Content Marketing Techniques for Content Creators
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Content Marketing Techniques for Content Creators
Whether you’re just starting out with content marketing or you’ve been using the same approach for a while, it never hurts to revisit your content strategy plan and make sure it’s up-to-date, innovative, and engaging for your prospects and customers — no matter when or how they intend to buy.
A Guide to Developing a Content Strategy in 7 Steps: A Start-to-Finish Guide
If you’re having trouble planning for the upcoming year or need some fresh ideas to include in your plan, read on.
In this post, we’ll dive into what content strategy is, why your business needs a content marketing plan, and what steps you need to take to create your strategy. Plus, we’ll explore some examples of effective content marketing strategies for inspiration.
What is Content Strategy?
A content strategy is the planning, creation, publication, management, and governance of content. A great content strategy will attract and engage a target audience, meeting their needs while driving business goals.
Say your business goals include increasing brand awareness. To achieve this, you might implement a content strategy that focuses on SEO to increase your website’s visibility on the search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive traffic to your products or services.
New business owners might assume a content strategy is a nice-to-have, but not necessary early on. However, producing high-quality content can be invaluable in building trust with new audiences and succeeding in the long haul.
In essence, a good content strategy is the foundation of your Attract and Delight stages in a buyer’s journey that follows the inbound marketing framework. Along with attracting prospects to your brand, you can leverage a content strategy for sales enablement and customer satisfaction.
Plus, with 70% of marketers actively investing in content marketing, it’s critical to develop a good content strategy to compete in your industry.
Why Marketers Need to Create a Content Marketing Strategy
Content marketing helps businesses prepare and plan for reliable and cost-effective sources of website traffic and new leads.
If you can create just one blog post that gets a steady amount of organic traffic, an embedded link to an ebook or free tool will continue generating leads for you as time goes on — long after you click “Publish.”
HubSpot’s blog team found this to be key to increasing traffic to the Sales Blog over time — read about our blog strategy here.
The reliable source of traffic and leads from your evergreen content will give you the flexibility to experiment with other marketing tactics to generate revenue, such as sponsored content, social media advertising, and distributed content.
Plus, your content won’t just help attract leads, it will also educate your prospects and generate awareness for your brand.
How to Create a Content Strategy Framework
1. Define Your Goal
What’s your aim for developing a content marketing plan? Why do you want to produce content and create a content marketing plan? It may seem obvious, but these questions are the core of a useful content strategy. Look at high-level business goals, notes from meetings, and notes from your team, then do some solo research to make sure your goals have staying power.
- Organize goals by priority.
- Use the SMART framework to define goals.
Once you have a list of goals, rank them from most to least important. This can help you decide which parts of your strategy are an immediate need and which are for long-term action. This step can also help with resource questions later in the process.
Use the SMART framework to help you make broad goals more specific and actionable. Know your goals before you begin planning, and you’ll have an easier time determining what’s best for your strategy.
2. Conduct Persona Research
To develop a successful plan, you need to clearly define your content’s target audience — also known as your buyer persona. This is a crucial part of the planning phase of content strategy.
- Collect data and analyze it to find patterns.
- Use your research to refine buyer personas.
If you’re an experienced marketer, your target may have changed. Do you want to target a new group of people or expand your current target market? Do you want to keep the same target audience?
3. Run a Content Audit
Early on, many brands start with blog posts or social media. If you want to venture out into different formats, you can run a content audit to assess your top-performing and lowest-performing content.
- Find topic and formatting gaps.
- Review content for quality and relevance.
- Look for repurposing opportunities.
- Create a content workflow.
Another way to approach your audit is to look at your team’s process. Your content workflow impacts how you come up with ideas, what you publish, and the quality of your work.
4. Choose a Content Management System (CMS)
A few vital parts of content management include content creation, content publication, and content analytics. You want to invest in a CMS to create, manage, and track your content in an easy and sustainable way.
- Figure out specific CMS needs.
- Choose the right content management system.
- Adopt a content governance model.
5. Determine Which Type of Content You Want to Create
You may need different types of content for different personas and goals. Take a careful look at your end goals and the actions you want each persona to take.
- Assess your resources.
- Choose the right topics, formats, and channels for your content.
Once you’ve made these big decisions about your content strategy, you’ll be ready to get into the details.
6. Brainstorm Content Ideas
Use your content audit, persona research, and goals to make the best content decisions for your business.
- Use a range of brainstorming approaches.
- Refine and rank your ideas.
The brainstorming process should be loose and unstructured. It can be tempting to jump on an idea and start creating content right away. But instead, try to throw out your wildest ideas and see where they lead.
To start, break ideas into groups and organize them around your goals, topics, or personas. Then, review each idea in detail and add specifics.
7. Publish and Manage Your Content
Your marketing plan should go beyond the types of content you’ll create — it should also cover how you’ll organize your content.
- Develop a content calendar.
- Optimize your content for reach.
- Track and analyze content performance and process.
- Revise your content strategy with data insights.
