How Your Business Can Maximize Your Content Strategy and Achieve More Results The rise in technology adoption is at the heart of what today's businesses have become, making it easy for business owners to bridge the gap between them and their target audience. But how effective is your business in bridging that gap?
By Thomas Helfrich Edited by Kara McIntyre
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
One twist of events — a.k.a. the pandemic — was all it took for many companies to realize that the future of technology, especially in business, was already upon us. The business narrative went from a standstill because of inactivity to a surge of activity as the new normal ushered us into new horizons.
Content became in demand as every business's target audience now had one location in common: the internet. It became the vessel through which brands could get their products and services across to their target audience. But with your audience's attention span limited to eight seconds, you race against time to get their attention ahead of everything else jousting for it. Your content has to be effective, well crafted, engaging and relevant. But to achieve that, you need a content strategy.
Related: How to Integrate Data-Driven Content Marketing Into Your Content Strategy
What is a content strategy?
Content strategy is a plan for creating, delivering and managing content to achieve specific business or communication goals. Every business has the sole objective of attracting and converting its customers into sales. However, it is not always as easy to accomplish as it sounds. It involves a series of activities such as defining which topics to cover, tonality, content format, and how often to publish new content.
Having a content strategy is an important first step in any content marketing initiative. Without a plan, it's easy to get lost in the sea of content options and end up wasting time and resources on content that doesn't serve your goals.
A good content strategy should answer the following questions:
- What goals do you want to achieve with your content?
- Who is your target audience?
- What kind of content will appeal to them?
- What tone and style should you use?
Having these in hand provides your business with clarity and direction to pivot your content marketing.
Related: Content Strategy: The Final Piece in the Jigsaw Puzzle of Modern Day Business
How to execute a content strategy
Just as there is no one-size-fits-all formula in branding, there is no perfect formula to execute a content strategy. Executing a content strategy varies from one business to another, as goals and objectives are not the same. However, some steps can be taken to ensure you execute a content strategy effectively.
1. Define your goals and objectives clearly
One of the most important aspects of executing a successful content strategy is defining your goals and objectives clearly from the outset. Without clear goals and objectives, it can be challenging to measure the success of your content strategy. When defining your goals, it is important to make sure that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). This way, your goals are realistic and can be achieved within a reasonable timeframe.
2. Develop a detailed, thorough content plan
It is important to create a detailed content plan to execute a content strategy. Over 78% of businesses with documented content marketing strategies were very successful in 2021. A plan outlines the types of content that will be created, when they will be published, and where they will be distributed. Doing so will help ensure that your content strategy is executed effectively and that your goals and objectives are met.
3. Create high-quality, engaging content that is targeted at your target audience
Creating high-quality, engaging content is essential to the success of any content strategy. Your content must be targeted at your target audience in order to be effective. Achieving that requires understanding your target audience and what type of content they are looking for.
According to Neil Patel, 78% of customers will trust your brand if you create customized content, while another 61% will be influenced by it. Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, you can begin creating content that is tailored to their needs. It should be well-written, informative and interesting, and it should be published regularly in order to keep your audience engaged.
Related: 4 Tips for a Successful Content Strategy
4. Promote your content through various channels
There are many ways to promote your content, and the best approach will vary depending on your goals and target audience. Some common methods of promoting content to reach a wider audience are through social media, email marketing, paid advertising, blogging and press releases.
5. Analyze the performance of your content regularly
It is crucial to analyze the performance of your content regularly and make adjustments to your strategy as needed. This will help ensure that your content is achieving the desired results and that your overall strategy is on track.
There are several ways to measure the performance of your content, such as looking at engagement metrics (e.g. likes, shares, comments, etc.), traffic data, conversion rates and so on. By tracking these metrics over time, you will be able to identify patterns and trends that can help you fine-tune your strategy.
Drawing the curtains
The goals and objectives of every business anchor the foundation of what will become their content marketing. Half of your job as a business is done if these two key components are identified. Structuring your content strategy becomes easy to plan and execute as you now know what topics to cover based on your target audience and your content strategy goals.
Turbocharge these resources with your content creation frequency and maximize multiple channels to distribute your content. You will have established your brand as a thought leader for your audience, making it easier to be the go-to brand when they are ready to buy.
