Top-Level Content Marketing in 5 Steps
There is a difference between mediocre content marketing and epic, top-tier, fabulous content marketing.
Great content isn’t an in-depth analysis of what makes your company the best.
It’s just not about you — the majority of content that you share should be engaging, informative, or at the very least, entertaining.
While it should be related to your field, the most important part is that the reader feels that he gained something valuable from your post. If people think what you’re sharing has wasted their time, and not improved their online experience in one way or another they won’t be back for more.
So, how exactly do you create a solid content marketing strategy? I’ve narrowed the list down to five simple steps that will help you build your content marketing strategy on a solid foundation.
1. Discover your readers’ wants and needs.
If you’re not sure who your ideal customer is, it’s time to take a step back and forget about content for a minute – or a few weeks. In order to produce content that will be advantageous for your business, you need to know what will benefit your buyer persona.
Who is it that you’re targeting? What kind of videos do they like to watch? Do they want inspirational quotes or infographics detailing how internet usage has changed over the years?
Take time to analyze who is visiting your website and your social media accounts, and get a feel for what they want and need. This is a crucial part of creating your marketing strategy, for epic content for one demographic may be disastrous for another.
Forget about #contentmarketing until you know your ideal customer. Click To Tweet2. Write down your ideas. Use a calendar.
Many people envision their strategies, but where they go wrong is not writing it down or creating systems.
As you brainstorm, jot down each idea you have – even if you end up not using it. Keep a record of both what you go with and what you discard; you might find yourself returning to ideas that you originally believed wouldn’t work.
More importantly, keep a calendar of what you intend to post, where, and when. This will not only help you get organized and stay on track with your long-term strategy, it will also be useful in the future to see what was successful and what wasn’t.
3. Examine the competition
Whatever field you are in, you will almost always find yourself in good (or bad) company. Get to know your competitors well, and don’t stop at the product they are selling. Study what kind of content they share, and how their audience reacts to it.
If the top performers in your industry are all sharing YouTube tutorials, chances are you might want to consider investing time in doing the same. Find out what is working for the power users, and figure out how to do something similar, but in a way that showcases your brand’s personality.
Likewise, look into what hasn’t worked for your competitors, and take note. Unless you have a brilliant new idea that will revolutionize the kind of content they have shared, save yourself time and frustration by learning from their mistakes.
4. Invest in a content writer.
The best way to produce epic content is to be someone who is dedicated to doing just that. If your writing is lacking in any way – be it voice, humor, or proper grammar – you should hand over the responsibility to a professional writer.
Find someone who understands your style, niche, and goals. Quality writing is coveted for a reason; it will automatically set you leagues apart from competitors and help you stand out as a top-notch source of information.
5. Be credible and reliable.
By sharing epic content on a consistent basis, you will begin to establish yourself as a credible, go-to source of important information.
As such, it is your responsibility to do your research and ensure that each video, news piece, or blog post aligns with your company’s philosophy and offers valid, reliable insight. If you think that Wikipedia offers the best-researched material, you might want to rethink your approach.
Not only should you be there for your consumers, consistently producing and sharing valuable content, you should also maintain uniformity within your contents’ voice, structure, and format.
Writing each piece in a new tone and font may be fun if you’re a teenager, but as a company, this shows nothing more than a scatterbrained lack of focus. Your audience wants to become comfortable with your style and know that they can always rely on you for the best content ever, in a format they can count on.
In a consumer world driven by content, there are countless ways to create a successful strategy, but the five listed above are paramount when starting any campaign or long-term plan.
What did you think of this list? Is there anything missing here that has helped you produce an epic content marketing strategy? Please share in the comments below!