Content marketing is the process of creating content with a consistent message or theme that is related to your business, website, or blog in order to promote awareness and/or gain customers. Content marketing can be broken down even further into 3 more content types:

1)  Informational content provides information about a specific topic.

2)  How-to content or how-to articles focus on teaching readers how to do something useful for them. How-to content differs from informational content because it teaches people how to perform a task, while informational content simply informs readers about a given topic.

3)  Sharing content allows readers to easily share stories with others via social media, email, etc. Sharing content gives readers content they can instantly engage with and share with their network, extending the content’s reach and influence.

Every content type has a different purpose for your business or organization, which will ultimately help you achieve your content marketing strategy goals.

Informational content focuses on informing readers by providing relevant facts about a topic that is important to them.

If your company is an industry leader in new technology as it relates to planetary space flight, the informational content strategy would be anything from articles about advancements being made in the field of space travel, how those advancements could affect everyday life on earth, or articles about recent developments related to extra-terrestrial phenomenon.

How do you create a Content Marketing Strategy?

A content marketing strategy is essentially a plan for content that you produce. It’s about publishing good content consistently so people will want to read it and share it, which will, in turn, bring us more visitors, leads, customers, website traffic, etc.

Before you create your content marketing strategy, define the overall objectives of your content strategy plan.

1) Define where to reach your target audience.

2) Identify which content would achieve this goal in a way that is scalable and sustainable by arranging it into an editorial calendar.

3) Specify the metric system associated with the particular content based on sales conversion rate or lead generation.

4) Verify if there are current platforms where you could distribute your content in order to gain visibility among users who share similar needs as those of your defined target audience.

5) Formulate clear communication outlining how this new project was created and who is responsible for its implementation and promotion, along with how it will be measured and evaluated after it’s completion.

– Content marketing strategy must be based on SMART targets

– Detailed value propositions are important for content strategy marketing

– Address the customer’s pain points through your content marketing strategy to get quality leads

– 5 essential elements of a good content marketing strategy

– Key components of an effective SEO content writing plan – Content must be written in a way that addresses user intent and problems within the context.

What is included in your Content Marketing Strategies?

A successful content strategy for your business covers each type of content you plan to make and/or publish and should offer key performance indicators.

Each type of content such as visual (photos, diagrams, etc.) or written (blog posts, email newsletters, etc.) should be covered in the content strategy and target your buyer personas.

It’s important that you don’t leave out any type of content because different people find and prefer reading or seeing different things online.

If something doesn’t exist then it can’t be found and used by anyone else either.

Content marketing (CM) means getting your brand in front of targeted consumers when they are looking for businesses like yours by creating interesting blog posts, podcasts, videos, etc. The right combination will increase traffic to your site and build loyal customers.

The content marketing strategy should include the following:

– Content types (blog posts, podcasts, videos, etc.) and where they will be posted. Will it be on your website or on platforms such as YouTube?

– The message that you think will appeal to your potential customers. You don’t just guess though; use metrics to find out what is working best for your brand!

– Digital Marketing Channels through which they can become aware of your content (social media accounts, email marketing newsletters, paid advertisements, etc.).

What are the best platforms out there?

Typically, the main platforms for your content strategy to be published on are:

– social media – e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, ECT.

– blog – e.g. WordPress or Blogspot  (these two are the most common)

– press release sites – these are great when trying to get links back to your site for SEO purposes

– microblogging sites – I really like Tumblr, but Pinterest can also work well depending on your business.

– online communities – forums and Q&A sites

There are a lot of options out there, so it’s a good idea to start by filling your boots. The more you have going on at once, the more content you’ll be producing, which means the better your chances are of being found on the search.

In fact, having lots of platforms can actually help with SEO rankings as Google takes into account the number of external links pointing back to your site from other sources.

Get as many blogs running as possible on different topics related to what you do – if they’re on-topic and offer value, people will link to them naturally anyway.

Evaluate Your Current Own Content Marketing Strategy

Your content strategy should be relevant to your target audience on several levels.

Verifying the content is relevant means verifying it’s also shareable, searchable, and linkable content that will help you achieve your content marketing goals (and ultimately help you meet your overall business goals).

If you are working with an in-house content creator, work with them on content creation moving forward.

If creating high-quality content isn’t their strong suit or if they lack experience with content marketing strategies, this would be a good time to bring in an expert (or experts) for assistance.

Once you have created effective content for publishing on various platforms, promoting your posts via social media channels can be highly effective for increasing traffic, engaging, and building brand awareness.

