A content marketing strategy can help you plan, strategize, implement and measure your online content to further your company goals. This article will take you through the essential steps to create a successful content marketing plan.
What is a Content Marketing Strategy?
Ok, what is a content marketing strategy? A content marketing strategy is a plan you use to help you create relevant content like blog posts, videos, and articles that will help you promote your company, product or service to your target customers. It is a way of selling your company without it feeling like a sales pitch.
One example of how a content marketing strategy works is a local law firm’s blog post about what to do if you’ve been involved in a car accident. The article would feature helpful and relevant advice about what to do and include the phrase car accident lawyers near me as a keyword.
The post would reach potential local clients interested in information about how to handle a car accident and show up in the local search rankings if anyone searches for a car accident lawyer.
Here are the essential steps involved in developing a content marketing plan
1. Know What Your Company Goals Are
It is hard to know how to implement a plan if you are unsure of your goals. So have a clear goal in mind. Are you trying to drive up the traffic to your website? Attract new customers? Establish a new branch of your business? Improve your brand recognition? Know what you want to achieve so you can take steps to do it.
2. Establish How You Will Measure Those Goals
Once you understand your goals, figure out how you will measure success.
Will you:
- count new website visitors?
- Increase Your Sales?
- Look at Social media engagement.
- Keep track of shares and likes.
- Look at email list/newsletter signups.
- Increase your lawyer local citation
These metrics can tell you if your content marketing plan is working well and help you see what area needs improvement.
3. Understand Your Target Market
The next step is to know and understand your target market. Imaging your ideal client, think about how they might benefit from your services. Think about how they like to be contacted or where you are most likely to find them. Knowing your target customers can help you decide on the type of content you create and where you should focus.
4. Take A Look At What Your Content is Doing
Before you start developing new content, you need to understand what your website and current content are doing. Take a look at your most successful posts or pages, look at your lowest-performing pages.
Understanding what you have and what is or is not working will help you create the best plan. A company like Local SEO Search Inc. can help you audit your website and online presence to help find the most effective places to focus your energies.
5. Choose Your Marketing Channels
There are many ways to get your content out into the world. There are many platforms to choose from and different forms for each platform.
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok all appeal to different markets and have different strengths. You do not have to have content on every platform. In fact, it is better if you don’t. Focus on what will have the most impact on your target market for your goals and create content specifically for that platform.
6. Create Your Content
Now that you’ve decided on your target market and what platform to use, it is time to create your content. Be sure whatever you produce is well written, original and professional and includes your target keywords. Decide if you will make the content yourself or if you want to hire someone to create it for you. Decide on a schedule and who will be responsible for creating, editing, and posting the content.
7. Promote Your Content
Now that you have your expertly written relevant blog article be sure to share it far and wide on all your channels and social media sites. If you send out a newsletter, include a link to the blog.
8. Track Your Content
Now that your content is out in the world, it is essential to measure how well it is achieving your goals. Is it increasing traffic to your site, improving your brand image, reaching new customers. Continue to monitor and track the content and make changes or shifts depending on its success. You can continue to build upon your work and help your company grow.
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