Are you looking for an effective way to increase revenue, lower your marketing costs and satisfy your site visitors?
If yes, then you need a winning content marketing strategy.
In its simplest form, a content marketing strategy seeks to identify the “why”. As in, why are you creating content?
Typically, businesses use content marketing to build an audience online and ultimately to make more sales. However, there is so much more to a great content marketing strategy than just this.
Not sure where to begin creating a winning content marketing strategy that will transform your business from ordinary to outstanding?
Within the below step-by-step guide, you will find out exactly what you need to do to create the perfect content marketing strategy for your business.
Determine your goals
As with most strategies, before you can start planning what you will do in terms of content, you first need to identify what you want to achieve.
Of course, you want to make more money but try and think about what else you want to accomplish from your content marketing plan.
Perhaps, you want to:
- Increase brand awareness
- Attract new customers
- Increase your social media presence
- Acquire new leads
Whatever you would like to get from your content marketing plan in 2021, make sure you keep it at the forefront of your mind when creating your strategy.
Establish KPIs
If you want to be able to achieve your goals set out in the previous step, you need to make them both specific and measurable. The simplest way to do this is by setting KPIs or Key Performance Indicators.
When setting KPIs for your content marketing strategy, make sure that you attach specific numbers to them. For example:
- Hit X amount of revenue within the month, quarter, or year
- Get X amount of new email subscribers within a specific timeframe
- Obtain X number of social media shares for your pillar content
It would be best if you also tracked your spending on various campaigns so that you can see what works and what does not.
See where your brand fits
When determining what your content needs are as a business, it can be a good idea first to find out how your brand fits into the marketplace. For example, do you have a lot of competitors? Or is there a major gap in the market for your business?
If you are a relatively new company, your main focus should be on getting noticed by as many people as possible. However, for more established brands, you may want to concentrate on venturing out into new audiences.
Identify your audience
Following on from the previous step, you need to know your audience inside and out if you hope to provide them with the right type of content.
First and foremost, you should focus your efforts on your target audience, i.e., the consumers who will actively benefit from the products or services you are offering. Once you have identified your target audience, you next need to think about what types of content they most likely to consume.
If your audience is of the younger generation, you might choose to focus on video content and social media marketing. Whereas, if you are trying to appeal to an older demographic, you might use a different email marketing approach.
Carry out an SEO audit
It is always beneficial to see how your current content is working for you before making any drastic changes or starting to implement a new strategy. You can do this by carrying out an SEO audit that will pinpoint any weaknesses in your website.
Be warned, a full SEO audit can take time, and if you are not very technically minded, you may want to enlist the services of an SEO agency to help you with steps.
Consider different types of content
There are many different forms of content available to you, and the ones you pick will be dependent on both your target audience and what you are trying to achieve from your content marketing strategy.
Some of the most effective and popular types of content marketing include:
Blogs
One of the best aspects of a blog is that it can take so many different formats, such as how-to guides, lists, answering questions, and more. This means that you can tailor each blog post to educate the reader in the way that you best see fit.
As a general rule, longer blog posts tend to be the most successful, both in terms of impressing Google and providing a great user experience. Aim for at least 1,500 words and make sure you include your chosen keywords to maximize your SEO efforts.
Infographics
Visually appealing and simple to understand, infographics have the ability to deliver research in a memorable and easy to consume way.
Infographics are the most shareable type of content, especially because they are naturally optimized for Pinterest. Plus, you can inject some of your brand personality into each one you create due to their artistic nature.
Videos
Video content is becoming increasingly popular with each passing day. 85% of all internet users in the United States watch video content every month. As mentioned earlier, this form of content is particularly popular for younger demographics who have grown up with easy-to-consume media.
Video content is highly engaging and can be shared on all your social media platforms and on YouTube. You could even create your own YouTube channel!
eBooks
Similar to blog posts but longer, an eBook is a great way to break up long-form content into more manageable and useful chapters. Use to provide more information about your company and the products and services that you offer and provide more in-depth information to your customers.
eCourses are also highly effective, especially if one of your business objectives is to get people to sign up for a business trial or to subscribe to your email newsletter.
Podcasts
An estimated 144 million people listen to podcasts in the United States, with this form of content being ideal for consumers on-the-go and those who commute for work. You can distribute your podcasts via iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play.
For best results, focus on providing educational or humorous podcasts.
Social media posts
Often overlooked when it comes to creating a content marketing strategy, rather than simply post a single social media message, it is indefinitely better to create a schedule of multiple messages that will run across all your social network platforms.
Emails
Email marketing offers the best form of content marketing in terms of ROI. Plus, it presents you with the opportunity to reach your target audience at the right time. For example, when they have just made a purchase, have visited your store, or have abandoned their online shopping cart.
Case studies
A more robust type of testimonial, case studies are great for enhancing trust in your products or services, as well as attracting new customers. Case studies can take many different formats, including written and video.
Surveys
Customer surveys are a great way to gain insight into what your customers want from your business. To encourage users to take surveys, try to make the content as engaging as possible and offer incentives if you are struggling to get adequate feedback.
Interviews
An interview is a great option if you are floundering when it comes to generating new ideas for content. By interviewing an influencer within your niche, you will create highly shareable content and increase trust in your brand by aligning yourself with a high-authority website.
This can also help to improve your link-building strategy.
Create a content calendar
As a part of your overall content marketing strategy, you need to identify when you will publish your content on each of the platforms you have chosen to use.
The simplest way to do this and to offer consistency when it comes to your content is to use a content calendar. You have several options when it comes to scheduling your content:
Use Google Calendar
If you are not planning to publish a vast amount of content, you may be fine just scheduling dates you want to publish on Google Calendar.
Use CoSchedule
If you intend to publish quite a lot of content, your best bet is to use a purpose-built editorial calendar such as CoSchedule. Alternatively, you could choose a task management tool such as Asana.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that each business’s content marketing strategy will be different, and you need to focus on what works best for your brand and your audience. It may be a trial-and-error case at the beginning, but if you persevere and put in the effort, you will be rewarded.
Do not have the time or expertise to create content for your business? Get in touch with our content creation experts here.
