How To Create A Content Marketing Strategy

In our last edition of the Mobile Marketing blog, we discussed what makes good website content. If you haven’t taken the time to read that post, then we invite you to do so.

In this edition, we’ve set our sights on content marketing strategies. More specifically, what a content marketing strategy is, why it’s essential to have one, and the steps you can follow to create a content marketing strategy for your client or business.

Whether you’re creating your first-ever content marketing strategy or working to refine one you have completed, we can help.

What is a content marketing strategy?

A content marketing strategy is a document that outlines how you plan to attract and engage with an audience via your content marketing. Per Hubspot, a content strategy can involve content planning, creation, publication, management, and governance. 

No two content marketing strategies will look inherently alike, as each business has its own goals, resources, and stories to tell. Typically, a content marketing strategy will outline specific content goals and outline in detail what it will take to achieve these goals. A content marketing strategy may provide research on the audience for your content, your competitors’ content, and where any gaps exist in your current content library.

As you create your content marketing strategy, you should consider the following:

•   Brand & Story
•   Audience
•   Customers
•   Competitors

Why is it important to have a content marketing strategy?

A content marketing strategy is best described as a roadmap for future content marketing efforts. Effective content marketing will take time and resources; a content marketing strategy can help ensure the effort is worthwhile. Content creation is an investment, and creating a marketing strategy will enable a company to gauge the success of its content while assessing ROI.

If you create content without the proper research and planning, there is no guarantee that you will reach your audience and that your time and investment will be worthwhile. A content strategy allows you to establish goals, research your topics, write your content, and then track results in the future. 

How do I create a content marketing strategy?

Creating a content marketing strategy does not need to be a long and arduous process. If you follow the steps below, the process will culminate with an effective content marketing strategy that will put your company on the path to success.

1) Establish content goals

Like most major marketing projects or non-marketing ones, for that matter, it’s best to start by establishing your goals and preferred outcomes for the project. Depending on your company and its overall needs, your goals, and objectives may be broader or more specific. However, the more specific and numerically driven, the easier it is to assess success. 

Specific goals can include increasing website traffic, ranking better from an SEO perspective, generating more leads, or establishing yourself as a thought leader in the field. Your goals could be as simple as attracting more customers or working to retain your existing ones. No matter your goals, make sure they are numerically driven so that you can measure the effectiveness of your work later on. 

For example, you might want to increase your website traffic by 10% over the next six months. Or perhaps you want to improve your conversion rate by 20%. You may want certain website pages to rank in the top 10 for your preferred keywords. The more specific the goal, the better. 

2) Complete audience research

To write compelling content for your audience, you need to know who your audience is. Completing persona research and establishing your target audience can enable you to write more effective and tailored content that reaches your ideal buyer.

 When you analyze your existing data, you can learn a lot about your existing customers which will, in turn, help you decide who and what your audience is and how to prepare content that will appeal to them. This information can tell you who your current audience is while helping you establish gaps in your current audience marketing efforts. To attract a particular population segment, you must understand what that population likes and dislikes and what content appeals most to them.

Once you’ve completed the research, you can write your customer persona. The persona will likely include demographic information, age, gender, location, and income. You may also want to consider the buyer’s journey as you complete your audience research. Understanding who your ideal customers are and their thoughts at each step of the shopping process will allow you to write more effective content.

3) Do competitor research

The third step in a content marketing strategy is to complete competitor research. Looking at the content work your direct competitors are doing can help you decipher what is and isn’t working for them while helping you to decide what gaps you might have in your existing content. You should note what types of content they create (blogs, white pages, social media, infographics, videos, etc.) while also considering the keywords they focus on for your future SEO work.

Tools like SEMrush can help provide you with insights into your competition’s website through traffic, page ranking, keywords, and so on.

But don’t limit yourself to your local competitors. You should also consider the effect big box stores or e-commerce platforms have on your business.

At the end of your competitor research phase, you should have compared and contrasted your site to the competition and noted what they are and are not doing better than you.

We’ll cover the following steps in part two of our content marketing strategy blog coming next month:

• Complete an audit of your current content
• Create a content calendar
• Research and write the content

Mobile Marketing Knows Content Marketing

Mobile Marketing has consistently delivered fantastic customer experiences and driving results for the past eight years. We offer everything from review management to complete website builds, content strategy, and more! We’re a future-focused marketing agency with an eye toward the cutting edge, and we’re here to help create memorable digital experiences that bring your business to the next level.

Will your company be next? Let us provide you with a comprehensive content marketing strategy and provide you with a dedicated content marketer to complete the job.

Interested in learning more about who we are and what we stand for? We offer free digital assessments for prospective customers to help indicate future areas of improvement.