Content marketing requires careful planning and execution. Publishing fascinating, relevant content can increase traffic to your website and increase revenue. However, if you haven’t carefully considered your plan, you could be wasting your time and money.
Therefore, you should conduct research and formulate a strategy before you even consider producing content. The following step-by-step instructions will help you develop a content plan and marketing method.
What is Content Marketing?
Simply put, content marketing is the promotion of a product or service by disseminating relevant material to your target audience. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds
First, there’s the part about the content. That includes blog posts, articles, podcasts, and videos, among other things. It’s basically information that can be read, heard, or seen.
Now, what about the marketing portion? On the whole, content marketing hasn’t changed since the days when merchants used word of mouth to attract buyers to their stalls. Telling the right people about your products and making them want to buy is still the name of the game. That’s what you do with content when you use content marketing.
But one thing that’s different from the good old days is that content marketing encourages potential customers to come to you. Rather than actively seeking out these customers, as is the case with traditional forms of advertising, people tend to seek out the companies they want to do business with. That’s why inbound marketing includes content marketing.
The role of the content marketer is to produce, curate, distribute, and share relevant material. Quality content is defined as material that is useful, reliable, search engine optimized, and provides the information the target market seeks.
Marketers can use the content to engage and inform a particular demographic, which in turn increases the company’s brand awareness and sales. In addition to generating leads and sales, this strategy converts the target audience into paying customers, raving enthusiasts, and passionate advocates.
But does Content Marketing Actually Work?
In an effort to grow an audience, why do so many resort to content marketing strategies? The fact that content may now be accessed wherever the audience is a big one.
Statista says that around the world, about 4 billion people use the Internet. In terms of potential customers, that’s roughly half the planet. And in the United States, 26% of all individuals are always connected to the web.
When trying to get in touch with people who spend all of their time online, sending material directly to their mobile devices and social networks is your best bet. After all, that is where they expect to find answers.
Because of this, content is such a widely known way to market. According to the latest data from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 91% of B2B marketers and 86% of B2C marketers view content marketing as an essential tactic.
And it works. 72% of marketers agree that content marketing is effective at generating leads and boosting customer engagement, according to the Content Marketing Institute. And surely nobody would deliberately pass up the chance to increase their lead generation.
Types of Content Marketing
The following are just a few of the most popular forms of content marketing that you can use in your strategy.
1. Content marketing using social media
It’s not hard to see why social media marketing is so popular among companies: there are more than 3.6 billion active social media users worldwide. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Snapchat are just a few examples of available channels.
Each offers its unique set of tools for content production and dissemination, like sharing photos, live videos, stories, etc.
2. Content marketing using Infographics
Data, content, and information are presented in a visually understandable style.
Infographics are an excellent tool for spreading your message because they combine concise text with visually appealing imagery. They are useful when you need to simplify complicated topics to benefit your target audience.
Learn more: Infographics 101: How To Use Infographics In Your Marketing Campaign
3. Marketing With Blog Content
Blogs are a highly effective form of inbound content, and there’s a lot of room for innovation in terms of their goals and substance. With a blog, you can link to other blog posts and content on your site or other platforms, add social sharing buttons and add information about your products.
There are different types of blog that you can use for your marketing strategy. It could be a personal blog, case studies, a niche one, and so much more.
4. Video Content Marketing
Wyzowl’s research shows that 69% of consumers prefer to watch videos to learn about a brand’s service or product. In addition to increasing conversions and ROI, video marketing can also facilitate the development of connections with target customers. Videos can be shared on several channels, including social media, landing pages, and even a co-marketer’s website.
5. Paid Ad Content Marketing
When combined with inbound marketing, paid advertising can help you get in front of a large audience and establish a strong presence wherever you’d like to be recognized. Social media, landing sites, banners, and sponsored content are just a few of the various venues where you can publish paid advertisements.
10 Steps to Successful Content Marketing
So, without further ado, let’s dig into the processes you should go through to create a winning approach.
