How to Create an Effective Content Marketing Strategy

OK, before you run off for that well-earned coffee, this isn’t just ‘another one of those content strategy blogs’.

Well, yes, it’s about content marketing strategy, but it looks at where you’re going wrong. Yup, I hate to say it, but you are probably barking up the wrong tree right now.

Ask yourself something – why are you producing the content you are producing? How are you measuring its effectiveness? How do you decide what type of content to put out?

Head spinning yet?

If you don’t have a well thought out content marketing strategy, you won’t be able to get the right content in the right format out to the right audience at the right time. It’s as simple as that.

To summarise, you’re just producing content for the sake of it.

So what should your strategy look at?

Things to consider when creating your content strategy

One thing I have noticed (and I am guilty of it too) is that most of the content produced by companies is in the written form. It’s things like blogs, articles, reports, e-newsletters etc.

Granted, writing is a great way to get your information across, but it’s also time consuming to read and, let’s face it, a bit boring.

Think about your audience and what it is that they might like. Mix it up a bit with infographics, videos, animations and even music. This kind of content is very shareable (when done well) and will help widen your reach.

Talking of widening reach, how do you measure the success of your strategy?

Most companies look at web traffic as their main metric. After all, content is there to attract readers, so surely the best measurement is the amount of extra traffic it brings.

Wrong.

Traffic is great, but it doesn’t mean you will automatically sell more. If you plump for traffic volume as your prime metric all you’re doing is measuring an activity not results.

Far more effective forms of measurement are:

• Sales lead quality and quantity
• Direct sales
• Product awareness

These metrics give a direct correlation to the effectiveness of your content strategy and sales.

Let’s face it all the traffic in the world is useless if it doesn’t convert into sales.

The top 3 goals for any content strategy should be:

• Lead generation
• Customer acquisition
• Sales

These are the only 3 things that matter.

Right, before you get back to work think about your own strategy. Make sure you are putting out a variety of content formats and measuring its impact using the goals above.

By focusing on the things that matter (i.e. the needs of your audience and tangible results) your strategy will become incredibly powerful.

Author: Sally Ormond, freelance copywriter, MD at Briar Copywriting and cycling nut.