Did you know that businesses with a regularly updated content blog get 126% more lead growth than those who do not? But content marketing is much more than just creating and distributing content. It needs to engage audiences, generate leads, improve brand awareness and be amplified to the right channels. Having a strong content marketing strategy will help you achieve this.
Firstly, what is a content marketing strategy?
A content marketing strategy is all about defining why you’re creating content, who you are creating content for and how the content will help them. You then use the pieces of content to educate your audience to result in increased revenue, lower costs or just better customers.
8 step process to defining your content marketing strategy
- Set goals – Start by setting targets. What do you want to achieve out of investing in content marketing? Do you want more leads, more sales, more revenue, more website traffic, more social media engagement or reduced marketing costs – because these are all possible!
- Know your audience – Be clear about who you’re communicating to, so that you can create the right content that will engage them. You’ll even want to define your target buyer personas in this step.
- Assess your current content position – You’ll likely have loads of content already developed that you can either repurpose or build upon. Of course, you will need to invest in new content development too once you have identified what gaps you have.
- Find the best channels for your audience – So you’ve defined your audience, now you need to know where they are so you can reach them. Is your target market on Facebook, YouTube, Or Instagram – or all of the above?
- Determine the relevant content types – What are the most relevant content types for your audience? Blog posts, videos, infographics or ebooks? Remember, it might be a mixture of various types of content that appeals to your audience.
- Create a content calendar – This will help you determine and plan what will be published and when it will be published. No more scrambling to find content at the last minute.
- Create, distribute and amplify content – Make sure you engage professionals to create your content. There is no point investing all this time and then creating low-quality content that is not engaging. Professionals can help you create the right content that is optimised for search engines, and then distribute and amplify it directly to your target audience.
- Measure results – It’s important to measure the results against the initial goals you set. Remember that content marketing takes time and by measuring the results regularly you can make refinements along the way in order to get the best results possible.
Content marketing has become and will continue to be an important part of the marketing mix – especially in digital marketing. If you want to start, refine or improve your content marketing, we can help – get in touch with us today.
