Very much against my will, I’ve been watching Love Island this year.* And all the talk about being exclusive, and journeys and being true to yourself have seeped into my brain. I’m seeing it everywhere, and applying it to everything.
Even content.
You see, creating content is a lot like building a relationship—it takes time, effort, and a commitment to continuous improvement. And just like any meaningful partnership, it goes through different stages as it matures.
You could say there are five essential phases of content creation: Idea, Collaboration, Publish, Refine, and Upcycle. Each one plays a crucial role in ensuring your content not only gets some immediate love from your audience but also grows and evolves over time.
"You could say there are five essential phases of content creation: Idea, Collaboration, Publish, Refine, and Upcycle."
1 | Idea: The First Spark
Just like the early stages of any great relationship, everything starts with an idea. It’s the initial spark that gets the creative juices flowing. In the Villa that spark could be a look or a comment, and your idea could be inspired by something a client says, or something you heard on the way to work. But at this point, the idea is just potential. It’s something to nurture, refine and explore.
Does the idea feel strong enough to build on? Has it got legs? Can you stretch it? And, all importantly, does it excite you?
Question the idea, turn it over, look at it from different angles. Like any meaningful connection, the idea stage needs careful consideration before it can blossom into something that can go the distance.
2 | Collaboration: Building the Relationship
Once the idea is in place, it’s time to try and bring it to life. Like the growing stage of a relationship when you start to see yourself through other people’s eyes, collaboration is where the idea starts to be shaped by other people. Content creation isn’t usually a solo endeavour, it requires input from the rest of the team.
Writers, designers, marketers, and subject-matter experts all bring their perspectives to ensure the content is well-rounded, truthful, and engaging.
During this stage, the content takes shape. You refine the outline, research supporting material, and make decisions about how best to present the idea. You might tweak the messaging, adjust the tone, and decide on the visual elements. Collaboration is king here—just as in relationships, different perspectives lead to a more robust, richer outcome.
3 | Publish: The Commitment
Now that the content has been carefully crafted, it’s time to go public. In Love Island world, this means the declaration that you are BoyfriendGirlfriend (yes, that’s all one word). In content terms publishing is the moment when all that planning and hard work comes together and is shared with the world. Whether you’re posting on a blog, sharing on social media, or launching a video in your newsletter, publishing is the moment where you let go of any lingering hesitations and trust that your audience will engage with what you’ve created.
4 | Refine: Reassessing and Growing Together
After your content is published, it’s important to reflect quickly on how it’s performing. This phase is all about refining and reassessing. Maybe the content didn’t connect as well as you hoped, or perhaps it generated more buzz than anticipated. Whatever the outcome, this is the stage where you take a step back, analyze performance data, and make adjustments.
Refining content is similar to revisiting the dynamics of a relationship. What’s working well? What could use improvement? Maybe you need to tweak your content for SEO, rewrite a section for clarity, or reframe the messaging based on the feedback you get on social media.
Think of it as pulling your content over for a chat. (Another Love Island reference). This phase isn’t about pulling your content apart; it’s about strengthening and optimizing it so it can have a greater impact.
5 | Upcycle: Reinvesting and Evolving
Finally, once your content has been published and refined, don’t let it slip completely out of sight and mind.
Upcycling is the stage where your content has had its moment in the sun, and you breathe new life into it so it can shine again. This could mean repurposing a successful blog post into a series of social media posts, creating an infographic from a video, or compiling several pieces into an eBook or a big piece of Hero Content..
Upcycling is about reinvesting in your existing content to make it work harder and reach more people. Just as in a relationship, growth and evolution are essential—content shouldn’t be static. By revisiting and reshaping it, you extend its life cycle, ensuring that it continues to provide value and engages a broader audience.
The Never-Ending Cycle
The lifecycle of content doesn’t stop after it’s been upcycled. As with any ongoing relationship, there’s always room for growth and improvement. Each phase—Idea, Collaboration, Publish, Refine, and Upcycle—plays a critical role in ensuring that your content not only serves its purpose but continues to evolve.
"Creating content isn’t a one-and-done process. It’s a continuous journey of ideating, collaborating, releasing, improving, and reimagining."
The key takeaway here is that creating content isn’t a one-and-done process. It’s a continuous journey of ideating, collaborating, releasing, improving, and reimagining. By embracing these stages, you can create content that’s not only relevant but also dynamic, engaging, and built to last.
Just like Toni and Cash. Hopefully.
*It wasn’t against my will. I enjoyed it.
What do you think?