7 most Effective Processes to create an overall Content Strategy Plan
In our previous blog post, we discussed the 4 key factors for Content Marketing Strategy to be successful and the 4 key factors being- brand positioning, value proposition of owned media, genuine business case and strategic planning. Let us now discuss the 7 vital processes that are important to create a powerful overall content strategy plan
7 Processes to create an overall Content Strategy Plan
Planning for the long-term gives one the freedom to concentrate on one’s business objectives, hypothesize threats and assign appropriate resources in a more effective manner. Setting up these 7 processes will not only assist one in developing and implementing an overall content strategy plan methodically but it will also assist one’s business in accomplishing objectives more effectively.
Reviewing Current Content
A content audit can help you to stand out in an era of mass content production. Bearing in mind that there are almost 2 billion websites and over 80 million blog posts that are being circulated online every month, it is, in fact, a whole lot of immeasurable information that one’s audience has access to and choose from. Forming content without comprehending and considering what one’s audience wants and what works for one’s audience and one’s brand will be a complete waste of time and funds. So, ensure that one has a complete understanding of what works and what doesn’t before embarking on to forming content for one’s brand.
Assemble the entire current content and scrutinize the data sets to comprehend the definite status of one’s content. Find out the kind of content that appeals to the audience, fetches the best outcomes, and the areas that require improvement.
Establish Objectives
Confirming that each content section shapes en route to fulfilling the objectives and systematizes them in a categorized manner will certainly help to keep one’s objectives strong. Begin with objectives connected to one’s general mission and vision beforehand so that progressing on to classifying long- and short-term objectives one’s Content Marketing can help achieve. Preference should be given to long-term strategic objectives over specific operational objectives in one’s strategy.
Always remember that Content Marketing objectives ought to add to the accomplishment of one’s business objectives and be connected to the global marketing strategy of one’s company.
Create Objective Setting Outlines
Although, when most of us are more contented with the conventional objective setting outlines methods such as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) objectives, suppleness is vital when setting genuine standards. So, why not contemplate utilizing the framework/outline like CLEAR, this can benefit one to be more responsive to the ever-changing environment of digital marketing.
CLEAR objectives are appraised in relation to the key features:
- Collaborative : to encourage teamwork.
- Limited : limited in scope and duration.
- Emotional : to inspire and motivate one’s team.
- Appreciable : to be able to break down into smaller micro-objectives.
- Revisable : to be able to revise and redefine based on the situation and requirement.
Many find Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to be either very technical or with restricted scope, so in order to bring flexibility to your objectives, one can establish Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). Each objective should be treated as a test or competition, describe at least 4 vital outcomes through the objective, review one’s objectives with a growth pointer (0-100%), make one’s objectives co-operative and crystal clear, evaluate objectives based on different situations, and most importantly modify an objective when it becomes irrelevant to the results.
Using this method, one can aim for a determined outcome, however, it establishes the slightest beginning for accomplishing the objective. Growth Pointers (0%-100%) let every member of the team understand how achievable every objective is, and also realize what needs to be completed.
Objectives in OKRs can be restructured in case the original situations changes at any time in comparison to KPIs, which can be returned only after a quarter. Time will not be wasted on working on objectives that have become irrelevant to one with OKRs.
Ascertain the Audience
Ascertaining one’s audience and pulling them in with one’s content is the most vital for Content Marketing to be successful. Yet to create great content, one has to comprehend their way of life, matters, difficulties, and requirements which can give very minute details that will prove to be very useful when creating content to appeal to the audience.
The audience is not a buyer
Building buyer personas is key in Content Marketing, but then one’s audience isn’t exclusively comprised of buyers as the audiences are the people who start interacting with the brand even before they plan to buy the product.
Therefore, it is imperative that an appealing attractive content is presented to lure the audience and attract prospective customers before they become a buyer and entice them into the world that one’s brand has created. At that point, it will do best by following it up with a content that highlights how one’s brand can be useful when they are prepared to make a purchase.
“The Empathy Map”
An empathy map is a collective tool that helps one to understand the target audience better. This technique was termed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur in the book Business Model Generation.
It is based on a complete method: by adopting customers’ standpoint or viewpoint, one can backtrack and enhance their experience centered on their observation, thinking, feeling or hearing.
The “Jobs to Be Done” Framework
The “Jobs to Be Done” framework by Alan Klement is a simple framework to recognize customer’s requirements and to know why they use the product. The notion is to be in the prospective customer’s shoes and attempt to recognize the work a customer is trying to do. It is very important to recognize and answer the when, how, why and where of the customer so that the product can relate to their requirements and accomplish what they are looking for.
So, after one understands the customer’s existing problem, the solution, and the outcome they foresee, then one gets the idea of what content to create that would be convincing and can convert them from new customers to one’s brand advocates.
Establish an Editorial Strategy
Organizing one’s content lets one to assign one’s resources properly, and to understand which strategies take longer than projected, and modify one’s anticipations consequently.
