You are good at what you do. You’re more than busy and you don’t need to add items to your to-do list. You are not a content publisher and you don’t love the idea of adding resources to create content, right? Fun fact: In today’s environment, if you have a business, you need to be utilizing content marketing as part of your overall marketing strategy. If you’re not, you’re being left behind.
It’s unrealistic to think we can all be like Red Bull and Coca-Cola, who are spending millions of dollars on spectacular content marketing. But it’s vital that your business creates, publishes, distributes and shares quality content so you can effectively compete online. Why?
- Content marketing gets you found. Google’s 2012 updates force those with a website to consistently produce new, original and high-quality content in order to continue to rank on search engines.
- Content marketing gives you a thought leadership platform. You’re good at what you do, remember? Tell everyone about it and more people are likely to hire you to do what you’re good at.
- Content marketing allows you to be part of your target audience’s conversation. When you interact with your target audience and give them new, fresh reasons to seek out your expertise, they’ll remember you.
Those are just three of the many, many good reasons you should get started with content marketing. One of our primary challenges when working with our clients is to help form digital marketing strategies to match who they are, what kind of resources they have access to, what kind of content their customers want to consume and what kind of content they may already be creating – with or without realizing it. Here’s our handy list to help you get started with your content marketing strategy:
1. What are your business objectives?
Your content marketing plan should align with your business objectives or there’s no chance of success.
2. Have you defined your business or brand voice and messaging strategy?
Your content marketing tactics amplify your voice across many platforms.
3. What are the best platforms for your content?
Maybe your audience is craving in-depth white papers or maybe they’re more apt to pay attention to Twitter and YouTube. Find out where your audience is and go there.
4. What are your current content assets?
Photos, videos, articles, research data – many companies don’t realize how much content marketing they’re already doing. Get more bang for your content buck by redistributing and repurposing existing content.
5. How can you add to your content assets?
Do you have available content creation and editorial resources? Can you count on people inside your company to write for your blog or produce other content? Can you find a trusted third party to help produce the content you need?
6. Are you utilizing tools that can help streamline publishing and distribution of your content?
A good CMS with a blogging platform is a must, but there are many tools that can help optimize your social media interactions and content creation. If you don’t know what a CMS or blogging platform is, contact us immediately!
7. What kind of content will appeal to your customers?
This is the most important question. Find out where your customers are, what they want and what will get them to connect with your company on a deeper level. The more you know about your audience, the better you’ll be able to reach out to them and interact with them.
