Content marketing is like the latest smart phone; if you aren’t using it you are missing out big time. Not only are you left out of the conversation at the water cooler, but you are missing real benefits that could change your daily life, or in this case – your business. If you haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon, here are three ways to start planning your content marketing strategy:
1. Know your customers and where they are in the buying process
Good research is essential to knowing the ins and outs of your customer’s industry as well as their behaviors. The goal is to understand their points of pain so that you know how deep the thorn in their side is when they come to you for information.
Once you understand their journey, you can personalize their experience with your brand. Personalization makes people feel like they are being heard, which is important. By producing content that offers a solution to their issues, you are sure to see them coming back to you for more information.
2. Set realistic measurable goals
Narrow your focus to a few channels like your blog, social media and your e-newsletter and use your current analytics as a base line. Create a vision for where you would like to see those channels in a year – how much web traffic, how much engagement and good open/read rates.
Then, form daily, weekly and monthly milestones in order to keep your content marketing progressing toward your yearly goal. The key is getting started; it is easy to go back and adjust your goals if you aren’t seeing the results you would like after a few months.
3. Create unique branded content
The objective is to create content that is valuable, conversational and informative– with your logo on it. According to Forbes, “most consumers believe that brands who spend time creating custom content are truly interested in building relationships with them. Great digital content can come in the form of blogs, infographics, video, white papers, eBooks and more. Content marketing done right is one of the best ways to build brand trust and drive traffic and sales.”
We believe creating killer content is one of the primary elements of a successful website. Content drives traffic to your website, increases your SEO, positions you as a thought-leader and helps you to build stronger customer relationships.