Prioritize Actions
Prioritization is one of the most critical elements of effective strategizing. If one strategize one’s actions, one will be able to recognize the most critical tasks that one should do or things that can be easily tested. Thus protecting one’s strategy from main failure and discover openings for experimentations that can possibly increase the desired outcomes.
Identify Appropriate Topics
To start, one needs to find topics that will fascinate the audience and entice their interest as they advance through the customer journey. There are topic research tools that give one idea for topics one should encompass along with questions related to it, probable subtopics, and titles that marketers can use.
After determining the precise topics to be included and finding the suitable layout for the content units, one can place them on a calendar so that tracking of upcoming and missed deadlines can be traced.
Strategize Content Production
Thinking about the intent of each content unit one wants to create before commencing the content creation process eases the process of content writing. Ensure that one’s content covers each part of the journey that a customer takes to hold on to one’s prospects at every stage that will eventually evolve into a lasting relation between one’s client and the brand.
There are five stages that help in strategizing content production:
- Awareness Stage – At this stage, the content is often centered on questions one lead has at the top of the funnel as they turn to be more aware of their problem or requirement; this content is like the brand story that teaches, updates or interests one’s audience.
- Consideration Stage – The prospects will want to know more as they progress to the consideration stage. This stage is crucial and one should try to help them understand why is there a need for assistance in solving the issue they are facing, show them how similar problems were solved by others and deliberate the essential steps that may be required for necessary to follow up.
- Decision Stage – These content sections are intended to aid prospective leads to decide what can help them and why one is the best choice. Client reviews, case studies, and detailed study of the work one have done previously are helpful at this stage, as the users will compare one’s brand directly with other providers.
- Retention Stage – Openly displaying several ways to get the best out of one’s product or service along with the ways to solve common issues, and innovative features can prove to be very helpful. Answering the expected questions that they will ask in advance can also keep leads from getting unsatisfied with what one offers.
- Advocacy Stage – This content section highlights the parts of one’s brand that will help convert customers into advocates. This section usually include topics that focus on one’s corporate values, giving back efforts, or excellent team members and their outstanding works.
Expand the Content
Incorporating an expansive combination of content types in one’s strategy to charm each member of the audience can be good as well.
Although, if one has very narrow sources for creation of content, then create SEO-Friendly content as 35% of all website traffic comes from organic search, regenerate one’s content into an infographic, slideshow, or video, segment a long article or video into shorter pieces and published as a series, combine short content pieces to create a white paper or a long-read article, create usable snippets and informative images for social media and lastly, take advantage of User-Generated Content that may be in the reviews, comments, photos, and videos which also helps in adding legitimacy to your claims.
Design Content Distribution
Since now we know that one of the essential features of Content Marketing is owned media development and the earned & paid media are the representation of essential features of a content distribution strategy, so let’s see how owned, earned and paid media can work together
Create an Integrated Omnichannel Experience
When multiple channel communication is provided to one’s audience, it is the best way to help keep one’s brand at the pole position of their minds. By arranging in a line the brand messaging and objectives across multiple channels, one’s audience will get a better idea of who you are and what one can offer.
Identify the Most Relevant Channels
Focus on the channels where one’s audience already spends most of its time to give one’s content the best chance to be seen. Definite social media analytics and demographics can determine which channels to try to engage one’s clients or target audience, and which ones may be a waste of budget.
For instance, Pinterest distributes visual content pieces like infographics, schemas or original illustrations, and attracts traffic to one’s website or Instagram, a great place to tell a visual story that develops a brand’s identity. It is particularly relevant for B2C, especially for areas like beauty, lifestyle, travel, etc. or Snapchat which has a younger presence, making it a key channel for brands that market to millennials and tweens, but it is less important for those who want to reach the older demographics — Generation X or Baby-boomers.
Utilizing the research one have already compiled, one can easily find where one’s audience is most likely to see and read one’s content.
Automate Social Media Posting
Generating a unified user experience on various social media channels can be time-consuming, yet it doesn’t have to be. One can now effortlessly automate posting to multiple social media networks to save resources and ensure accuracy in timing with all the schedules social media poster tools.
Analyse Content Performance
Scrutinizing one’s content performance is the best way to understand what type of content is connecting with the audience, and find out what content pieces to create next. One’s audience will clearly indicate what attracts their interest the most, making it easier for one to come up with new content that fascinates them.
Four categories that Content metrics fall into are:
- User behavior : unique visitors, pages per session, bounce rate.
- Engagement : likes, shares, comments, mentions.
- SEO results : organic traffic, dwell time, backlinks.
- Company revenue : number of leads, existing leads affected, conversion rate.
In Conclusion
Even if the methods and techniques used to convey content to leads are persistently changing, the fundamental principles will remain the same, i.e., developing a top-class Content Marketing strategy that is based on reliable and dependable information.
Eventually, the quality of the information on the content which is reliable and honest will be the key feature in the success of Content Marketing.