We’re constantly looking for ways to stay ahead in the marketing industry, so we tuned in to a Content Marketing webinar led by eMarketer, a market research company, and Marketo, a marketing automation platform. The webinar explored the ins and outs of content marketing and how to do it effectively.
New to content marketing? We outlined the basics for you here.
Jillian Ryan, Senior Analyst, and Content and Social Media Marketing Specialist at eMarketer, discussed what a great content strategy looks like. We’re going to share with you the need-to-know information.
Here are 7 key factors to consider when creating your content strategy:
Craft with Purpose
Don’t create content for the sake of creating content. Consider what you want the piece of content to achieve, then create and distribute it with purpose.
Don’t Pitch
Save the sales pitch for your sales team. Content marketing is not always about your brand, in fact, it rarely is. Companies should create informative content, not promotional. Think about your consumer’s pain points, and use your content to articulate how you can solve their problems.
Be Original
With so many competitors out there, you need to slice through the clutter with your content. This can include doing original research, studies, or content series. Think outside the box and determine how you can separate yourself from your competitors.
Get a Team
Implementing a successful content marketing strategy requires more than just one person. You’ll want to invest in a team of talented writers and thoughtful strategists.
Have a Plan
Again, content isn’t effective without a strategy. Think about a posting cadence, campaigns you want to run, themes you can cover, and more. Develop a strategy that opens the door for you to create and publish quality content on a consistent basis.
Be Flexible
Understand that, although you have a content plan, external factors such as breaking industry news, research, or events, will sometimes require you to veer from your content calendar and post timely and news-relevant content.
Reuse, Recycle
You don’t always need to be creating and publishing new content. Look at your old content and repurpose and re-optimize pieces that are still relevant.
Take inventory of your current content strategy, and assess whether or not it takes into consideration the above factors. Ask yourself if it’s purposeful, flexible, consistent, and manageable. Your content marketing shouldn’t be a campaign; it needs to be a continuous effort.
A clearly defined strategy is a must in today’s content marketing landscape. If you need help defining yours, get in touch and let’s start a conversation.