Don’t just collect and review your data, connect it to your content strategy efforts. Review your KPIs for effectiveness, run marketing experiments, and use your data to adjust your strategy.
Questions to Ask When Creating a Content Strategy
- Who Will Be Reading Your Content?
- Who’s the target audience for your content?
- For how many audiences are you currently creating content?
- Do you want to target multiple segments with your content?
- What Are You Trying to Achieve With Your Content?
- What’s the main goal of your content strategy?
- How will you measure the success of your content?
- Are your goals clear and achievable?
- Where Will Your Content Be Published and Promoted?
- What channels will you use to distribute your content?
- What content formats work best for these channels?
- How will you repurpose and adapt content for different platforms?
- What Are the Key Messages and Topics for Your Content?
- What are the main themes or topics of your content?
- What are the key messages you want to convey?
- How will your content address your audience’s pain points and needs?
- What Resources Are Available for Content Creation?
- What’s your content production capacity and schedule?
- Do you have in-house or outsourced content creators?
- What tools and technologies do you need for content creation and management?
- How Will You Measure Content Success?
- What key performance indicators (KPIs) will you track?
- How often will you assess and adjust your content strategy based on performance data?
- What tools and analytics platforms will you use to measure content success?
Common Content Marketing Challenges and How to Overcome Them
1. Producing High-Quality Content Consistently
Solution: Invest in content planning and use a content calendar to stay organized. Establish a content creation process that involves ideation, drafting, editing, and publishing. You can also repurpose and update existing content to maintain consistency.
2. Measuring Content ROI and Performance
Solution: Define clear goals for your content and track relevant KPIs, such as website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and email click-through rates. Use analytics tools to monitor content performance and adjust your strategy accordingly.
3. Identifying and Targeting the Right Audience
Solution: Conduct thorough audience research and create detailed buyer personas. Segment your audience based on demographics, behavior, and preferences. Tailor your content to address the specific needs and pain points of each segment.
4. Staying Up-to-Date With Content Trends
Solution: Stay informed about industry trends and emerging content formats. Attend webinars, conferences, and workshops related to content marketing. Join online communities and subscribe to relevant blogs and newsletters.
5. Managing a Limited Budget
Solution: Prioritize your content efforts by focusing on high-impact strategies. Consider cost-effective content types, such as blog posts, infographics, and social media updates. Collaborate with influencers or partners for co-created content.
6.Maintaining a Consistent Brand Voice
Solution: Develop brand guidelines that define your brand’s tone, style, and messaging. Train your content creators on these guidelines and provide them with reference materials. Use content templates and checklists to ensure consistency.
7. Scaling Content Production Without Sacrificing Quality
Solution: Create a content team or outsource content production to experienced writers, designers, and videographers. Implement content management systems and workflow tools to streamline the content creation process.
8. Adapting to Algorithm Changes on Social Media and Search Engines
Solution: Diversify your content distribution channels and reduce reliance on a single platform. Stay updated on algorithm changes and adjust your strategy accordingly. Focus on creating valuable and shareable content to maintain visibility.
Recommended Saas Products for Content Marketing
Content marketing is the backbone of success for content creators, enabling them to reach and engage their audience effectively. Elevate your content marketing game with these five SaaS tools tailored for content creators.
1. BuzzSumo: Discover Trending Topics and Influencers: BuzzSumo helps content creators identify trending topics, keywords, and influential voices in their niche. Stay ahead of the curve by creating content that resonates with your audience and leverages the power of influencers for maximum impact.
2. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer: Craft Click-Worthy Headlines: Crafting compelling headlines is an art, and CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer is the perfect tool for the job. Optimize your headlines for maximum clickability, ensuring your content grabs attention and entices readers to dive into your creations.
3. Canva: Design Stunning Visual Content: Visuals play a crucial role in content marketing. Canva empowers content creators to design eye-catching graphics, social media posts, and other visuals without the need for extensive design skills. Make your content visually appealing and shareable.
4. Grammarly: Enhance Writing and Editing: Quality content requires impeccable writing. Grammarly is a powerful tool that goes beyond spell-check, offering suggestions for grammar, tone, and clarity. Elevate your writing to captivate your audience and maintain a professional image.
5. HubSpot: All-in-One Marketing Automation: HubSpot provides a suite of tools for content creators, including email marketing, social media scheduling, and analytics. Streamline your marketing efforts with automation, allowing you to focus on creating quality content while HubSpot handles the rest.
Conclusion: Elevate Your Content Creation Journey
Content marketing is ever-evolving, and leveraging the right tools can significantly impact your success as a content creator. A well-defined content strategy is essential for attracting, engaging, and converting your target audience. By following the seven steps outlined in this guide and asking the right questions, you can create a content strategy that aligns with your business goals and effectively addresses the needs of your audience.
Remember to continuously measure and refine your content strategy based on performance data and industry trends. With a data-driven approach, you can adapt to evolving consumer behaviors and stay competitive in the ever-changing landscape of content marketing.
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