Being in possession of great content is not the same as having a strategy chalked out for it. Everyone has heard about how important quality content is for a successful website but not many digital marketers get down to writing down and documenting a strategy for this ‘great’ content. Which explains why surveys often discover that nearly 90 per cent of B2B marketers use content but not even half that percentage have any documented strategy for it.
Brand marketing: Write it all down
A documented content marketing strategy is a proven way of working smarter; it brings in efficiency, order and ultimately rewards. It ends up increasing your brand value, building stronger links amongst the various departments in the company and aligning your thinking to that of your stakeholders. A documented strategy will help you clearly define your content goals, the steps you need to reach them, and finally, the way to measure your success.
How to document your content marketing strategy
There are many key elements necessary to build a content marketing strategy. Let us now look at some of them.
Keep the overarching purpose in mind
The first question to ask yourself is why you are taking up content marketing and what you are hoping to achieve. Are you trying to maintain a web presence? Do you want to build brand credibility? Are you trying to attract new customers? The answers to these and other questions will form the first section of your document. In this section, clearly define your content marketing goals and let all your stakeholders know how you will determine content marketing success and what tools of measurement you are likely to employ.
Who are you writing for?
Once you have a content strategy in mind, it is likely you have a general idea of who you are writing for. While this is a good place to start, it is not enough. Before any content is crafted, you have to have a very clear idea about your audience, their preferences, likes and dislikes. For this, you need thorough background research and target orientation. Needless to say, this targeting of audience is a must inclusion in your documentation.
Plan your content
Once the audience is determined and the overall mission certain, it is time to focus on the actual content. This can be done by brainstorming with all stakeholders and coming up with solid topics. Keep track of all the ideas, jot down topics that need research and keep up the process every time you come up with any content idea, be it for a blog post, or a webinar or a whitepaper. This way, you are not only documenting your strategy but also building a bank that will help you plan ahead.
Create an editorial schedule
For any content to work, it has to be timely and consistent. This way, your audience knows what to expect and when. This builds trust and credibility. Which is why creating an editorial calendar must be a crucial part of your content documenting strategy. The calendar should have a detailed schedule of when you are publishing what, when the blog posts are scheduled for distribution, target deadlines for content writers etc.
Stick to what you have written
This is undoubtedly the hardest part of implementing a content documenting strategy. Brand marketing is all about sticking to plans; not just making them. Build in a little flexibility in your document so that if you do slip up once in a while, it can be taken care of. But largely, make it a point to stick to whatever you have jotted down – in the long run, it will ensure rich dividends.