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Resourceful + engaging + enjoyable = Content
Content! Content! Content! There is so much buzz floating around the digital marketing space these days. Much of startup and business success can actually hinge on your content strategy. Your content — whether it’s written material, visual imagery, or video — will be the most eloquent and prolific way you can express your ideas to your audience.
For a business, the key to a successful content chain is finding the right material and ensuring the right delivery. It goes beyond creating and publishing the content, however. It’s also essential to manage, promote and endorse it. Otherwise, your content just gets lost in the fray.
Also Read: 4 ways outsourcing content marketing will actually benefit your startup
Before anything else, let’s consider the content chain, and how each is an important link in your strategy.
- Content: The first step
- Content Strategy: How to manage the content
- Content Marketing: Promoting it
- Content Marketing Strategy: Endorsing the content
The importance of content marketing strategy
You may have heard of the phrase “content is king.” Today, this has transformed into “content is the kingdom.” Before we look into how content has become so significant, let’s take a step back and find out how content has ended up playing a big part in marketing strategy.
Let us start from the beginning.
In 1980s to 1990s, if you wanted to acquire information, then you have to go to a library or some other place to find what you need. Portals like Yahoo!, Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and others did not even exist.
We now take for granted the fact that we can easily search for information online — even on mobile devices. This was unthinkable just a couple of decades ago. Having the right stuff at your fingertips is a magical experience. And because we are now in the information age, content is increasingly important.
For businesses, this has also signalled a drastic shift in how we engage with audiences and customers. With content easily accessible with a press of a button or tap on a screen, you will need to be transparent and engaging with your audience — otherwise, your brand or presence might not even be felt.
Pillars of a compelling content marketing strategy
“Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them.” – Doug Kessler
You need enough passion and commitment to build the right content. You want your content to be compelling. But it goes beyond this. Let’s look into the seven pillars of creating a compelling and effective content marketing strategy.
Also Read: Advice for startup freshmen: How to develop a content marketing strategy that works
1. Set your objectives
Devising a proper strategy before stepping into the specific procedure is a sign of astuteness and acumen. So, ask yourself: What do you want to accomplish from your content strategy? For instance, inbound marketing can involve growth:
- Increased membership sign ups
- Higher overall revenue
- Greater impact of social advocacy
Here, you can adopt the SMART approach, which can help you actually execute your plan and measure its impact.
- S-Specific
- M-Measurable
- A-Attainable
- R-Relevant
- T-Time-based
Plus, consider “B” which is your budget. Consider the amount of money you will spend on content, and whether you can afford it. Resources are an important part of your content marketing strategy.
2. Establish the target audience
Make a list of the questions and ask yourself:
- What does the audience like?
- What are their areas of interest?
- How can you assist them in solving their problems?
- How can you best reach them?
- How can you help them with your application or website?
- What will be the possible reasons for them to dislike your content?
3. Determine the content type suited to your business
After determining what your audience is like, you need to plan your content type based on your business. Analyse the market thoroughly and craft your content’s blueprint in accordance to what fits your industry.
4. Develop an editorial calendar
It is the core of the content marketing strategy. It is actually sort of a guide that schedules and manages all the content that your organisation is going to publish in a specific time frame. You can include:
- Your organization’s marketing themes
- Industry events
- Deciding on major content offerings
- Planning for content reuse
- Leveraging the power of the content curation
- Encouraging co-creation
5. Build your content
It’s now the right time to kick off. Writing, building, and developing the content will take a few steps.
- Craft a clickable headline: Is your headline the compelling? Does it clearly state what is in the content? Try to find a balance between transparency and intrigue. At the very least, your headline should have the core meaning of your content, lest you be accused of writing clickbait.
- Give it some substance: Make your content enjoyable and fulfilling to read. If the audience leaves right in the middle of reading or watching, then it will be the red flag for your business.
- Videos are a great alternative. You can include videos in your content, but make sure it does not exceed your audiences’ attention span. For example, it should be no longer than three minutes.
6. Amplify the content, if required
Creating the content is not enough. In most instances, you need to amplify it. You need to give it a big push on various channels, such as social media. It’s not enough to generate organic reach, however. You should also explore targeting and even sponsored posts.
Also Read: 20 free must-have tools for your zero-budget content marketing campaign
7. Measure, modify, rinse and repeat
It’s not enough to publish and share content. You need to keep track of the numbers, in order to determine the effectiveness and impact of your campaigns. You can employ analytics solutions to keep track of your efforts, so you can adjust and tweak depending on your needs. The numbers will also tell you the best channels to share your content on — for example, are you generating better engagement on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, or perhaps some other channel?
Wrapping it up
Content marketing strategy has grown to be an important part of businesses’ marketing strategies today. It’s all about sharing value with your audience and growing your brand along with it.
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The views expressed here are of the author’s, and e27 may not necessarily subscribe to them. e27 invites members from Asia’s tech industry and startup community to share their honest opinions and expert knowledge with our readers. If you are interested in sharing your point of view, submit your post here.
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