content marketing is an essential tool for any business or brand that wants to stand out from the competition.
It consists of developing a marketing strategy highlighting content in various forms.
The main goal is generating leads, attracting new prospects, and setting up a committed community around your brand.
In today’s market, most marketers recognize the value of content marketing.
While 70% invest in it, 60% consider it a key instrument in any global strategy.
Nevertheless, for conclusive results, the content strategy must be well developed. I am discovering more on the subject through this article.
Know your brand and your goals
Developing a marketing content strategy begins with a comprehensive knowledge of your brand, You must be able to list its values and know its position in the market.
Indeed, as numerous as they are, each brand is differentiated by its history, It must be a prerequisite for defining a relevant content strategy.
In addition to the brand’s history, its products and services should be understood.
This will make it possible to adapt the appropriate target and the editorial line.
After this step comes the definition of the essential objectives for refining the strategy. It can be for the mark of:
Prospect new targets:
- Convert prospects or potential customers.
- To win the loyalty of customers.
- Increase its positioning in search engines.
- Increase its popularity.
- Increase your authority on the web.
It can be any or all of these goals. Asking the right questions allows a better orientation of the editorial strategy.
The brand’s objectives are then more likely to be achieved. Beyond this, the type of content to be produced and its locations are better defined.
Set concise objectives and key performance indicators
If the content strategy is an effective lever in terms of marketing strategy, its development requires enough time.
For the project to be well framed, precise objectives and leading performance indicators. They allow good strategy management from the beginning to the end.
Each objective must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound). Such conditions are required since the set of goals constitutes the very basis of the overall strategy.
It should be noted that in a digital marketing strategy, the leading indicators are multiple orders. It could be:
- Positioning of content in search results.
- Traffic from the website of the company concerned.
- Reactions induced by content on social networks.
- Lead conversion rate.
- Contact requests.
Target a well-defined audience
When defining a content strategy, the content target is one of the essential elements to consider.
Whether a brand, a company, or a company, the target is a particular part of the overall strategy,It has indeed defined, in one way or another, a suitable target for creating and selling products or services.
Thanks to this stage of the content strategy, the target is refined and characterized in detail.
This makes it possible to know, with precision, the public to whom to address when the contents would be created.
In summary, it is necessary to know the needs to which the brand’s products respond, those to whom they are addressed, those who will be interested, and the price they will be ready to invest.
When these details are known, the target can be precisely defined.
This will also be done by considering the latter’s consumption habits, social characteristics, purchasing power, interests, or even personality traits.
It is even possible to define a persona by further analyzing the target.
For the little information, a persona is an imaginary character with characteristics common to a group he represents.
Define an editorial line
Once the brand and its target are well defined, an appropriate editorial line can be implemented. Suitable content topics may also be proposed.
When the target is defined, the editor knows what tone to adopt in his various writings, This same tone will be used in the format of the content and in the distribution channel used.
Whether blogs, video platforms, social networks, etc. Major themes can then emerge with the help of SEO needs.
They will serve as a basis for carrying out the watch and choosing exciting subjects.
Although content optimization is essential, the Internet user remains at the center of everything.
Their needs must also be taken into account. By combining these two elements in this way, you can be sure of the quality of your content.
Define content categories according to objectives and target
In terms of content strategy, several types of content can be used by a brand.
We find, in particular, the blog article, the video, the infographic, the podcast, the webinar, the white paper, the case study, and the customer testimonial.
The blog article is widely preferred since it significantly impacts SEO. It is also the ideal starting point for a content strategy.
Nevertheless, it is recommended to diversify its content to make it more interesting.
Diversifying its formats makes it possible to reach more targets and reach more prospects at the same time.
However, each design used must be chosen carefully and have some relevance to the target.
Apart from the content format, the subject developed must be considered when choosing the type of content. Indeed, the different forms do not lend themselves to all issues.
Develop a writing schedule
Content quality, diversity, and optimization are essential points in developing a content strategy.
However, planning for content creation and publication is required for it to succeed.
Thanks to the editorial calendar, the overall work can be organized. The various stakeholders may also be designated.
The editorial calendar is crucial for forecasting the content topics according to the season, the following content topics of the given periods, and the desired publication of these different contents. It also offers certain visibility on the production in progress.
Publish and promote content
Even after the content is created, it still takes a few steps to make it reach the target, If it is essential to publish regularly, this must be done in the right place for the SEO impact to be optimal.
Several levers are possible to communicate in these publications.
These include the newsletter, social networks, bloggers, influencers, media, and partners. All you have to do is choose contacts with a common interest in the brand.
After all these steps, the work is not over, The results must be monitored and analyzed so that the strategy put in place is adapted to them.