Content
marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that
involve the creation and sharing of content in order to engage current
and potential consumer bases. Content marketing subscribes to the
notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information
to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content
marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and
improving brand loyalty. More -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_marketing. Here are ten steps to
improve your content marketing and drive awareness around your brand or
product.
1. Determine Organizational Goals
Ask
yourself: What is my goal, and how is my content marketing plan going
to help me accomplish it? These are things that need to be thought out
before determining your content. By doing so, you can tailor your
content marketing plan accordingly. Each goal should be measurable and
have a deadline by which you perform this measurement. For example,
increase website traffic 25% by Jan. 1, 2013.
2. Identify Target Audiences
The
next step is to figure out exactly whom you are targeting. This means
researching everything about the audience to whom you will be delivering
your content. Ask them questions, research website traffic data and
determine their demographic information, including age, gender,
education, location, etc. From there, you need to figure out what your
audience is interested in, both online and offline. What are they
reading? What are they talking about? What are their likes and
dislikes? In this step, it is helpful to think like one of your clients
or customers. Envision that you’re writing for one specific person, and
then tune in to his thought process in order to succeed. Above all,
listen to what that person wants, which is not necessarily the same as
what you want. After all, you want him to be receptive to your content.
3. Develop Key Messages
What
exactly does your audience want/need to hear? In general, determine
what will differentiate you and your product, as well as what will help
you to achieve the goals you have set. The end result should be one to
three main messages, each with one to five sub-messages that offer a bit
more detail.
4. Decide on Overall Content Marketing Strategies
There
are three different types of content marketing strategies: long-form,
short-form and conversations (e.g. sharing). Long-form includes blog
posts, articles and press releases — basically, anything longer than a
couple of sentences. Short-form includes tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn
status updates and graphics. Conversations and sharing includes
participating in and driving conversations through blog commenting, link
sharing and comments on videos. This type helps to encourage
discussions between other thought leaders within your industry. You can
stick to one of these forms of content marketing, or you can use all
three. They are each effective on their own, but they are also powerful
when used together.
5. Draft an Editorial Calendar
Developing
a plan is one of the most important steps to content marketing.
However, it should be flexible. After all, things can always change.
This is where an editorial calendar comes in. It should include
strategies, specific tactics, suggested headlines, content deadlines and
allocated responsibilities. This is a fairly major undertaking, but
you’ll be thankful for your hard work once it’s complete — and you’ll
save time in the long run. Not sure where to begin? Check out The
Content Grid V2 by Eloqua and JESS3 - http://bit.ly/jJ0vTQ
6. Develop Content
In
order to even begin the marketing aspect of a content marketing plan,
you need to develop the content you are going to use. It needs to be
unique and different. Go back to your key messages and subtly
incorporate them into the content without overtly selling your product.
Content marketing is about creating trust through education and
information, not using traditional sales tactics. The infographic “Is
Your Content King?” (http://visual.ly/your-content-king) is a great
visual of how important content is, especially for your marketing plan.
7. Establish Relationships
It’s
time to start building a relationship with your target audience. This
means tapping into existing communities by sharing and commenting on
their content, as well as establishing your own communities across
various social networking platforms. Remember, content marketing isn’t
just about you. Like all relationships, you should aim to give more than
you receive. Be sure to use the 80/20 principle: 80% of the content you
share should be curated (in other words, not your own) and 20% should
be your original content. Find brands that have successfully made a
name for themselves, and mimic the steps they’ve taken — but make sure
to add your own unique flare.
8. Spread the Word
Determine
industry keywords that are not only relevant to your product, but also
are going to generate enough buzz. Search engine optimization (SEO) can
play a huge role if you research thoroughly. For example, make sure the
tags you’re adding to your blog posts are going to generate traffic,
since this can help you get found in the first place. I’m a huge fan of
both Scribe SEO and InboundWriter to help you accomplish this. Also,
spread the word through Twitter, Facebook, e-newsletters, etc. But be
careful not to force your content where it doesn’t belong. It may seem
like you’re trying too hard, and in turn, people may not be interested
in what you have to say. Eloque came out with a free ebook
(http://slidesha.re/rgsvJ8) ‘The Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing’,
a helpful read when it comes to content marketing. Plus, it’s useful
for deciding which platforms you should employ and how to effectively
use them.
9. Measure Effectiveness
Although
this is one of the last steps, it’s one of the most important. By
measuring the effectiveness of your content, you can determine whether
or not your plan needs to be altered, or whether it’s working in the
first place. Keep an eye on pageviews, retweets, Likes, +1’s, shares
and so on. Anything your audience can take action on is something, you
need to pay attention to. Figure out how well everything is working — or
why it’s not working at all.
10. Rinse and Repeat - Change the Plan As Needed
If
something isn’t working, change it up. Be sure to pay attention to
results, and then use them to your advantage. The most important thing
to remember about content marketing: It’s all about building connections
and improving your audience’s product loyalty. One of your goals
should therefore be for people to recognize your product based off of
the content you’ve been placing both online and off. For a more in-depth
look into how to create your content marketing plan, check out Heather R. Huhman’s "Content Marketing For Dummies" Cheat Sheet (http://bit.ly/jZhtY9).
Lastly,
if you’d like some help developing a content strategy for your brand or
product, Goodbuzz can help. Contact us today for more info at
info@goodbuzz.ca
