Developing your content marketing strategy
Almost every piece of marketing you produce relies on the creation of content. But only 43% of B2B companies have a documented content marketing strategy.
That means most businesses are creating content without a plan...
Suggesting they're randomly trying to build their brand, generate leads, or position themselves as the solution to their audience’s problems.
But creating a content marketing strategy doesn't need to be difficult.
The following questions form the framework of a simple and effective content marketing strategy.
What's the goal of your content?
If you don’t know where you’re going you can’t plan how to get there. Be clear on what you’re trying to achieve with your content marketing. Is it brand awareness? Generating new leads? Customer retention? To nurture your key business introducers? Or a combination of the above?
Who are you targeting?
What group, sector, type of business, or person do you want to reach with your content?
What problem(s) will you be solving?
People will engage with your content if they believe it will solve a problem or help them achieve a goal. If your content isn’t doing any of those things, why should they care?
What content formats will you focus on?
There are many different types of content. You can't focus on them all. So focus on those formats your target audience most engages with. Whether that's blog posts, videos, social posts, infographics, etc.
What channels will you use to publish your content?
Again, there are many channels and platforms on which to publish your content (LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Email, etc.). Find the ones your target audience is active on and focus on those.
How often will you publish?
Do you have the capacity to publish daily or weekly? Whatever you choose, you need to commit to a consistent publishing routine. It's no good publishing three items one week then nothing for two weeks. At the very least you should aim to be publishing something meaningful at least once per week.
What will you say?
Brainstorm the topics and ideas you'll produce content on. Ideally, these need to be areas of interest, problems, issues, challenges, or opportunities for your target audience.
How will you manage content creation and publication?
Who will create, edit, and publish your content? What resources will you need? Is this something you can do in-house or will you need to outsource it?
Use these questions as a framework to build your content marketing strategy today. They'll help you create better content for your target audience.
Rule 8 Consulting helps B2B companies generate profit and growth by consistently delivering targeted, valuable, and irresistible content that gets them more customers, at less cost, with less work.
To find out more about our programmes and how we work with clients, contact me on 07488 279952 or at richard@rule8consulting.com
Tagged as: Content Marketing Strategy
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