What is a Content Marketing Strategy?

In the digital world content marketing has become a key strategy for businesses to connect with their audience and get engagement. But what is a content marketing strategy and why is it important for your business? This guide goes into detail on content marketing strategies, their components, benefits and how to create a plan.

What is Content Marketing Strategy

Content Marketing Strategy Introduction

Content marketing is about creating and sharing valuable, relevant content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. A content marketing strategy is a plan that outlines how you will use content to achieve your business goals. According to the Content Marketing Institute, businesses that do content marketing right see an ROI (Return on Investment) seven times higher than those that don’t.

Content Marketing Strategy Components

A content marketing strategy has several key parts:

• Content Ideas and Planning: The foundation of any strategy, content brainstorming and planning.
• Platforms for Content Publishing: Choosing the right platforms (e.g. blogs, social media, video channels) is key to reaching your audience.

SEO in Content Marketing Strategy

Organic Traffic

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a part of content marketing. It helps you leverage organic traffic, so your content is visible to potential customers. A successful SEO strategy involves optimising content for keywords, site architecture and getting backlinks.

SEO Objectives

Setting your SEO objectives is key. These could be to improve search engine rankings, increase organic traffic or boost conversion rates. Tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush can help you track these metrics.

How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy

Content Goals

Before you create content you need to set clear goals. These goals should align with your business goals and could be to increase brand awareness, generate leads or improve customer engagement. According to SMART criteria goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Target Audience

Knowing your target audience is key to creating relevant content. This involves audience research and creating detailed personas of your ideal customers. Tools like Google Analytics and social media insights can give you data on your audience’s demographics and preferences.

Competitor Analysis in Content Marketing

Competitor Research

Competitor analysis helps you see what works in your industry. By looking at your competitors’ content you can find gaps in the market and opportunities to differentiate. Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush give you insights into your competitors’ top performing content and keywords.

Competitor Content Insights

Analyzing competitor content can show you high performing topics, keywords and content types. This will help you create content that resonates with your audience and ranks in search engines.

Content Conversion Funnel

Buyer’s Journey

A content conversion funnel maps out the customer’s journey from awareness to purchase. It includes:

1. Problem-Aware: The customer is aware of a problem.
2. Solution-Aware: The customer evaluates different solutions.
3. Comparing & Converting: The customer buys.

Content for Conversion

Each stage of the funnel needs different content. For example blog posts and webinars are good for the problem-aware stage, case studies and testimonials work well for the solution-aware stage.

Content Audit

Content Audit Process

A content audit involves reviewing existing content to decide to keep, tweak or delete it. This ensures your content remains relevant and effective. Tools like Sitebulb and Screaming Frog can help with this.

Content to Funnel Stages

During a content audit map each piece of content to a stage in the funnel. This will show you gaps in your content strategy and where you need to create new content.

Keyword Research for Content

Keyword Research

Keywords are the base of content marketing. They help you know what your audience is searching for and how to answer their needs. Good keyword research involves finding high value keywords that match your content goals.

Using Keywords to Achieve

Incorporate keywords naturally into your content to improve search engine rankings. Consider keyword difficulty and search volume when choosing keywords. Tools like Google Keyword Planner and Moz can help with this.

Content Ideas, Pillars and Clusters

Content Ideas

Organise content ideas into clusters, with pillar pages being a comprehensive guide to a broad topic. Pillar pages link to related cluster content to create a network of content.

Content Prioritisation

Use the ICE method (Impact, Confidence, Ease) to prioritise content production. This involves scoring each content idea and focusing on the ones with the highest impact.

Creating and Optimising Content

Content Production

Once you have a content plan delegate production to writers. Provide them with a detailed brief that outlines the content structure and target keywords.

On-Page Optimisation

Optimise each piece of content for SEO. This includes headings, keyword placement and internal linking. Also optimise images and meta tags for search visibility.

Content Promotion and Distribution

Where to Repurpose Content

Repurpose content across multiple platforms to reach more people. Social media, email newsletters and external publications are good channels for content distribution.

Timing and Analytics for Promotion

Use analytics to work out the best times to promote content. Track performance metrics to see how your distribution is working and adjust as needed.

Content Marketing ROI

Content Performance

Track content performance with tools like Google Search Console and SEMrush. Monitor page views, bounce rates and conversion rates.

Adjusting Based on Data

Update your content strategy regularly based on performance data. This includes responding to search engine updates and optimising distribution channels for better results.

Summary: Why You Need a Content Marketing Strategy

A content marketing strategy is key to building brand equity and connecting with your audience. Consistently creating valuable content will establish trust and authority in your industry.

Get Started with a Strategy

If you’re ready to up your content marketing game start with a strategy. Consider getting professional content marketing services to help you on your way.

Content Marketing Strategy FAQs

• What is content marketing strategy?
• Why do I need a content marketing strategy?
• It aligns content to business goals.
• How do I get started with a content strategy?
• Start with your goals and your audience.

Follow these and you’ll have a content marketing strategy that grows and engages your business. Use content to connect with your audience and achieve your business objectives.