Are you a forward-thinking content marketer? Then you should be aware that traditional marketing means are currently losing effectiveness and that there must be a better solution. Approximately 82% of people in the marketing field are using strategic content marketing. Sales are used to gauge the effectiveness of strategic content marketing. This article shall equip you with great content on strategic content marketing. However, before unlocking more content, you must first ask yourself, what is strategic content marketing?
What is strategic content marketing?
You probably have been wondering what strategic content marketing is? You now have the answer. This is an approach in marketing that creates and distributes content that is consistent with existing and potential clients. The content should be relevant and of value that draws in and maintains the attention of an audience that is clearly defined. For you to ensure strategic content marketing, you have to be tactical. Employ various methods of ensuring the creation and distribution of relevant content. How can you create and distribute your content strategically? Read on to explore.
How can you disseminate material using strategic content marketing?
The creation and dissemination of pertinent, helpful material for existing and potential clients can be done through various media. Such entail blogs, bulletins, white papers, emails, social media posts, videos, and the like. When executed properly, this content communicates knowledge and clearly shows that perhaps any company treasures the customers it serves.
Establishing and maintaining relationships with your potential and current clients requires regular usage of strategic content marketing. Your target market is more inclined to pick your business when it comes to purchasing if they perceive you as a collaborator who cares about their achievement and is a reliable source of information and direction.
What are the types of strategic content marketing?
You might also be curious to know the specific strategic content marketing types. Remember that, as discussed above, for you to distribute your content, you need various platforms. There are many platforms/types of content marketing as listed below:
- Visual content
- Ebooks
- Lead magnets
- Whitepapers
- Slideshare presentations
- Quizzes/tools
- Checklists
- Courses
- Blogging
- Video
- Podcasting
- Infographics
- Email
- Webinars
- Slide decks
- Free apps
- Social media posts
Product in-person demonstrations, seminars, printed flyers, and phone books can all be categorized as forms of strategic content marketing. The important thing would be that the material advances a corporate objective by offering knowledge or fun, typically free of charge (even if that objective isn’t immediately apparent).
For instance, many companies expect the following four results from their content marketing strategies:
- Attracting users to important landing pages
- Increasing brand recognition
- Creating connections
- Increasing sales by generating backlinks and social media shares
Why Use Various Content Marketing Formats?
Most individuals consider one word when considering content marketing: Blogging. Blogs are fantastic. However, it cannot be denied that other types of material are expanding extremely quickly. To reach these expanding audiences, share your information in various ways. By creating a variety of material, you may be present “wherever” your audience is online.
For instance, when you share your most recent article via social media, someone might not notice it. On their drive home after work, they might hear an episode of your podcast. Additionally, some items fit certain formats better than others. For instance, how would you prefer to learn how to dance? From a written piece or a video?
What is the main goal of strategic content marketing?
For your content marketing to be effective, do not establish it from the blues. Have a goal while strategizing. The goal of strategic content marketing is to create and distribute valuable, timely, and consistent material to draw in and keep the attention of a target audience. It encourages profitable consumer action. Through this strategy, you are helping your customers and prospects solve their problems. Give them relevant and valuable content rather than promoting your goods or services.
The importance of strategic content marketing
One tried-and-true method is strategic content marketing. It also gives you a significant competitive advantage. Look at the statistics of content marketing:
- Businesses who blog receive 67 per cent more prospects than competing companies.
- Before speaking with a sales professional, 47% of buyers examine between 3–5 content pieces.
- Businesses that use strategic content marketing experience about 30% greater growth rates than those that don’t.
- (B2B) the business to business marketers claims that content marketing enhances involvement and the number of leads produced by 72%.
While knowing the benefits of content marketing is good, it is also good to know how to go about it. Below is some relevant piece of information on how strategic content marketing works.
How does strategic content marketing work?
Your company may utilize content marketing to draw in leads, convince potential customers to buy your service or product while shopping around, and seal deals. Deliver the appropriate content at every point of the selling process, from awareness to consideration through purchase.
To use it successfully, if this seems challenging, relax—using this method to approach content makes things easier. Here are how businesses engage and close sales through every sales cycle level of the sales
Stage of awareness
Your content must focus on your audience’s main issues throughout the initial sales process stage. You have the highest opportunity to connect with them through writing about their problems, obstacles, and inquiries. The content should be instructional and instructive at the consumer awareness level. During the consideration and close stages when you should sell.
The best content for this stage: newsletters, ebooks, blogs, videos, and articles.
Example:
Hotel blogs on how to create a meal for a spring graduation party
Stage of consideration
Content should provide useful information and marketing in the consideration stage. It should inform the reader more about qualities or capabilities to seek out and how different features cater to different needs. Certainly, the focus of your writing should be on the services that your company provides. Case studies, articles, and videos on how-to and checklists/worksheets are the best types of content in this stage.
