What Makes a Content Strategy Strategic: Easy Steps To Follow

WHAT MAKES A CONTENT STRATEGY STRATEGIC: EASY STEPS TO FOLLOW

Many digital marketing companies have different views on content strategy. Yet, they all tend to draw the same conclusion: it is undeniably one of the key factors to achieving customer satisfaction. It’s basically the 

 behind all of what you’re doing as a company. 

As experts from 

 put it: “In essence, a good content strategy is often the foundation of your 

 in a buyers’ journey. Along with attracting new prospects to your brand, you might also use a content strategy for sales enablement and overall customer satisfaction.” 

A content strategy is also considered as a constant process of converting a company’s 

, which prioritize content as a means to meeting those goals. Without a specific business objective, there’s no well-founded content strategy. As a consequence, content is simply content. 

However, certain teams still face different challenges when it comes to defining their own content strategy. In this article, you’ll be able to learn more about a few details that need to be kept in mind when taking your first steps in this journey. 

Know Your Business Purpose

As said, the first step to putting together a content strategy is to know your business purpose. You need to take the time to determine the reasons and motives for your work. 

 as a company is always a great start. Ponder upon your choices of past experiences, and their consequences. When you study your business purpose, you’ll also get a better understanding of 

. There might be several companies in the market that offer similar solutions/products, how and why is yours different? 

As a result, you’ll also be able to foresee potential challenges and set clear expectations.  

Know Your Target Audience

A proper content strategy targets customers that are in different stages in their buyer’s journey. Those that are still trying to figure out their problems, and those that are already using your product in order to solve their problems. It intends to offer a solution to the ones struggling and to reassure the current users that they’ve made the right choice in choosing your product. 

 of your existing customers via short interviews or questionnaires is a great idea. On the other hand, surfing the internet and visiting online forums such as Quora or Reddit where your targeted audience ‘hangs out’ is a proficient way to get to know potential prospects and their needs and standards.

Another significant aspect to definitely consider is the 

. Often, content writers might use complex language and a formal tone with the intention of sounding more reliable to their readers. Unfortunately, this is not a universal rule to be followed at all times. Studies show that the majority of customers tend to have difficulties in completing required data sheets when they contain complex words. Many tend to quit filling the forms. As a result, potential customers are lost.

You should always make sure to take the right approach to hook your readers, which might eventually turn into customers. Talk to your audience in a clear yet inviting tone.

Conduct A Content Audit

Undoubtedly, 

 that you choose to address your audience play a significant role while building an efficient content strategy. Always look back to your previous work to keep track of which content formats have performed better. As a result, you’ll be able to construct specific plans based on your needs.

Often, running a content audit from time to time is considered a must. If you’ve been only posting short blog posts for the past few months, maybe you should try including infographics, podcasts, or even videos and webinars. It’s all up to you, get creative! You should also reconsider your 

, which social platforms have you been sharing your content on? Have you noticed any differences? Take notes of its performance and make different decisions if needed.

Content audit helps you to reflect on your strategy’s shortcomings, and it can also help you get realistic when specifying future goals and objectives. 

Make Use Of A Content Calendar

After all the content planning and writing has been finished, it’s time to create a content/editorial calendar. This one is commonly known as the wrap-up. It’s important to have all of your teams’ work in one place, like putting all the puzzle pieces together. 

A content calendar helps you 

. You’ll be able to schedule the 

 or to 

. You can also include upcoming partnerships and promotional activities. Its main goal is to keep your content organized, so make sure it’s easy to go through and understandable. There are many content calendar 

 available, but you can also make your own original one.

How often should you create a content calendar?  Big companies who produce a lot of content need to plan their publishing, so there are cases when they have it all scheduled a year in advance. Others update their content calendar every 6 months. 

However, your planning must depend on the amount of your content and your 

. Keep in mind that events develop quickly in the digital marketing market, so you always have to be flexible with your content calendar.   

Include The Whole Team

It’s a known fact that a company’s content team is responsible for generating the content. Nevertheless, when it comes to implementing a content strategy,  other team members should be included as well.

must be kept up with all the updates, as each of them helps take the strategy forward.