you can do to build your business’s social footprint. Content marketing has exploded, with 89% of B2B marketers currently using content marketing. The recent shift to being a mobile first world has created audiences that are consuming content in new and savvy ways. People want to learn from you and become your customer. Here are a few suggestions for developing content if you hate writing.

Alternative ideas for Content Marketing

While written articles aren’t going anywhere, people are looking for more engaging content. Options for content beyond traditional blog posts include video, Images, infographics and podcasts. Yes, images are amazing content. We’ve all heard the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. If what you sell has visual appeal there are social platforms just for you.

We’ve seen a flood of visual social media sites and tools in the last few years. Each has its own benefits, and can help you connect in meaningful ways with your audience. Here are ways to leverage other kinds of content

Facebook LIVE

Facebook LIVE is one of the best ways to leverage live video marketing. It gives you a way to create an authentic connection with your target audience and build a following.

It provides live streaming through its mobile app of you doing anything: talking to fans, building your product, conducting interviews. I recently wrote an article about the 17 ways you can leverage a Facebook Live video event

Instagram

Instagram’s got over 800 million users, with 500 million daily users, so they’re pretty engaged on the platform. Users are liking and sharing images, all while leveraging hashtags so it’s a great place to post and repost photos of your products, behind the scenes shots, and custom quote graphics. Pay attention to what your competitors are sharing, and engage your happy customers to share user generated content too. On Instagram it’s not about a heavy marketing push, it’s about the brand in action.

Pinterest

Pinterest is great for getting mass support of a single image (and clicks back to your site). You’re not restricted to posting just plain images on Pinterest. You can get creative and share collages of images relates to a topic or post words or infographics. The more visually appealing the images, the more pins they’ll get.

SnapChat

If you’re trying to reach the youth market or millennials, words aren’t as effective as images — fleeting images, at that. SnapChat is a leading mobile messaging app in the online marketing world. With over 100 million users, they are a serious marketing channel. You can send videos or photos, which disappear after being viewed unless the viewer take a screenshot. There are SnapChat stories that you can use to should a whole day of images and there’s SnapChat trophies which you get for using the platform by earning a score or filters in unique ways.

Brands are finding innovative ways to connect with users through the tool. Food delivery service GrubHub is creating legions of fans simply by sharing promotions, behind-the-scenes images, and doing giveaways on SnapChat.

Tips for More Sharable Content

While you can cut down on the amount of written content you create if you implement photos and videos, you’re not off the hook completely. Combining images and articles can get better results. In fact, content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without images. So by joining the two together, you can pack a bigger punch through your content marketing efforts.

Leverage visual assets across all your social platforms. If you’ve got a picture to post to Instagram, share it on your Facebook and Twitter accounts too so that you reach more people. Find a way to make the social update unique for each site, though, so people don’t feel you’re spamming your own social media pages.

Invest in a professional designer. Custom graphics, images with custom text, or infographics tend to get people’s attention more, so find a designer who can make your images unique.

Bottomline: Mix up your content marketing. Don’t just do one kind of content. Use images on their own, as well as to support your blog articles. You’ll appeal to a wider audience, and maybe give yourself a little break from writing.