Take some time to evaluate your content.

Where is your content currently found? Is it on your company blog?

Or maybe it’s content you are producing for publication on other relevant sites like industry-specific directories or publications.

Does content exist in the form of social media posts, videos, eBooks or infographics?

Look at where your content can be found across all platforms and take note of any content that might be missing. If there are gaps in content, these are areas that can be improved. For example, if you produce a weekly infographic but never publish one to your blog (or another syndicated platform), then this would be an area for improvement as well as something worth noting when creating your content marketing strategy moving forward.

What to Do With Your Content Marketing Efforts

Once content has been created it must be published across various platforms.

Where content is found and how content is shared can make a big difference in helping you meet your content marketing plan.

Content should be thoughtfully distributed through the use of content distribution tools, content discovery platforms, and other related services that help get your content in front of the right people at the right time.

Similar to breaking down content into various categories for sharing on various platforms, your content marketing strategy should also include dividing content for later use such as repurposing existing content to create new forms of content (eBooks, white papers, videos, etc.).

This helps optimize resource allocation while maximizing the return on investment for all efforts within your documented content marketing strategy.

Take some time to look at content that is already in existence for your business.

Where is content found?

Does content align with your objectives?

And most importantly, what can be done to improve your content strategy moving forward based on content that has already been created?

By answering the questions above, you should start to see a clear picture of how content can be most effective and where you might need to make changes.

Once you have gotten a good understanding of existing content, it’s time to move on from simply evaluating content and look at creating new content as well as repurposing content by taking advantage of all the additional options available within

Identify Your Top Five Audiences

In order to have a successful business, it is important that you know the key audiences you are speaking to.

This information will help guide content creation and drive strategy.

When using a content marketing plan, your goal should be to get people from your audience onto your site where they can engage with offers you have available for them.

There are five main types of audiences:

1)  Gatherers – this group is made up of people who simply want access to some great free content, but do not want anything else from the company providing the said content.

These users may or may not visit again after getting what they were looking for. [SIDE NOTE: GATHERERS COULD BE A KEY AUDIENCE FOR HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT CREATION IF THE CONTENT IS INTERESTING ENOUGH, WHICH WOULD RESULT IN A SHARED LINK ON SOCIAL MEDIA – THIS MEANS ANOTHER AUDIENCE MIGHT FIND THE CONTENT AND BE PUSHED TO YOUR SITE]

2)  Browse – this audience enjoys content but is not looking for a particular product or service.

These users may go elsewhere in order to make a purchase. [SIDE NOTE: USERS OF HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT MAY BECOME BROWSE AUDIENCES WHEN THEY’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIFIC, BUT NOT WHAT YOU OFFER.]

3) Shoppers – individuals that are actively searching for what you have to offer.

These users will engage with your content, but won’t make a purchase right away; they will come back later to make their decision. [SIDE NOTE: THIS AUDIENCE IS THE ONE THAT WILL MAKE A PURCHASE IMMEDIATELY, ONCE THEY FIND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR.]

4)  Leaders – these are people who trust your brand and are willing to advocate on its behalf.

They pass along links without hesitation because of their loyalty to the company. [SIDE NOTE: HAVING A LARGE BASE OF LEADERS CAN BE KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF BUSINESS.]

5) Promoters – these individuals are not the first in line to buy something, but they will evangelize your product or service to those who are looking for what you offer. [SIDE NOTE: THERE IS A KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEADERS AND PROMOTERS – LEADERS ARE LOYAL TO ONE COMPANY, WHEREAS PROMOTERS WOULD MAYBE TALK UP YOUR OFFER TO ANOTHER COMPANY.]

Create Content Search Engines Will Like

When creating content, it’s important to keep online searches in mind. Algorithms are constantly evolving, so there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for optimizing your content for Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

However, there are some best practices that should be applied to all web content to ensure the highest possible ranking performance.

The first step in effective search engine optimization (SEO) is developing an overall content marketing strategy that includes SEO at its core.

In order for your business to successfully reach its target audience, it is imperative to have a content marketing plan in place that includes a content strategy.

Try hiring a professional writer from sites like upwork.com. It’s very affordable and most of the writers produce amazing work despite the low pay.

A big part of a successful content marketing strategy begins with a good writer. Finding a writer that can produce amazing content isn’t always easy!

You need to Know Your Brand

Small business owners and entrepreneurs usually have a limited budget, and while some choose to invest this in marketing their product or service directly to the consumer, others may choose to solve this problem by producing great content marketing strategies themselves.

