Stop Content Marketing Because You Don't Know What You're Doing

Stop Content Marketing - You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

October 4^th 2016 Sally Ormond content strategy, how to create a content strategy, marketing strategy, what is a content strategy

Stop content marketing

Content marketing is one of those phrases everyone’s banding about.

In your marketing strategy meetings you’re being constantly told you need to do it, but no one’s telling you how or why.

It’s not enough just to say ‘hey, we blog therefore we have a content marketing strategy,’ because unless you have a clear idea of why you’re doing it, it’s not going to work.

Let’s go right back to the beginning – do you even know what content marketing is?

In a nutshell it’s the process of using online content to meet your marketing goals.

That means looking at what the company next door is doing and copying it isn’t going to help you.

What’s your content strategy?

The first step is to decide what your end goal is to be.

It could be increasing brand awareness before launching a new product or service, or simply developing your brand identity.

Whatever it is you must decide what content you’re going to produce (e.g. blogs, articles, press releases, white papers, email newsletters etc.) and which platforms you’re going to use to promote it.

What are you going to write about?

Once you know what you want to achieve, you must work out what content ideas will help you get there.

Plan out a calendar of content themes you need to cover and when, plus outline where the content is to be used.

It doesn’t have to be set in stone at this stage and should be fluid to deal with changes as they happen, but it will give everyone a solid framework to work from.

Who’s going to do the writing?

The next task on your list is to decide who’s going to generate the content.

If you have the skills in house, that’s an option for you. However, it’s always worth looking at getting in a professional copywriter. After all, generating content for online audiences is something they do day in day out, and they already understand the demands of Google.

Just remember they will need time for research, creating the content, editing it and proofreading it, so don’t leave it to the eleventh hour.

It’s also a good idea to invest in a good graphic designer too.

Why?

Well your strategy isn’t just going to be word based, you’re also going to need some visuals. Infographics are a fast and effective way of getting highly shareable information out there, plus they will always be on hand to help you with any web-based assistance you may need.

How are you going to promote it?

Once you have the content you need to get in front of the people you want to see it.

Social media is an obvious choice (as is your website), but it’s also important to reach out to influencers in your industry who might think what you have to say is worth putting in front of their audience too.

Basically, get it out across as many channels and outlets as you can.

You also need to measure its impact so it’s important to identify the right key performance indicators for your campaign.

What will your content strategy achieve?

If you get it right, your content strategy will help you:

Boost the visibility and reputation of your brand
Set you up as an expert in your industry
Drive more traffic to your website and therefore conversions

If you think this sounds like a lot of work you’d be right, but what’s a business without a marketing strategy?

Regardless of whether you are a B2B or B2C company, content has to be at the heart of your marketing efforts. Plan your strategy now and you’ll soon start reaping the rewards of your efforts.

Tags: content strategy, how to create a content strategy, marketing strategy, what is a content strategy

Comments (2)

Mark 3 months ago.

Sally, lots of good points, as always. Can you share your thoughts on the appoach you take when contacting relevant influencers?

Sally Ormond 3 months ago.

Hi Mark, You have to tread carefully when contacting influencers. Once you've written your blog and compiled a list of people you think might be interested in it, send them an email and introduce yourself. Share the link to your blog and tell them why you think their readers might enjoy it. The important thing to remember is that they are under no obligation to publish it so don't keep pestering. If they do respond, thank them, but don't take that as meaning they will publish everything you send to them.

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