1. Determine What You Want to Achieve
Your first step in developing a content marketing strategy should be to find out what purpose your content will serve. Do you want to increase the number of potential customers? Do you want more people to visit your site? Or do you think of content marketing as a way to build trust in your company’s products or services? As soon as you have settled on your goals, begin to establish attainable milestones. Try to put a number on your goals wherever feasible to gauge the efficacy of your content marketing effort
2. Consider Your Target Market
The success of your content marketing efforts will depend on your ability to identify and appeal to your intended audience. If you’re trying to appeal to a subset of the wider populace, for example, learn what drives those individuals’ preferences and see what kind of things they find interesting.
To move forward with your content marketing strategy, you must first create a “persona” to represent your ideal customer. The primary demographics of age, gender, location, and income should all be included in the persona you construct. Think about your ideal customer’s interests, concerns, and driving factors. Learn more about the stages of the buyer’s journey.
3. Check out your Competitors in the Market
To win your market, you’ll have to rise above the competition. But your rivals aren’t the only ones vying for customers’ attention. News, reference, thought leaders, and entertainment sites may also have articles and videos similar to the ones you’ve posted..
When doing research, pay attention to the types of content your competitors are publishing and which ones seem to perform well. Your research should also include an examination of the keywords they intend to rank for.
4. Perform in-depth Keyword and Topic Analysis
After you’ve established goals and have a firm grasp on your target audience, the next step is to study the kinds of online information requests that consumers make. One way to do so is to observe which search terms people use most frequently on Google and other search engines.
To get started, look up how often people search for the keywords you think are essential. A lot of the information you find while conducting keyword research will be surprising.
5. Evaluating Existing Material
Reviewing the work you’ve previously put out there can provide helpful information about what topics are your readers interested in. Look at your most popular content and see which pages on your site get the most visits.
Search for the keywords people are using to find your site. You can use this information to create more relevant, interesting content.
6. Plan Your Strategy
The next stage is to make a plan for how you will apply the knowledge your analysis has shown. You need to think about the platforms you’ll use to publish your material and the strategies you’ll utilize to market it.
You should also consider what kind of material will attract your target audience the most. Would white papers and blog entries, for instance, be more suitable for your audience, or would videos and infographics be better? Most of the time, using a variety of media will be the best course of action.
7. Make A Game Plan For Your Resources
You’ll find a wealth of inspiration in your research into content marketing. When you’re considering its many facets, make sure to consider the limits of your current capabilities. Creating content is something you may do in-house or outsourced, so you’ll need to make a decision about that.
You’ll also want to designate a team member to monitor your content marketing strategy, field any questions or feedback that arise, and ensure that the campaign meets your goals. Given the time commitment involved in content marketing, it’s essential to set reasonable expectations for how much traffic you want the content marketing campaign to generate.
8. Formulate a Timetable for Creating Content
You need to organize your ideas into a schedule for publishing content. List the dates and people who are tasked with creating each piece of content in your calendar. Consistent content creation is essential for content marketing, so use your content calendar to achieve this goal.
9. Generate, Publish And Advertise Your Content
To make sure your content is consistent, remember to keep your goals in mind as you write each piece. And don’t forget to use the keywords you researched in your content—those are the most important words for search engines. Maintain a high standard of quality by making sure each piece is free from errors and meets your audience’s needs.
Create content at a steady pace, rather than cranking it out at the last minute to meet a deadline. Promotion is an important step after the content has been published. Send the information to anyone you think might enjoy it and post it on your social media platforms.
10. Track And Optimize
Performance tracking lets you know which of your content marketing tactics are successful and which ones aren’t. This will help you adjust your campaigns and improve the way that you promote your material online. You’ll learn to develop content that engages people if you’re flexible in the way you approach creating content.
Conclusion
Content marketing strategy is an ongoing, evolving process that requires constant refinement. As you make headway, you’ll get insight into your target audience and the kind of material that resonates with them, requiring frequent course adjustments. The 10-step guide above should serve as a good jumping-off point for developing your content marketing strategy.
To know more about other marketing strategies, read here.
