Content marketing is the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant content to attract and engage a target audience.
Every entrepreneur needs effective content marketing to stand out from the crowd. But, creating and maintaining a strategy—and writing the content that comes with it—can be difficult. Especially for entrepreneurs who already wear multiple hats.
This is something we all struggle with. Many of my clients tell me they have been meaning to push out content for years, but just haven’t found the time.
(Hint: that’s why they hired me.)
Yet, we can’t ignore the benefits of a consistent and compelling content marketing strategy.
It helps build brand awareness by regularly exposing your target audience to your message, it supports lead generation and conversion by providing valuable content that addresses audience needs and pain points, and it drives business growth. All things every entrepreneur wants.
That’s why I’ve outlined a quick seven step plan you can follow to create your content strategy. Then all you need to do is find someone to write the content!
1. Understand Your Audience
To create effective content you need to hone in on exactly who you are speaking to.
Often, we entrepreneurs have a generalized idea of who we want our audience to be. We might say, “Leaders” or “C-suite” or “people who could use my services.”
That is a good starting point, but it isn’t specific enough to create compelling content.
Ask yourself, who has most benefited from what you have to offer?
What are their pain points?
What are their goals?
Are there any specific industries or titles I have had consistent success with? And if so, why?
This information will help you create detailed profiles of your ideal customers including their needs, goals, and pain points. Which then becomes great topics to cover within your content!
2. Set Clear Objectives
You need to know exactly what you want out of your content.
Do you want them to download a specific guide in exchange for an email?
Do you want them to contact you?
How many conversions do you want a month coming directly from your content marketing strategy?
By clearly defining these objectives and tailoring your content strategy accordingly, each piece of content serves a specific purpose aligned with your overall business goals.
For example, if generating leads is a priority, you can develop valuable content offerings like eBooks, webinars, or exclusive articles that require email signup for access. Or if you want to guide potential customers through the sales funnel with targeted messaging, a series of blog posts and email campaigns that educate readers about your product’s benefits can be effective.
These objectives will often help guide the content you want to create.
3. Craft a Content Calendar
One of the biggest factors in building an audience and generating SEO is consistent posting.
That’s why the next step is to create a content calendar so you can outline when and what will be posted.
Start by deciding the types of content you’ll create. For instance, blog posts, videos, and social media updates can each serve different purposes and engage various audiences. Find the medium your audience prefers to consume.
Next, determine the frequency of your content publication.
Consistency is a priority to build and maintain audience engagement, but it’s equally important to ensure that your publishing schedule is manageable. Overcommitting can lead to burnout and inconsistent quality.
Find a balance that allows you to deliver high-quality content regularly—even if it’s once a month!
Outline your content topics and themes for the upcoming months, taking into account seasonal trends, industry events, and any significant product launches. This does not have to be long! A sentence or two about your topic or idea will do. But this goes a long way when the time comes to write, it stops you from staring at a blank page asking yourself what the heck am I going to write about today?
4. Create Compelling Content
Storytelling is a powerful tool to make your articles relatable and memorable, helping to connect with your audience on a personal level.
Additionally, incorporating SEO best practices will help enhance your content’s visibility on search engines.
Typically, when I sit down to write a piece of content, I review my topic in my content calendar (yes I use one of these religiously) then I stare at the wall.
Yes, really.
I sit there and think about the advice I have to share about this particular topic and what angle of that advice will be most helpful to my audience. It doesn’t take long, usually about five minutes, before I have an idea of what exactly I want the blog to look like.
Then I outline it, creating headings and writing a note to myself about what will be written in each section. Once I have an outline I fully write the piece.
Now, I also believe it’s important to not post a piece of content directly after you have written it.
Typically, I let myself sit with the piece for a day. Then I review and edit it once more before posting to add any valuable information I might have forgotten, and fix any mistakes I didn’t catch.
Only then do I post it.
5. Engage with Your Audience
Content marketing doesn’t end with publication. As people like, comment, and repost, you need to interact with them.
Responding to comments and questions fosters a sense of community and builds trust by showing that you are approachable and open to dialogue.
You can even encourage conversations by asking questions, acknowledging feedback, and highlighting user-generated content. This humanizes your brand! The more conversational you are, the more connected your audience will be.
6. Measure Success
Remember when you set objectives for your content? Now it’s time to do something with them.
Regularly track your content’s performance by focusing on page views, shares, comments, and conversion rates to gauge engagement and reach. Tools like Google Analytics provide detailed insights into these metrics.
If your content isn’t reaching the objectives you wanted from it, adjust your strategy!
You shouldn’t be creating content for content’s sake. Doing that is like trying to hit a target in the dark. Your content marketing strategy should work for you and your business. By consistently measuring its performance, you can make informed decisions that enhance your content marketing strategy.
7. Scale & Adjust Your Content
As your brand grows, your content strategy should evolve.
What is the scalability of your content production? Could you outsource to give you and your team more time? How can you increase output without sacrificing quality?
As your business grows, and you and your team get busier, you may need to hire—or contract—someone who can handle all of your content creation. That way you can still put out high quality content, while giving your customers the attention they deserve.
You should also ask yourself how can you adjust our content to better grow our audience and your authority?
Content strategy is not to set it and forget it, but luckily, repurposing content is allowed (and encouraged)! Typically, I encourage clients to wait six months before repurposing old content, and I recommend you only repurpose the content that worked well.
Why is this okay?
New people are discovering your company and what it has to offer every day. There is nothing wrong with rehashing your most popular content—maybe at a different angle or updated viewpoint—so the people who are new to your business can experience the same excitement about it as others did six months ago!
I hope these seven steps help you curate a quick and easy content marketing strategy. I have seen many businesses go from undiscovered, to booked a full year out with compelling content marketing. It is possible to do!
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