Most marketers are now familiar with the various forms of content that can be used during the buying process: video, case studies, ebooks, guides, checklists, blog posts, white papers, webinars, press releases, etc…(I think that covers most of them). With all of these options, it can be difficult to determine what will work best for your audience when developing your content strategy? Here are a few things to consider when developing your content strategy. First, develop content to establish credibility and thought leadership within your industry. Second, create content that provides tips, tools and insights designed specifically to help your target audience.
Establishing a blog is one of the fastest and most effective ways to start developing your content. Blogs provide an outlet for your management team to exhibit their expertise within their fields: sales, marketing, network security, CRM usage, telequalification, etc. Don’t be afraid to allow your management a little creative freedom when developing their topics because you never know when one of their posts may be strike a chord with you target audience. Aside from quality relevant content, new post frequency is the most significant factor in a blogs success. It is extremely important that your marketing department commits to keeping regular, fresh content on your blog or you will lose your following as quick as you gained them. Blogs are also a great source of content to repurpose into videos, guides/ebooks, checklists and webinars. Why try and re-invent the wheel if you don’t have to?
Insure your content strategy is supported by a solid Inbound marketing program and Social media strategy. Social Media outlets are an excellent way to get your stellar content in front of the appropriate audiences, which, in turn will fuel your inbound marketing efforts. Without a strong social reach, you will limit the exposure of your content to your target audience.
Social Media needs to be a part of any overall marketing strategy and now that you’ve developed a blog with some great insights and content, you need to begin distributing it into your target audience’s communities. But don’t think that just because you developed a Twitter handle or Facebook page that you have the right to only broadcast your blog content. Many organizations use Social Media incorrectly, thinking they can use these platforms like a megaphone, pushing out only their content in a stream filled with one-sided conversations. Brian Carroll, Executive Director of Applied Research at MECLABS, states in a recent interview that organizations should “turn the megaphone around and listen; social media can be an incredibly effective research tool.” Carroll also states that Social Media outlets “can give you insight into what your customers are dealing with, what they care about, and what their thoughts are on your competition.” The intelligence gathered and relationships made through these sites can be extremely valuable for helping in the design of your content strategy. Remember, with Social Media, it is not just a one way conversation and that there can be just as much value in listening as there is in distributing.
These are only a few recommendations when it comes to developing a content marketing strategy to establishing your organization as a relevant, thought leader within your specific industry. Take the time to build relationships with other thought leaders within your industry, offer assistance in the form of guest posts or other collaborative content (webinars, joint ebooks) and make sure your organization is listening effectively to your target audience to help guide your future content endeavors.
