A
good content marketing strategy is focused on producing and expanding significant,
meaningful, and useful content to draw the attention of a specific audience.
Eventually, this marketing strategy, along with convincing content, will drive financially
rewarding profits. If, on the other side, there is a lack of valuable, documented
content marketing strategy, that will hurt your content more than you could
think.
In
order to develop a successful marketing campaign, you need to know who your
audience is, what they are interested in, where they search for that content,
what goals you want to achieve, how much you’ve progressed, and how you plan on
reaching your audience. Here are some details on how to do all of the above!
1. Focus
on Your Audience
The
first and most important step towards a successful marketing campaign is
targeting your audience. You must know them really well in order to sell them
what they need. Begin by making a list of your current customers’ preferences.
If, however, you don’t have customers yet, here is a set of questions that will
help you begin your research.
- What
makes them purchase products or services like the ones you offer?
- What
are their expectations of the products/services?
- What
do your buyers care most about when reading other customers’ opinions?
- What
causes them to avoid buying products/services similar to yours?
- Why
could they possibly believe that buying from you is not their best option?
Be
honest when you answer the above questions. If you find an answer to be very
unsatisfying, ask yourself why. Make sure you write down all these questions
and reflect on them later again.
2.
Know Where Your Audience Searches for
Content
Find
out where you audience hangs out online, and understand why that is the case.
What do they like about the platforms they use? Why are they interested in when
accessing a specific web page? Research the strategies those platforms and
websites use in order to attract customers. If you feel brave, shoot them an
e-mail and ask if they have any advice for you. Competition can be beneficial
within a market, especially if it means the entities upgrade their products for
the benefit of the customers.
3.
Find Your Audience’s Preferences
You
can pretty much tell what you audience’s preferences are by knowing where they
search for content. If their favorite platform is LinkedIn, they like
thoroughly written articles, smart videos, and slide decks. If they spend a lot
of time on Facebook, then content and video sharing are their favorites. If they like Awwwards, storytelling might fit
them the best.
Your
main goal here should be creating proper content for your audience. If you don’t know
their preferences, you might have to test every strategy and see which one
works the best. Unfortunately, that might take more time and money than
expected, so I’d say research is your best friend!
4.
Set Gradual Goals
The
first question you should ask yourself is “What is the purpose of my content?” Yes,
we all want to sell our products for profits, but there is something specific
about the content itself that made you choose it. So, what do you want your
content to achieve and why?
In
order to increase your audience and improve your content, you need to take
things step by step. So, set goals for each step of the way. Laila Johnson,
freelance writer at RushMyEssay UK, shares her opinion. “Setting gradual
goals helps a lot – not only mentally, but also from an organizational point of
view. Set a target on how many customers you want to achieve by the end of step
1. Make sure you use all the valuable
online tools to make them participate in your webinars, respond to your
e-mails, or download your articles. Your initial offer has to be extremely
attractive.”
5.
Pay Attention to Your Progress
Realizing
how much you’ve progressed plays a big role in your marketing strategy. It
shows that you understand the good and the bad parts of your online journey.
Thus, you are going to use the good parts and expand them. Make sure you
evaluate your progress at the end of each week, and change whichever strategy
you might consider unproductive. Your marketing plan has to be constantly
reviewed in order to give out the best results!
You can evaluate your progress by looking at these specific details:
- Your
customers’ response to your products/services (use surveys!)
- How
much you’ve expanded since you started
- What
your partners say about your progress
- What
your competitors say about your progress (and how challenged they feel)
6.
Reach Out to Your Audience
As
I was pointing out before, knowing how to reach your audience is a crucial step
here. Here are some ideas:
- Blogging
– blog about your products and generate high-quality content.
- Social media – share your content on Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. Use smart tactics to promote your products.
- Press
– reach out to other bloggers or freelancers to write about your products and
promote them.
- E-mail
– best way to reach out to your customers directly. Just make them sign up to
your e-mail list!
Use
whichever method fits you the best! Choose wisely, and do not let yourself
influenced by other marketers. Each marketing strategy is or should be different than yours, so don’t
get anxious if nobody else uses your strategies.
Conclusion
By
thinking simply, but smartly,you will achieve your targets for sure. Focus on
your audience, understand their preferences and favorite online places to hang
out, and plan accordingly. Set goals for each week, and track your progress
constantly. Good luck!
AUTHOR BIO
Brandon Stanley is a professional independent journalist. He is interested in writing articles concerning marketing and advertisement. Apart from that, Brandon loves traveling and playing the piano. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
