The foundation of a good content marketing strategy

Your knowledge and experience directly generate business. Sounds good, but how do you make that happen? Content marketing is a possible answer, but if you dive in headfirst, you may face unpleasant surprises. That’s why in this article we discuss the basics: the content marketing strategy. We answer the question: What does a content marketing strategy consist of and what exactly do you get out of it?

We previously described content marketing as a “Strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable and relevant content with the ultimate goal of attracting or retaining a clear target audience.” The idea behind this is that by sharing your in-depth knowledge, you engage in a conversation with your target audience. This conversation can eventually lead to commercial opportunities. Content marketing is often an important pillar of the Online Marketing strategy.

But what does a content marketing strategy actually entail?

The content marketing strategy is the bigger overarching story a company tells and the way it engages the target audience and encourages behavior desirable for the company. A content marketing strategy is thus the plan that explains how your content marketing will become successful.

There are plenty of fun (and successful!) content marketing examples. From travel tips for Thailand to General Electric’s GEreports.com where the company publishes daily articles about innovation, science, and technology.

Is a content marketing strategy important?

We even go a step further and say that strategy is essential for the success of content marketing. Without this strategy, we notice that:

• It is difficult to involve the organization in content marketing and to get the essential input and support needed for success.
• It is harder to allocate or obtain budget for content marketing compared to more traditional efforts.
• People feel less capable in the field of content marketing and are therefore less motivated. Content marketing then quickly deteriorates and does not lead to the desired results.
• It is harder to measure the success and results of content marketing.

The basics of the content marketing strategy

We divide the basics of a good content marketing strategy into four parts:

1. Business case
2. Positioning
3. Customer Journey
4. Channels

Business case

Start by outlining why you are starting with content marketing. What risks are associated with this approach and what does success look like? Finally, set clear goals for your content marketing strategy. This way you create support, for example with your managers, and you can also hold yourself accountable.

Positioning

Positioning, the overarching story of your brand, is of course also the foundation of content marketing. Therefore, reflect on the translation of your positioning into content marketing. What content fits your positioning? What tone do you adopt? In what ways can the reader take action? These and other questions ensure content marketing that fits and further builds on your positioning and creates synergy with, for example, sales activities.

Customer Journey

Consider the purchasing process of your target audience. Determine what information needs the audience has in the different phases or look at the drop-off moments where good sales arguments or testimonials can make a difference. You will need this information later to create a content plan and produce content that achieves the previously set goals.

Channels

Which channels does the target audience use and which will you use to successfully deliver your content? Of course, there are some ‘usual suspects’, the LinkedIns, Twitters, and Facebooks of the world, but perhaps there are very specific channels for your market through which your target audience can be reached. The channel you communicate through should primarily be determined by your customer’s preference, not your own! A nice example of a very specific channel for the target audience is MedTalks. This is a very extensive content-driven platform ‘for and by’ medical professionals.

In practice, companies often start content marketing headfirst. It’s understandable that not everything is well thought out, but if short-term results fail to materialize, content marketing often quietly dies. A shame, because there are many examples of successful content marketing, especially in B2B markets! By first reflecting on the basics of good content marketing and creating a clear content marketing strategy, you can prevent this.

We are curious about your experiences with creating a content marketing strategy and whether there is a need for further elaboration of the above steps in separate blog posts. Will you let us know? You can do so via LinkedIn, Twitter, or the comments below this article.