Content Strategy

If you want yours to hit the mark, start with a content strategy.

What is a content strategy?

It’s likely people are not only reading your website or blog, your Facebook or LinkedIn page, or watching your YouTube video’s. Without aligning their purpose, you might find the combined effect is more confusing than compelling.

When each piece of content is treated in isolation rather than part of a bigger picture the point can get lost.

A content strategy is a cohesive plan to use each piece of content to bring your broader objective into focus.

A content strategy will define:

• Who your audience is
• What motivates them
• What sorts of content are important to them
• What channels you should be using and why
• The frequency and type of content creation
• The tone of voice you should use

It’s about the Story

The best content – the type that influences your audience – tells a story. And a good story engages with a journey.

Because content is generally shared across an array of channels, it’s important to define the role each plays and their relationship to one other.  By aligning that story with your broader business and brand strategy, we can pre-plan your content schedule.

Some of the benefits of a strategic approach to content include:

• Increased efficiency
• Less wastage
• Reduced cost
• Increased conversion rate
• Clarify on the best content channels
• Ensures content achieves your objectives
• Alignment of content with business objectives
• Alignment of your content with your brand messaging

 

Why you need a content strategy

Over the life of your business, it’s likely you’ll publish hundreds of pieces of content.

If the only thing guiding your output is intuition or spur of the moment decisions, your content will seem ad hoc.

Over time, the message you will send to your audience will be confusing and ultimately ineffective.

Focus on goals

Content should be driven by your most important goals. It’s therefore follows that your strategy won’t be a simple one size fits all.

Some examples of content objectives include:

• Create social proof
• Attract backlinks
• Increase cultural transparency
• Communicate industry expertise
• Increase conversion rate
• Attract influencers
• Provide CEO’s with a go to source of industry knowledge
• Build an engaged social media audience

Like other forms of creative, it can be tempting to see content as serendipitous rather than a measurable and accountable exercise.

By setting content objectives and corresponding measurable results, your content moves from being random to being purposeful.

If you’d like to understand how a content strategy can improve your business, get in touch.