The need to create and deliver valuable, relevant content to your audience should never be underestimated. In fact, your brand image depends on it!

When faced with the challenges and opportunities posed by digital content marketing, it’s easy to overlook the strategic aspects – but in order to market effectively, you need to approach content marketing the same way you would a traditional marketing campaign. This means developing a comprehensive content strategy, designed to help you meet your goals.

Carefully planning your content strategy will help you create a solid foundation for delivering strong, engaging content, and set the stage for success. And devoting even a few hours of time and attention to organizing and developing your content, and mapping out a strategic approach will help you save significant time and energy, in future.

As with any other marketing endeavor, you’ll want to begin developing your content strategy by taking the time to outline your objectives, and goals. Are you looking to drive dialogue? Boost conversions? Or maybe convince users to subscribe to your newsletter? Content marketing can be used for many different purposes, and the possibilities are virtually limitless – so get clear on what you plan to accomplish prior to starting your content marketing efforts.

Once you’ve outlined your goals, spend some time exploring your audience’s needs and expectations. Who are you are trying to reach? What do you know about their preferences, interests, and desires? It can be helpful to create customer or audience profiles, and use them to outline and identify the needs, motivations, and behaviors of your target demographic.

It’s also important to identify where your audience gathers. Which social media sites do they frequent? Do they tend to gather in professional forums? Knowing which platforms your audience prefers is absolutely essential to the planning of your content strategy. It not only defines where you’ll be engaging, it informs the type of content you’ll need to create. Remember – content marketing is most effective when you meet your audience where they’re at. The more insight you can gain into their behavior, the easier it will be to create content which inspires your audience to interact with your brand.

Once you’ve created a strong foundation, you can begin to create your content schedule. How often do you intend to post? Daily? Weekly? Nothing screams unprofessional like a stale Facebook page, or a company blog which hasn’t been updated in ages. Outline a schedule you’re sure you can keep – and then stick to it!

As a side note, timely messages are the most likely to engage – so make sure your content is posted at times when your audience is most likely to be paying attention, and that the message itself is congruent with their experience.

It should go without saying, but we cannot emphasize the point enough – give some serious thought to the content you are creating. Your content strategy should involve a detailed consideration of the subjects and topics you intend to cover, in order to ensure that they align well with your brand image and goals. You may also consider reviewing your current assets, to determine whether they can be used to produce strong, varied dynamic content.

Finally – before you post a single piece of content, make sure your content strategy includes a plan for measuring the impact of your communication. Outlining parameters and methods for proper measurement prior to beginning your content marketing campaign will allow you to demonstrate the impact of your strategy to both revenue and audience engagement – and prove ROI.

Remember, content marketing offers an affordable and effective channel for increasing audience engagement, and growing your network organically. When approached strategically, the impact can be incredible – so take the time to develop a comprehensive plan, and you won’t be disappointed!

If you’re not sure where to begin, contact the experts at Strongpages – we’ll help you develop a content strategy designed to drive sales, increase conversions, and boost brand awareness and engagement. Act now, to learn more!