Your business likely has something to say to your customers, but do you have an effective method for reaching them? Read more to better configure a content marketing strategy so you can capture and retain the attention of new and existing customers. Don’t be afraid to add any questions or comments!
Define Your Purpose
For a content strategy to be successful, it’s important to define your purpose for having it. What are you trying to accomplish and why? Your content strategy should help guide prospects towards your end goal like subscribing to a service, or purchasing a product.
Once you have your purpose, you will have a better idea as to how you can nurture your potential customers. Your content strategy is a bridge for potential customers to find your products/services.
Set Goals
It’s difficult to grow your digital presence without setting attainable goals to guide your progress. It helps to give yourself something to work toward to ensure you’re headed in the right direction. Establish your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to make sure you’re investing your time in the right areas.
KPIs vary, based on the primary objectives you set for your business. A blogger looking to maximize traffic would have different KPIs than an eCommerce site that wants to increase sales. Focus on what matters to your business.
Creating Your Content
Never post just for the sake of posting!
Whether you want to share a new blog post, or raise awareness for an event, there should be a reason for creating each piece of content with a goal set for it. The internet is inundated with content, so there has to be perceived value with each post for it to get noticed.
Be strategic. Content should reflect the interests of your ideal audience. Ask yourself – would this benefit, or at least inform my audience? If not, you’ll have trouble attracting attention and the little attention you do gather will likely result in negative impressions on your brand.
Here’s a perfect example, HubSpot sells automation software for marketers and sales professionals to help them work more efficiently. With their audience in mind, they heavily promote a blog with helpful tips for marketers and sales professionals. This helps them further their brand and engage potential customers.
Promoting Trust
Content marketing has grown because it helps consumers make informed decisions. There are thousands of brands looking to sell products online every day, and few who are working towards actually helping people do what’s best for them. From a long-term perspective, using content to foster trust dramatically increases the likelihood of someone purchasing a product.
You want your content to tie into the type of service your business provides, but at the same time be flexible. They’ll want to dive deeper into the ideal customers they have, and would feature things they’d likely be interested in.
Here’s an example.
A company selling running sneakers must diversify their messaging to keep content fresh. Appealing to athletes and people with healthy lifestyles means expanding topics from “How to Choose the Best Running Sneakers for You” to topics like “Healthy Recipes to Improve Cardiovascular Endurance” or “How to Prevent Hamstring Injuries” to engage customers without coming across as an ad.
Reaching Your Audience
Having great content is futile without an audience to consume it. To make the most of your time and maximize results, establish where you will be promoting your content and why. Define who your audience is and where they spend their time online.
Make it easy for your ideal audience to find your content online and choose your platform(s) wisely! While there are pros and cons to each platform, you should find the ones that seem most appropriate for your business. Rather than trying to utilize ALL platforms, focus on mastering the 1-3 most appropriate outlets for your brand.
Looking for some ideas? Here are a few of our favorites to start!
Improving Results
You can test your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to optimize content and improve your results over time. Specific metrics will have a direct effect on the goals you set for your content so it’s important for your KPIs to match your goals if you are looking to improve your marketing efforts. You’ll want to monitor the analytics you get from your posts and make the appropriate adjustments to ensure steady growth.
Bringing it All Together
Your content strategy is the way you communicate to your audience online. Take the time to think about the purpose of your marketing strategy, establish what’s most important to you, and reach your audience to promote trust and further the influence of your brand.
Did we miss anything? Feel free to leave any questions or comments and we’ll be happy to get back as soon as we can!
Need help with your content marketing strategy? Contact Active Web Group, a full-service Digital Marketing Agency with over 20 years of experience. If you’re interested in building a strategy to propel your business forward and your competition in the dust, contact us or call us at (800) 978-3417 today!