This is where branding comes in; if you’re an entrepreneur that doesn’t want to spend large on advertising then investing in your brand instead can be a cost-effective solution – but what exactly does ‘branding’ involve?

And how do you go about it?

Before we get started with learning about branding and all the different types, we will first discuss what branding actually entails: basically, it’s your way of distinguishing yourself from the competition and creating trust within the minds of your customers so they feel confident buying from you.

So in order to do this, you need to know who your brand is.

You need to know what it is that makes you different from the competition – are you cheaper? Better quality?

Do you offer a personal touch? Regardless of what it may be, once you have figured out what sets you apart from the crowd, build on this, and try to focus in on why this is important.

 Once you’ve got that down, then ask yourself: where does my product or service fit into the big picture of things?

Where would someone looking for my product naturally look for it?

This will help determine how much time and money should go into branding versus digital marketing.

So not only will knowing these two essential elements about your business save you time and money, but it will also save you from being lost in the crowd.

An easy way to determine if your branding is working or not is by taking a look at your social media profiles – are they full of customer interaction?

Do people comment on them with compliments about the content?

This means you’ve done it right! But if people have nothing to say, don’t be disheartened because this just means that there’s more to be done.

Once your content starts generating interest, then you’ll see more comments and engagement so keep creating.

Again, you need to know who you are as a brand; take into consideration what sets you apart from the competition, why do customers prefer what you’re offering over that of others?

Once you’ve determined that, then you can look into the different types of branding to see which one works best for your business.

    There are five main types of branding:

  1) Emotional – here’s where things start to get subjective; building an emotional brand basically relies on knowing what kind of message you want to portray and how you want people to think or feel about you.

The emotions may be positive (happiness, love, etc.) or negative (fear, anger etc.). Of course, it’s always better to aim for the former rather than the latter as this will help build trust between yourself and your customers.

  2) Corporate – now like we mentioned before, knowing who your customer is important; if they’re young, cool, and trendy then you need to brand yourself in such a way that reflects this.

But if they’re older and more conservative, then play it safe and create a corporate image that’s about professionalism and efficiency.

     3) Practical – we explained how knowing your customer base is important; well here, the keyword is “versatility”.

Take into consideration what their #1 problem is: if you can offer them a solution to this problem through your product or service, then you’ve got yourself a practical brand. This basically means being approachable to your customers at all times.

  4) Cultural – when creating a cultural branding, make sure that whatever message you want others to see portrays the culture of the city or country you are operating in. It’s simple, really: people tend to seek out the things they lack the most, for example, if you’re living in a city where there are no events to attend, start holding them yourself. This way you’ll attract the people who are looking for that kind of thing.

5) Product or Service-Based – now depending on what your product/service is will determine how important this type is. Generally speaking though, it can be broken down into two subcategories:

One being utilitarian (think functional), and the other being luxury-based (think about designer brands). So basically, choose one!

If your service caters to everyone then go with utilitarian, but if it’s something not many people need then luxury-based is better.

Now that you know what type of branding you’re going for, it’s time to figure out how to best promote it – after all, the key to success isn’t just having a great product or service but also knowing how and where to sell it!

This ties back into who your target customer is: if they’re active on social media, build a following and engage with them; if they’re more inclined to print material, then create direct mailers and make sure they see your message; we’ll be putting up an in-depth post about this subject soon so keep an eye out for that.

Lastly, remember – don’t let yourself get discouraged! Just because your content isn’t getting much engagement at the moment doesn’t mean it won’t in the future; you’ll never know what might spark interest.

You Need to Understand Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is not easy, but it does have one huge advantage over other forms of marketing: the ability to work with people rather than at them.

If you understand social media as a form of online communication and not as a separate entity from your website or blog, then there are many ways to use its messaging power for your business’s benefit.

So, let’s look at how you can use social media marketing techniques for your content strategy.

Types of Content Marketing Efforts

The main distinction between the two types of content strategies is whether or not you are using content to directly advertise or market your products.

This is an important area to consider when developing your strategy.

One type might be more beneficial to your business depending on its size and budget.

Here are a few examples:

1. Transparency Marketing

This is the process of using content to position your company as an expert in its field, providing potential customers with editorial content that tells people what they need to know about your products without blatantly trying to sell anything.

2. Product Marketing

This is the more traditional method of marketing, letting people know about your products through sales-focused content.

3. Brand Marketing

This type of content strategy works alongside transparency and product marketing by building a strong brand presence in a manner that is not sales-focused.

So, now you have an idea of what type of content marketing you want to use, the next step is to develop your strategy.

