Content marketing that drives results
In today’s world, content has been the driving force for almost every entity, and it has proven to be a force to reckon with, without which the entire internet cannot exist.
In the present digital world, there is an always-ceasing demand for content that excels in quality and quantity. Individuals and businesses aim to be at the top of the game through the means of content which reaches several individuals in society. This content can be anything — the reels on Instagram, videos and shorts on YouTube, blogs, podcasts, vlogs, and snippets of information or articles.
The drive to create viral content has also spawned the growth of several content creators, who, in their desperate bid to be an overnight sensation, choose to create content that is filled with hype, misinformation, or less information mixed with extra content — packaged to make it seem sensational at the first look.
The sad part about this affair is that several individuals and business entities find themselves competing against these so-called content creators despite having the quality content and the talent to deliver top-notch content regularly.
With a proper content marketing strategy, gaining a foothold in the field with fierce competition is possible.
What is content marketing strategy?
Content marketing strategy is a work plan that helps create and distribute valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a set audience to gain profits and a growing customer base.
Like a study plan for attending any examination, a blueprint is set for renovation or building construction; similarly, a content marketing strategy is necessary for any business striving to make a mark.
Let’s talk about the steps to formulate a proper content marketing strategy.
Eight steps to define and execute a good content marketing strategy:
1. Identify your potential customer base as well as the audience
The first step to launching any profitable business is to identify the potential customer base, and in the case of content marketing, it is no different either. To identify the potential customers and the audience (the consumers of the content), the factors such as demographics, general behavior, interests and other attributes should be considered.
To create a customer profile, it is better to create a customer persona based on the nine essential elements of Title/Role, Company / Lifestyle, Demographics, Identifiers, Pain Points / Goals, Challenges, Solution, Objections, and Real Quotes.
2. Set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals
In creating and distributing content, one should be focused on achieving specific goals that are SMART in nature. With such purposes, the business can have a proper direction to achieve its dream of making it big in the industry.
Apart from having goals, it is essential to devise a method to target and measure output.
3. Proper Content order
A proper content order helps the content creators and distributors to visualize their position in the field, the areas which require improvement, and how the said improvement can be sought.
It is essential to know such factors to develop a good content marketing strategy.
4. Determine your distribution channels
Once the content is created, brainstorm how to distribute it in other types of social media; for instance, the reels can be repurposed as shorts, podcasts can be converted to blogs, YouTube videos can be transcribed to a blog or converted into a podcast, and vice versa.
A single content source can generate multiple sources of content. To realize it, one needs to determine the distribution channels to use for the best results.
5. Create a content calendar
With the formulation of SMART goals, the necessary step to realize those goals would be the creation of a content calendar.
The content calendar provides a schedule to plan, create and publish the required content. Having a proper content calendar enables the connection between the relevant sources and coherence between what you, a content creator and distributor, will post today and what you post the next day.
A proper content calendar provides the advantage of keeping you connected and ensures that customers can have relevance in every piece of content posted.
6. Create a variety of content
Recent statistics from scientific researchers have determined that the average human’s attention span is less than that of a goldfish.
Keeping that and the neck-to-neck competition in mind, it is essential to produce different content to keep the audience engaged.
For instance, blog posts, infographics, and videos can be added instead of creating blunt videos and podcasts with the dry verbal content.
The mix of the type of content, if done correctly, can easily intrigue and attract a good number of audience and potential customers.
7. Promote your content
Shakespeare famously quoted in his famous play, ‘As You Like It’ that “If it is true, that good wine needs no bush, ’tis true, that a good play needs no Epilogue” to convey that the products of good quality need little or no advertisement, quite like his own plays. He did not mention that his competitor (The Rose Theatre) was in decline while Shakespeare enjoyed the royal patronage that had set him apart from others.
In this day and age, without promotion and advertising, nothing sells. There needs to be more than original content of top quality for a successful business. Promoting in the distribution channels and using paid advertising for better results is necessary.
8. Measure and analyze your result
There are many free tools (with Google Analytics being the popular choice) and paid tools in the market which can assess the website, helping you track the performance of the content published.
These assessments can help you refine and develop the website’s content marketing strategy.
You may already have predetermined objectives for your level of visibility, and Optimized content and effective SEO will help you achieve your objective.
If you are a Business owner, these could be a herculean task for you, considering the prime roles you play in the company. In those cases, we at The Content Bot help you to achieve these objectives and to attract new prospective customers. We will streamline each step, from branding to lead generation so that you can put all your efforts into your services and products.
If you are a Creator, or solopreneur looking for ways to build your content machine, I offer a one-on-one mentorship and cohorts in flipped classroom approach to guide you through the same and come up with fascinating results.
So reach out to me on Instagram/LinkedIn/Email just by Googling “Saranya Narayana Moorthy,” and we shall take up your career to the lengths of your aspirations.
Until next time, Happy Marketing!
