Some call it a content marketing strategy, others a content strategy, and others a content plan. Whichever name you choose, it’s important to have a well-defined approach for your website content to help improve search ranking and grow traffic. Aimlessly creating content never generates enough traction and can be expensive. A clear, documented strategy provides direction, prepares you for potential challenges, and guarantees you’re budgeting enough to meet your objectives for your website marketing.
Unfortunately, there’s no universal one-size-fits-all for creating a digital content plan since industries vary widely. The most important thing is that your strategy should match your goals and be relevant to your industries competition level. Additionally, it should fit with your company culture, financial muscle, and your overall business goals. As long as you take these points into consideration, you can develop a great plan for your content campaign.
But, if you’re short on time, here’s a toned-down guide to help you understand the basics of creating a solid content marketing strategy.
Why are you creating a website content plan? Is it so you can justify your content marketing spending? Is it because you’re trying to reach a new, specific audience? Are you creating a plan to become more organized? Be specific such as “We want to increase X % traffic on our website per month within 6 months.”
Writing down 1-3 specific goals will help you stick to your targets and avoid possible distractions along the way.
A great content marketing plan revolves around the target audience. Who are they? What type of content do they enjoy? Which digital devices do they use to access content? These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself. These are the type of visitors that would make ideal customers. Be specific with age range, gender, job titles, interests, etc.
There are nearly a dozen content types you can use on your website. From blog posts to newsletters, infographics, to interactive product builders, testimonials to how to’s and everything in between, you have endless options to choose from. The problem is that you need to know what content type will be the most effective. Which one will help you reach the most people? Which one promises the highest ROI?
So, at this early stage, take time to learn about all the content types, their pros and cons, and their suitability to your marketing campaign. Test some content and see what pages get the most traffic and time spent on the pages.
The good news is that you have access to lots of resources designed specifically to help marketers discover exciting and potent content ideas for their campaigns. HubSpot, for instance, has a tool that analyzes sites and instantly tells marketers the best types of content to focus on. BuzzSumo and Feedly can help you keep track of trending topics. And, What to Write goes one step further to recommend ideal content topics depending on your circumstances.
Content Management Systems (CMS) are software programs designed to automate and simplify content creation, curation, and analytics. Some make your work so easy you won’t even feel the pressures of running a content campaign. But, do you really need one? And if so, which one? Also, these programs have to be paid for (often monthly). Do you have the necessary budget?
Again, use this early opportunity to assess your options and make the best decision, keeping all relevant factors in mind.
Finally, while a CMS does a wonderful job of simplifying content marketing, humans still play a starring role in the process. You’ll need to have people writing the content, editing, scheduling posting, and engaging readers through comments and general feedback.
Find reliable writers and editors. Zery’s is an option to consider. Their work speaks for itself and they have talented and highly experienced writers.
With regards to distribution, your options include social media, video platforms, blogs, guest blogs, and content aggregation channels. Focus on channels with the highest potential.
Let’s make those dreams come true. Contact us today to explore how to make your content marketing plan fail-proof. We can assist in content strategy, writing, and implementation.
