Blogs, social media posts, e-books, infographics, videos, podcasts and memes. With so many kinds of content on the web, it’s sometimes hard to know which one is best for your business – and how to use it most effectively. How often should you post on Facebook or Instagram? Should you publish long-form blogs or start a YouTube channel? How do you really stand out from the crowd?
There’s more to developing an SEO content strategy than just publishing across a few different mediums and hoping for likes and shares. The right kind of content strategy gives you a consistent tone of voice, ensures your content is on brand and message and keeps everyone in your team on the same page. Most businesses devote some level of time and resources to content creation. Yet, according to the Content Marketing Institute, 63% don’t have a documented content strategy. That same figure is also the percentage of B2B marketers who cite content creation challenges as the biggest obstacle to the content marketing success they desire.
Here at Anchor Digital, we will help you overcome any roadblock and achieve your business goals with a content marketing strategy that’s creative, engaging, cutting edge and perfect for your needs.
What is a Content Strategy?
A content strategy is a plan to use content to achieve your business goals. It focuses on every stage of content development, including planning, creation and delivery, and includes all kinds of content, from words on a page to images, audio and video. Before developing a content strategy, there are a few questions to ask:
Who will be reading the content?
Who is your target audience or audiences? University students? Young professionals? Parents? Retirees? There’s likely to be more than one demographic you’re trying to reach and, as a result, more than one approach to take. That’s why it pays to diversify and get your message out there across a variety of channels.
What problem do you aim to solve?
No matter your industry, your clients and customers come to you because they need things. Identifying the challenges they’re looking to overcome when they come across your website goes a long way to deciding which of your strengths and services to highlight. Consider not only how your business can solve problems for people but also how you can help existing customers steer clear of those problems again in the future.
What makes you different from your competitors?
You probably have something in your favour that gives you a unique advantage. Maybe you have a highly experienced team of staff who have been in your industry for decades? Maybe you’re deeply involved with your local community and can add a personal touch that others can’t? Or maybe you’re prepared to travel further afield than your competitors, even to rural and remote locations? Your unique selling points will help you create targeted content that converts.
What formats will you focus on?
By now, you’re no doubt aware of the staggering variety of content you can create: blog posts, social media posts, videos, and podcasts. The list is long and continually growing. Which ones you focus on will depend on what you want to achieve. In capable hands, all are powerful tools. According to HubSpot, every blog post is an extra indexed page on your website and, with the right call to action, an opportunity to convert this traffic into leads. Blogging also increases your perceived credibility and authority in the eyes of the public.
Social media is only getting bigger and better, with 3.96 billion users and growing. It costs nothing to be on Facebook and Instagram, and tools like Hootsuite make scheduling posts a breeze. According to WordStream, recent trends in digital marketing tend to favour video, with social video generating 1200% more shares than text and image content put together. The same source states that 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded videos.
What channels will you publish on?
The channels you focus on will depend on your audience and your aims. Facebook is still the social media platform marketers use the most, followed by Instagram. With both, an attractive image can catch the eyes of scrolling web or mobile users, inviting them to read the accompanying text before following through with a purchase. LinkedIn is a popular site that allows you to publish content with the benefit of connecting with other professionals in your field at the same time.
With over one billion users, TikTok is a powerful tool for businesses looking to reach younger audiences. It also has all the advantages of video content.
How to Develop a Content Strategy
There are several steps to creating a compelling content strategy.
Define your goal
What are you hoping to achieve? Are you trying to boost web traffic, conversion rate, brand awareness or all of the above? Make sure your goals are measurable, specific and within the realm of possibility for you, and give yourself a timeframe.
Research your audience
Know who you’re aiming to reach and the message you’re trying to get across to them. You can start by considering factors such as the age, interests and locations of your existing customers and then branch out into research tools like Google Analytics and Keyhole.co to assist you in finding new ones. Understand what your potential customers want and how you can provide it better than your competitors.
Run a content audit
A content audit helps you determine your highest and lowest-performing pieces of content so you can refine and enhance your strategy. It involves identifying which of your existing pages are most engaging to your readers and measuring metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, likes and shares. It also involves optimising links of all kinds and looking at your backlinks.
Choose a CMS
There are several reputable content management systems on the market. When choosing one, it pays to look at aspects such as security, usability and affordability. WordPress is the most widely used and hosts around 43% of all websites. Other popular options are CMS Hub, Drupal, Joomla and Shopify.
Brainstorm content ideas
There are many ways to brainstorm engaging content ideas. You can start by having a look at your own content: what worked, what almost worked and what didn’t work at all. Other methods include mind mapping (writing down a central idea and linking it to related ideas) and role-playing.
Decide on the type of content
As we’ve already discussed, there are countless kinds of content out there and numerous sites and channels that you can publish it on. Research, look into the pros and cons of different types and whether they’re right for you, and make sure you’re using the channels most likely to yield the highest return on investment.
Publish and manage your content
When you publish your content is just as important as the types of content you choose and the channels. With a content calendar, you can ensure you’re publishing new posts regularly and strategically.
Develop Your Content Strategy with Anchor
Anchor Digital will help you craft the right kind of content strategy for your business or organisation. As one of Brisbane and Southeast Queensland’s leading marketing agencies, we’re masters of messaging. Our digital and content professionals will ensure your content shows your unique strengths to the people you most want to reach. Drop us a line to learn more about how we can work together to tell your story.
