Ad hoc content marketing will only get your brand so far. Follow these steps to create an effective content marketing strategy that achieves results.
While most businesses know that content creation is important, there’s a surprising number that still don’t realise how critical it is to have a content marketing strategy behind it.
These businesses might post snaps of their products and staff on Instagram, occasionally write a blog post, even create a video or two. Customers are vaguely aware that they exist and may recognise the brand in passing, but it won’t be the first one that comes to mind.
Compare that to the company that understands the true value of creating and executing a content marketing strategy. They set clear goals informed by data and insights, and every single piece of content they roll out supports their marketing objectives. Ultimately, their marketing efforts are much more successful.
The truth is that while content can be highly creative and inspirational, it’s actually the strategy behind it that gives the content all its power.
Here are five key tips for creating a solid and robust content marketing strategy:
1. Understand what makes a content marketing strategy work
A content marketing strategy identifies your business goals and creates a road map to achieving them, using content as the key driver.
For example, your business goal might be to sell tickets to an event. Content designed to funnel leads into purchasing tickets, which might take the form of articles, videos, infographics, or podcasts, would be planned to go live on multiple platforms at specific times.
2. Develop a content marketing plan
At the core of every content marketing strategy is the answer to three key questions: Who are you targeting, what is their problem or issue, and how can your offering solve it?
The answers to these questions will inform every piece of content you plan to create.
For example, you might manufacture a line of durable hose fittings and want to increase the number of sales. Your audience is homeowners who are currently buying cheap, poor quality fittings. The problem is they leak and break easily. The solution is investing a little more now for long-lasting fittings that won’t cause headaches when they break, or waste money through leakages.
You may have more than one audience, which will require more than one stream of content marketing. In this case, it’s important to identify similarities and where content can intersect.
Once you’ve identified your audiences, you’ll be well placed to select the platforms on which to best target them and plan timings accordingly.
3. Communicate the content strategy internally
For a content marketing strategy to be truly successful, it needs to be shared beyond your marketing team to every department in your organisation.
Ideally, the goals of your business should already be front of mind for every employee, but taking the time to share how you plan to use content to achieve these goals can help clarify the purpose behind the messaging.
This is particularly true of the customer-facing members of the team. If those who deal directly with customers understand how you are using content and to what end, they can reinforce the messaging.
4. Launch your content strategy
Hitting the go button is an exciting time in every content marketing strategy. It’s time to see all your hard work come to life!
It’s important to keep across your content output as it rolls out to measure ongoing results and adjust or update where necessary. Has a video, article, or social post generated an unexpected buzz that you can capitalise on further?
The beauty of digital content marketing is that you can pivot when needed or hook onto a newsworthy item in real time.
5. Measure and report back
So, you’ve implemented your content marketing strategy, which has hopefully achieved the desired results. Before you get too comfortable, remember there’s still work to be done.
Analysing the results of your content marketing efforts, or deep diving into your data analytics, will help you to see what worked well and what could be improved. This will provide you with a deeper understanding of your customers and the types of content they respond to, which will help to inform future content marketing strategies.
Need guidance from content marketing experts?
Assemblo is a full-service marketing agency based in Melbourne, with experts in developing and executing effective content marketing strategies that resonate with audiences and achieve tangible results.
To find out how we can support your content marketing efforts, give us a call on (03) 9079 2555 or send us a note via the contact form below.