It’s not a revolutionary concept that you need a content strategy to succeed in marketing. But what does that actually look like? With rapid shifts in marketing trends, and the availability of new technology to track engagement and automate communication, it’s more important than ever to figure out how your content marketing plan works. Here’s how to get started.
Document Your Strategy
One thing remains consistent in the content marketing world despite game-changing trends: document your strategy.
There’s no end to how far you can take your documentation, but focus on a core outline and actionable steps. Start by building your case for using content marketing with an outline of channels to approach, content you want to produce, and end goals. Back up your efforts by meeting regularly with your marketing team to reassess your strategy and make adjustments as needed.
Develop an Audience Persona
Identify exactly who your audience is across your social media channels, blog readers, YouTube viewers, and anywhere else you plan to host your content. Go beyond just jotting down who this audience is and what they want, and develop an actual persona that covers what their pain points are and how they interact with different types of content.
Match Your Best Ideas to the Best Channels
Chart out your ideas and narrow them down until you find a handful that best match your brand’s voice. Now where should you share your article, video, or infographic and kick off the content cycle? A lengthy blog post on business innovation that mentions some of your key LinkedIn followers works better directly on that platform than on every social media channel you can find. Then, if you want to cross-promote your content on Twitter, just pull out the best quotes and statistics to share with that audience.
Think Fast
These days, content marketers are all talking about big, epic content complete with content upgrades and stand-alone content sites. The strategy certainly works well and can revolutionize your content marketing efforts. But it can also fall flat if you’re not looking at how it’s optimized for mobile, whether your audience is using a tablet or other mobile device.
Incorporate the User Experience
Without a solid user experience, your content efforts will be largely dismissed and never see a continued content cycle leading to a sale. Creating high-end content is only the first step in your content marketing strategy. Next, ensure that users can easily engage with your content, whether they’re on a desktop or mobile device.