Content marketing roadmap is an essential tool for any business hoping to increase traffic and conversions. It’s also a great way to increase brand awareness and build your authority as an expert in your field. Check out the rest of this article to learn how to create a content marketing strategy that works.
Define your goals
Before you develop a content marketing strategy, you need to define your goals. While your goals will vary based on your business and the specific content you’re creating, there are a few things you should always keep in mind. The most important goal of any content marketing strategy is to increase conversions. Whether you want more leads, more sales, more website traffic, or some combination of the three, make sure you define a goal that aligns with your business objectives.
Have a clear picture of what you want
Before you develop a plan, you need to do some research and define your goals. What do you want? You may even have a few different goals. For example, you may want to increase traffic or increase engagement on your social media channels. You may want to increase your email list or get qualified leads. It’s important to be as specific as possible when you define your goals. Defining your goals will help you create a content marketing strategy that works. For example, if one of your goals is to increase engagement on your social media channels, then you need to create content that will help you do that. If you don’t know how to do that, you’ll struggle to create a content marketing strategy that works.
Know what’s holding you back
Before you can create a content marketing strategy that works, you need to understand what’s holding you back. Ask yourself why your business isn’t already successful. Maybe your business is doing well, but you want to accomplish more. Or maybe you’re already bringing in lots of leads, but you’re not consistently converting them. Or maybe you’re just not getting the type of results you want, and you have no idea why. The first step in developing a content marketing strategy is identifying the obstacles that are holding you back and figuring out a way to overcome them.
Set realistic goals
Set your goals according to what will realistically move the needle for your business. Don’t set goals that aren’t actionable or realistic. A content marketing strategy that isn’t properly aligned with your goals is setting you up to fail. Set your goals based on where you want to be or where you need to be in the future. Set goals that are challenging but not impossible, but also make sure that you have the skills and resources necessary to accomplish them.
Be consistent
One of the main reasons why content marketing campaigns fail is because they are not consistent. If you want to build a loyal audience, you need to consistently provide them with content that is valuable and relevant to them. Posting when you feel like it or on a whim does not help you grow a following, and neither does sending them an email just because it’s your day off. It’s important to post when you have something you want to get out there and grow your audience, not just because it’s your day off or because you feel like it.
Avoid impulsive goals
When it comes to setting your content marketing goals, you don’t want to just wing it. Set your goals strategically and be intentional about what you want to achieve. The clearer you are on your goals and how you plan to achieve them, the easier it will be to create content that aligns with your strategy. Your content should be a means of achieving your goals, not an end in itself. If you set impulsive goals that aren’t in line with your overall strategy, you’ll end up wasting your time and effort.
Understand your client’s challenges
You need to understand your client’s challenges to create a strategy that works and can help your client achieve their goals. For example, if you work with a small business, you need to know that they are working hard to gain and retain customers. Creating high-quality content that helps people solve their problems will help them do that. You also want to understand their branding and voice so you can create content that matches their voice and brand and helps them grow and build their brand voice.
You cannot solve a problem that you do not understand
Your marketing communications should answer specific questions your clients have about your products and services. But you need to understand the questions first yourself in order to create a strategy that works for them. If you don’t understand the challenges your clients are facing, you won’t be able to solve them.
You must have a genuine interest in the client and their goals
If you don’t care about your potential customers and their struggles, why should they care about you and your business? Your content marketing strategy needs to demonstrate that you are committed to helping your clients meet their business goals. A genuine interest in others and a genuine interest in their businesses will help you craft content that your audience will want to read and share with their friends and coworkers.
You must know the client’s challenges and how you can help them solve those challenges
It’s critical to know your client’s business challenges and how you can help them solve those challenges. While you may not always know the exact challenge your client is facing, you can ask questions to find out. When you know the challenge your client is facing, you can create a solution that will help them achieve their goals. For example, I work with a health and beauty brand that sells a product. While they know they need to create more content to improve their SEO, they’re not sure how to do it. By asking questions I can help them determine the type of content they need to create and where they should post it. This will help them meet their SEO goals and will also help them build a loyal audience.
You must be able to articulate your solution
What’s your solution to the challenges your current or potential customers are facing? If you can’t explain the problem your clients are facing and how you plan to solve it, no one else will be able to either. Your content marketing strategy needs to be compelling enough to help your clients make a buying decision. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time. People don’t read to learn about other people’s problems. They read to learn about how to solve their own problems. So, make sure you know the problems your clients are facing and how you plan to solve them.
Develop your content plan
The content plan is the foundation of a content marketing strategy. It contains everything that will help you meet your goals, whether it’s driving traffic to your website, building your brand, increasing conversions, or increasing engagement. Your content plan should outline what types of content you’ll produce, when to publish your content, and a schedule for when you’ll create and release each piece.
Start with your client’s business goal
Your content marketing strategy should make sense in the context of your business goals. It’s your job to understand how your content will help your customers, and then align your content marketing strategy accordingly. A content marketing strategy should not be a one-off project, but should be a continuous process of creating and sharing information.
Define the type of content you’ll create
Set your content marketing strategy in stone by determining the type of content you’ll produce. For example, if you’re a B2B service provider, you likely produce white papers, webinars, and how-to guides. If you sell a subscription service, you may create webinars or educational content to help your audience learn more. Determine what type of content will best help your audience solve their problems and meet their needs, and develop your content plan accordingly.
Determine who will create the content and what the frequency will be
If you have a large team of people who need to create content, a content calendar can be a helpful guide to ensure consistency. But it should not be your only guide. Every marketer should have a voice when it comes to content creation. The writer can choose the topic and write the piece, which is especially important when you are creating how-to guides. And anyone else on your team can contribute a different point of view or share helpful insights.
Create the right content and distribution strategy
When it comes to creating a content marketing strategy, one of the things you need to consider is how you will distribute your content. Some people publish all their content on their website. Others opt to create a social media channel and distribute their content through that. There is no “right” content marketing strategy. The only thing you need to do is create the right content and find the right distribution strategy that suits your business and works for you.
Define your target audience
Your content cannot be aimed at everyone. Every piece of content you create should be created with a specific audience in mind. Define your ideal customer from a demographic and psychographic perspective. If you’re not sure what your ideal customer looks like, ask your current customers or read your website analytics.
Determine what content you need
The content strategy for your business should be created with the end goal of meeting your business needs and helping you build a loyal audience. Define your buyer personas and what content will help them make a purchase. Determine which content to produce based on your goals for your content marketing.
Create the right content
While most businesses need some form of content to attract customers, not all businesses need to create the same content. A local plumber providing home plumbing services is likely to have a very different content strategy than a national brand selling vitamins. Consider your target audience and the content they would need to find online to make a purchase. And, if you want to use SEO to attract the right customers, make sure your content answers the questions your potential customers are looking for before they find a competitor.
Distribute that content
If you’ve written an amazing piece of content, it’s essential to distribute it to all corners of the internet. And not just to reach your target audience. You should distribute your content to anyone who might be interested in it, whether they’re in your geographic location or not. This means local influencers, your competition, your top referral partners, and anyone else you can think of. The more eyes on your content, the better.
Measure and analyze the results
Not all content marketing campaigns are created equal. If you want to be successful, you need to know what works and what doesn’t. The right metrics are critical for every content marketing campaign because they help you better understand your audience, your content, and the value you provide. And the right metrics will help you refine your strategy and ensure you’re achieving your goals.
In conclusion, if you want to create a content marketing strategy that works, you need to start by understanding your audience and what they want. Once you know what they want, you need to create content that is relevant and interesting to them. Lastly, you need to promote your content so that it reaches your target audience.
