How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy

Ready to take the plunge and dive into content marketing? Congratulations! It’s an exciting step that will pay dividends for your business.

But there’s something you should do before you start publishing blog articles and posting Tiger King memes. And that’s create your content strategy.

What is a Content Marketing Strategy?

Content is all the information and experiences that are directed toward your audience.

A content marketing strategy is how you ensure your content creation and distribution satisfy your business goals and objectives. It’s the piece of your marketing mix that constantly brings your brand to life for your audiences. Content strategy involves the management and distribution of all the media you create and own. Many business hire writers and designers to create brand assets. But a content strategist bridges the gap between creative and business needs.

More specifically, a content strategist steps back and defines:

·       Who the business should create content for and why

·       What types of content should be created for those audiences

·       Where and when the content will be distributed

·       How the content helps achieve business goals

·       How the content’s performance will be measured

A content marketing strategy helps solve business problems while simultaneously building trust and relationships with consumers. It’s the foundation androadmap for your content marketing efforts.

3 Steps to Create a Content Strategy

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to content strategy. Every brand and business is unique. Therefore, every content strategy should be as well.

Here's a simple three-step process to create unique content marketing strategies:

1. Get clear about your business goals and objectives.

Without business goals or objectives, there is no content strategy. Common business goals include generating brand awareness, establishing topic authority, and driving conversions. Getting clear about your business goals helps define the why behind investment in content marketing. When creating your first content strategy, we recommend narrowing it down to one to two business goals. This helps focus your efforts as you ramp up your content creation and distribution.

2. Understand your audience and their needs.

To consistently publish valuable, relevant content, you need to know your audience. You can do that by answering the following questions:

·       What are their pain points?

·       What problems are they trying to solve?

·       How can your product or service help them?

·       Where are they finding your content?

·       How does any of this change along the buyer’s journey?

Use the answers to these questions to create audience personas. Address one or more of these personas each time you create content.

3. Find your ownable content space.

In a world where 2 million articles are published online every day, it’s important that your content stands out. How do you do that? By looking closely at your business and what sets it apart from the competition.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins referred to this as the “Hedgehog Concept.” He said you can find your hedgehog by asking the following questions:

·       What are you deeply passionate about?

·       What can you be the best at in the world?

·       What drives your economic engine?

Whether you call it your business hedgehog or not, odds are you answered similar questions before launching your business or brand.

I’ve adopted the hedgehog concept to help brands find their unique, ownable content space. When I work with my clients, I ask the following questions:

·       What do you want to say?

·       What expertise do you have to share?

·       What does your audience want to know?

·       What makes your brand unique?

The answers to these questions help me decide the topics we'll cover with your content marketing.

Follow these three steps to create your content marketing strategy. Use it as a blueprint for your content marketing efforts. Every piece of content you create and publish will bring your brand to life, create value for consumers, and drive business goals.

‍

‍