Example:
The “10 Ways of Enhancing Your Telephone Customer Service” checklist was produced by a cloud platform phone system provider and lists the attributes and capabilities necessary for excellent customer service.
Closing stage
Strategic content marketing is crucial when a potential customer is about to make a purchase. You can concentrate on sales at this point so long as it keeps emphasizing why you are the greatest option besides just how excellent your products and services are.
Your knowledge, experience, and unique market advantages should be your message’s main points. Case studies, user-generated content, product videos, buyers’ guide, and research reports are the best types of content for the closing stage.
Example:
A consulting company produces a study demonstrating that companies with greater growth rates engage in strategy development, third-party evaluations, and other operations influenced by its services.
How to launch a strategic content marketing strategy
Content marketing doesn’t have to seem daunting. A manageable and long-lasting campaign for strategic content marketing is essential. To start, follow these steps to learn how to grow your business through strategic content marketing.
Identify your target audience
Before providing the content, you must thoroughly understand each reader’s priorities, difficulties, and preferences. Pick 1- 2 segments to start writing for when you have in-depth explanations of them. If not, create profiles of the audience and potential customers before beginning.
Choose the appropriate formats
The phase of the selling process for which you are developing content will determine the appropriate format. Another crucial factor to consider is the format that best enables you to demonstrate value. It would be a presentation through video for some people and a checklist for others.
Choose a writer, editor, and proofreader for your copy
An audience will evaluate your material, and they must. Choose the best external or internal resource to produce this work. Irrespective of who generates it, have it before it leaves the building proofread by a professional.
Determine your distribution strategy
How are you going to post your content on the site? Shall you use email or print the content for an event? Begin with “where?”-you have knowledge of your target audience, and select the formats which add up. For instance, submitting an article through a worksheet, an email, or a checklist makes sense. You can also post it via social media and a buyer’s guide.
Select a sustainable schedule
It is simple to create a content marketing strategy that is ambitious. Once you know the formats and target readers, develop a plan of about 3-6 months (short-term) for the realistic amount of content elements you generate, based on your resources and budget. Track the amount of time it takes to compose each content piece. This will help you develop time in your schedule.
Follow the best practices
Compelling content should be clearly composed. You should avoid jargon that only peers and you as the writer know. It must provide as well the advice on how-to. A relevant, short and actionable content piece is excellent.
Social media and SEO for content marketing strategy
Would you wish good prospects to learn about your business? Another strategy for making it easy for you are using social media and search engine optimization (SEO). The two factors are expounded on below:
Search engine optimization
SEO abounds information for your business. However, to start, you should keep an eye on a few restorative practices.
Identify keywords
Keywords form the basis for your effort on SEO. The essential phrases and keywords are terminologies potential clients type in the search engine when seeking a company, service, or product. When you incorporate the required keywords in the content that you compose, you will draw in more traffic. Excellent keywords are:
Relevant
They correspond to the products, expertise, and services you offer
Precise
A compilation of your industry expertise, focus, potential pain points, and other important points.
Plain-language
Your target audience uses language to illustrate their needs and pain points.
Submit your promise
Search engine optimization has advanced in a manner that the success of search depends partly on the content performance. It also depends on what your content states it will do. Search engines assess the relevance of the content, review a copy of it, and decide if it submits to the promises of the headline.
Due to the advantage that search engines place on a copy, keyword usage throughout the content is vital. Consider the guidelines below:
Focus on 1-2 keywords
Do not “stuff” by writing on what matters only to your potential customers by focusing on very few keyword sentences.
Use keywords on your title
Consider making the headline of the article explicit and clear.
Employ keywords throughout
Find out how to use your keywords naturally, including them in your content.
Stick on the topic
A piece of good quality content offers advice that agrees with the headline. This makes it perform well.
Social media
It’s time to spread the word concerning your content once you’ve created i. A tried-and-true method of promoting your material is through social media, including Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Medium, and others. You create a post, then provide a link to your material, and presto! There is participation.
Three steps can be used to accomplish this:
Concentrate on channels with significant potential
Your audience frequently uses social media platforms is the greatest for you. Take into account both the larger, more well-known channels and the smaller, more niche ones that can introduce you to potential customers. Build a proper selection based on the channels your audience prefers by asking them for their recommendations.
Tailor your content according to the channel
Every social media platform has its voice, professionalism against fun scale, and other characteristics. Take some time to read through posts to become familiar with these specifics before you start writing content for a channel. Then, add a little of your brand personality to your articles.
Test and adjust your strategy
A successful social media content marketing strategy requires multiple iterations. Keep track of the quality and quantity of responses from the different channels. A channel may be a good fit if there are fewer high-potential interactions than clicks, which never result in a viewership.
The bottom line
It is time to apply the best content marketing strategy to work well for your company. Allow your unique value and expertise to shine by creating content that engages, attracts and sells. With some strategic content marketing and planning, you can inspire integrity in your brand and attract the recommended people.
