How to Develop your Content Marketing Strategy

Today, it’s simply not enough to have an online presence in the digital world. After all, with millions of brands in all corners of the globe recognising the significant role digital marketing can play when it comes to generating leads, maximising awareness, and boosting engagement, it’s crucial that your digital marketing strategy is on point if you stand any chance of standing out from the crowd.

With fierce competition and an already over-populated digital environment, every business should pay close attention to creating a solid content marketing plan that will allow you to achieve your business goals.

A well-developed strategy will not only help you to define your goals but it will also allow you to optimise traffic, generate leads, and boost conversion rates.

And, there are a whole host of ways that you can you can develop your marketing strategy…

Why is content marketing important?

In today’s technically advanced world, if you don’t have an online presence, you’ll almost certainly be left behind.

From SEO website content through to creating relevant blog posts, content marketing not only helps brands to inspire action, generate traffic, and boost awareness on a global scale, but is also allows businesses to expand their reach, maximise engagement and achieve their business objectives… so it’s definitely worth tuning in!

One of the most reliable sources of traffic, high impact content also allows you to generate revenue and experiment with a wide range of other marketing tactics.

Here’s how you should develop your content marketing plan…

What’s your goal?

First and foremost, it’s important that you are able to determine your goals before you even think about creating your content marketing strategy.

As part of this process, you should ask yourself why you need a content marketing strategy and the reasons why you want to produce the content. Remember your goals should be S.M.A.R.T – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound.

Research

Before beginning any marketing strategy, it’s important that you conduct buyer persona research as this will give you an insight into your target market’s desires and needs. This means, you will then be able to maximise engagement by catering the content to your audience’s requirements.

Although, it can be tempting to jump straight in and start creating your content, taking the time to conduct thorough research is a crucial stage of any planning process.

A content audit

In recent years, blogging has continued to increase in popularity, and as a result, creating engaging blog posts in one of the most frequent types of content that businesses start with.

Impactful, effective, and cost effective, creating your own blog as a stand alone platform or part of your website is a great way of creating purposeful, interesting and relevant content that your customers will be able to engage and interact with.

But, if you’re considering creating a series of blog posts, it’s crucial that you analyse what type of content your target market are engaging with the most. This will allow you to determine what type of content should be within your strategy.

Do you have a content management system in place?

It’s super important that you have a content management system in place that will allow you to manage your content in accordance with your business goals and objectives.

When choosing a content management system, you should ensure that it incorporates vital components such as content publication, content creation, as well as content analytics.

This will allow you to plan, create, publish and most importantly, publish your results in one place quickly and easily.

Mindmapping

Whether you prefer to mindmap alone or as part of a group, the key to a successful content marketing strategy is to create high impact content that will not only boost engagement but will also inspire action. With this in mind, it’s certainly worthwhile putting some thought into the type of content that you want to share.

From choosing suitable topic through to creating eye-catching headlines and embracing recent trends, the possibilities are truly endless when it comes to creating highly engaging content that will resonate with your target market.

It’s crucial that your content is highly targeted and has the ability to capture the attention of your target demographic. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, it always helps to analyse your competitor’s content! Of course, you should make sure that the content you share is original.

Many people also find it useful to prepare a content calendar, this way you can date advantage of key dates and events.

Now, let’s take a look at the type of content available…

The power or content should certainly not be underestimated or ignored! Perfect for connecting and engaging with your target audience, getting your content right will ultimately determine the success of your content marketing campaign.

There are whole host of different types of content that you can integrate into your marketing strategy including…

• Blog Posts
• Templates
• E-books
• Videos
• Infographics
• External Content
• Charts/graphs
• Q & A sessions
• Interviews
• Vlogs
• Mind maps
• Memes
• Online Games
• Quizzes
• Polls
• Photos
• Predictions
• Podcases
• Slideshares

Remember, it’s all about creating highly engaging content that not only reflects your brand identity but also resonates with your target market. So, think outside the box, establish a consistent tone of voice and most importantly, create content that will get people talking about you!

The content that is most suitable for your business will depend on the needs and desires of your target market. And of course, when it comes to distributing your content, it’s equally important that this is done in the right way as this can also have a huge impact on the success of your online content marketing content.

Organisation and smart scheduling is of the upmost important and it is at this point that your content calendar will prove to be extremely useful, especially when it comes to distributing your content in an effective and timely manner.

Manage and publish your content!

Now for the fun part… it’s now time to put your editorial calendar into action and publish your content! At this point, you should pay close attention to how your target market is engaging with the content you share! And remember, a successful content marketing plan has the ability to set your brand apart from your competitors, providing you do it right.

And, if you’re struggling to come up with ideas, there are plenty of professional digital marketing teams that are equipped with the knowledge, skills and expertise to accelerate your online content marketing plan in line with your businesses’ goals and objectives.

Here at Peaky Digital, we specialise in creating effective digital marketing campaigns that not only inspire action, but also achieve optimum results. If you have any questions about how we can help you to drive your start up business forward in the digital world, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Our friendly and helpful team is always on hand to answer any of your questions and we always go that extra mile to deliver digital marketing solutions that meet your objectives and requirements.

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