Here’s a 6-Step Content Marketing Strategy that Will Grow Your Business

A solid Content Marketing Strategy isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s a requirement.

Recent research has found that content marketing methods convert 6X more often than other marketing methods and it’s one of the most effective ways to engage with your customers online.

If you don’t have a content marketing strategy in place, it’s time to develop one. Here is a quick guide to get you started:

Step 1: Get to know your customers.

Before you develop a content marketing strategy, you first need to understand who your customers are and how to effectively communicate with them.

Developing Buyer Personas is a great exercise for this. Buyer Personas are a representation of your ideal customer. A persona can have a great impact on your marketing strategy. They will include basic factors such as their age, gender, geography, education level, and even income. They can also tell you where your demographic spends time online, what resources they trust and what pain points they’re facing, which brings us to:

Step 1 (continued): Dig deeper and understand your customer’s needs.

What do your customers want? What problems are they facing? How can your product or service solve those problems?

We know you have something to say, that’s why you went into business. The trick is figuring out how to say it in a way that provides value to your customers and resonates with them.

Need help with Step 1? A Customer Analysis and Key Messaging Workshop is a great way to get started.

Step 2: Determine your objective.

What do you want your content marketing to achieve? What call-to-action do you have your customers?

Typical objectives include:

• Increasing sales revenue as a result of your content marketing strategy
• Getting more high quality leads, which will help you meet your revenue goals.
• Getting more traffic to your site and improving the conversion rate on your site.
• Improving the perception and awareness of your business and being seen as a thought leader.
• Improving SEO and ranking higher on the search engines.
• Reducing marketing costs, as your content becomes more effective.
• Growing social media engagement, which can help with both traffic and awareness.

Step 3. Don’t forget SEO.

Now that you understand who your customers are, it’s time to place yourself in their shoes. What are they typing into Google when they need your product or service?

Make a list of basic keywords, include phrases as well. If you’re struggling, consider asking some off your customers what they’ve searched for. There are also some great free tools you can use:

• Google Trends
• Google AdWords Keyword Planner
• AdWord & SEO Keyword Permutation Generator
• Google Correlate
• Ubersuggest

Need help with Step 3? Developing an SEO Strategy is a great way to get started.

Step 4. Determine your channels.

Another reason to develop an understanding of your customer is to determine where they’re spending time online. Are they browsing YouTube for the latest videos or do they spend most of their free time browsing Facebook or Instagram?

We recommend starting with 2-3 channels to get started.

Step 5. Develop a content schedule.

As part of your content strategy, you’ll need to know exactly when you want to publish your content on each of the platforms you want to use. Refer back to your customer needs and keyword research to develop content topics. Consider different content types as well: video, infographic, blog article, e-book, etc.

We frequently get asked how often a business should be posting new content and the answer is usually “the more the merrier.” But with that said, it’s important to keep your resources and capabilities in mind and also ensure that you are publishing quality content. So be realistic when setting your goals and expectations.

It’s also important to assign ownership within your team to each piece of content. Whether your copywriter is internal or outsourced, you may want to consider a project management software to help keep the team on track and on deadline.

Need help with Step 5? Developing a Content Strategy is a great way to get started.

Step 6. Distribute and amplify your content.

The reality is that creating content isn’t always enough. Sometimes, you need to distribute and amplify it. You need to market your marketing.

You can do this by sharing your content on social media and utilising paid social advertising to reach your target audience. You may also consider strategic partnerships and influencer marketing.

A content marketing strategy is a never-ending process that needs to be consistently analysed and revised on a regular basis. It’s important to engage, refine, and rework on a regular basis with your team, always remembering to keep your objectives in mind.