One of the reasons why social media is so powerful for this sort of strategy is because it gives the user experience priority over commercial concerns.

You can freely give people lots of great information about your business without having to worry too much about selling directly through your content.

With this in mind, you will probably want to use the following social media platforms for your business:

1. Facebook – This site is ideal for adding interactivity and community elements. If people feel like they are engaging with your business on a human level then it is more likely that they will trust you enough to buy from you.

2. Twitter – This site is great for building online relationships with your customers and also has the added benefit of exposing your content to a clearly defined audience who might like it enough to buy what you are selling.

3. YouTube -For visual content, this can be a great content marketing strategy, you have to be comfortable with making videos and producing content that can attract leads. This can be helpful with organic traffic believe it or not!

4. Google My Business – This platform is excellent for sharing content and keeping engaged with your customers.

How Content Marketing Works with Social Media Strategy

Now that we understand the type of marketing you want to do and how it works, we can look at how to do it through social media.

You will need to make sure you have a good handle on the whole content marketing approach before you begin, but here are some examples:

1. Use your company blog to post one article every week and encourage people to share it with their followers.

The content in each post should be a mix of informative and fun, in order to index well with relevant content.

2. Set up a Twitter account for your business – make sure it looks professional, but also add some personality so potential customers know that they are dealing with a real person.

Encourage people to follow you by posting content that is relevant to your target audience.

3. Make sure that all your social media accounts are linked together through something like Hootsuite or CoSchedule, so you can post updates on more than one site at a time.

This will save you time and increase the chances of people seeing what you have to say.

4. Make sure all the content you use is well-written and that each page of your site contains at least 300 words of written text.

5. Make lots of videos about topics related to your business, upload them to YouTube, and share them on your other social media sites. Video content production is helpful and can generate leads.

6. Try to use infographics and podcasts too; however, avoid including direct sales pitches in these content types.

As you can see, this isn’t a simple process, but with some dedication and hard work, it will be worth the effort.

The use of a content calendar is helpful as well as a monthly content audit help with keyword cannibalization.

Benefits of Content Marketing Strategy for SEO and Business

1. Increase Exposure

An organic search engine like Google give good rankings to sites that provide lots of relevant information related to a particular topic or user search term.

By using your site as an authority for what people are looking for, you can attract new customers and clients, who may not have found you otherwise.

2. More Links

As well as bringing people to your site, content marketing gives you the opportunity to get links back to your site that will give it even more authority in the eyes of Google too.

This is important because when someone types a search query directly into Google, the links on the first page are given more weight in terms of ranking than those lower down the list.

3. More Visibility

As well as getting new people onto your site through content marketing, you’ll also be able to show up more often when they’re using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, or casual browsing sites like StumbleUpon or Reddit.

By engaging with your customers, you’ll be able to grow your following here too.

4. Improved Traffic

For content marketing to have the maximum impact on your site’s search rankings, it should be done over a prolonged period of time.

If you consistently post new articles every week for six months, you’ll notice the traffic from search engines to your site gradually increasing.

5. Increased Revenue

In addition to improved rankings, content marketing has been shown to increase the average order value of a customer too, thanks to increased exposure and trust.

By having information on your site that is relevant and useful, visitors will be less likely to go elsewhere when they’re ready to order.

6. Improved CSAT and Reduced Churn

By building relationships with your customers, you’ll see improved customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) and reduced churn too.

The more interaction and engagement you have on social media and in blog posts, the better people will feel about your brand.

This means they’ll be less likely to leave, and more likely to buy from you.

7. Lower PPC Costs

When you deliver content, compelling content, your site will eventually rank high for the main keywords that you want to target organically too.

As a result of this, your paid search costs will go down.

This is because when people do a Google search for something, your site might be one of the first ones to come up.

If this is the case, they’ll choose yours rather than click on an ad.

8. Improved Customer Support

By doing content marketing for your business, you’ll also see benefits in terms of customer support too.

More traffic will mean more contact with customers via social media and your website.

This means that you’ll be able to build relationships with them, answer their questions and solve any problems they might have.

So, What’s the Takeaway?

If you want to rank on Google and grow your business today, content marketing is more important than ever before.

You need a strategy that will produce high-quality content on a consistent basis.

But don’t worry – we can help!

At Creactive Inc., we have years of experience creating successful content marketing strategies for businesses just like yours.

Contact us today for a consultation, and let us show you how we can help you achieve your online growth goals.

The post How do I Create a Content Marketing Strategy that will Grow My Business? first appeared on Creactive Inc..