6 Steps to a Simple and Effective Content Strategy

In an increasingly crowded digital landscape, there’s more content than ever vying for audiences’ attention. According to Demand Metric, 91% of B2B marketers and 86% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall strategies.

That’s a lot of marketers creating a lot of content, and for good reason. According to Aspiration Marketing, content marketing can increase customer lifetime value by up to 70%. When it seems like everyone is playing the game, how can you get your content to stand out?

The key is to be ultra-selective. And, as always, it starts with your audience. You want to develop a deep understanding of who you’re serving and then tailor your output to their distinct needs. Read on for some basic — but essential — pointers on crafting content that builds trust and affinity with your market.

Related: How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy

The risks of producing content without strategy

Have you ever come across branded content that feels out of step with its brand voice, like a fashion company blogging about the best food in Manhattan or a literature publisher weighing in on pet grooming?

This can happen when your brand lacks a content strategy that outlines topics and formats that best serve your audience. Although nearly all marketers say they use content marketing, only 40% have a written strategy in place. Without a plan to keep content focused on customers, you risk wasting your business’s resources (and audience’s time) on low-quality material that doesn’t resonate.

Furthermore, without a long-term plan, you also risk crafting generalized content that doesn’t address your audience’s specific questions or pain points, leaving readers disinterested and confused. A strong content strategy is a lens through which you can quickly and consistently assess whether a content idea is worth pursuing. Over time, these strategic content decisions create a cohesive brand narrative.

Simple steps to developing an effective content strategy

Strategy can be intimidating, but the steps to developing strategic content are fairly straightforward. It’s all about getting clear on the outcome you’re driving toward — and working backwards from there:

1. Define your goals. What do you hope your brand will achieve through content? Maybe it’s tapping into new markets or answering common questions about your product or category. Identifying your brand’s specific goals is the first step to clarifying what to write about.
2. Research target audiences. The best content addresses real and pressing audience needs. Refer to your business’s target personas to clarify your customers’ interests, pain points and buying habits. Then, share these insights with your content team so they can craft the most relevant, impactful content possible.
3. Audit existing content. You likely already have a body of existing content. Learn from it. What’s working, and what isn’t? Lean on your highest-performing materials to inform future content decisions.
4. Select the right content formats. After selecting topics and audiences to target, decide which mediums best align with that content, whether it’s articles, social media posts, videos and so on. It’s the classic “form follows function” idea: bigger ideas might warrant a lengthy guide or ebook, whereas an infographic may be the perfect way to sum up new research findings.
5. Create a content calendar. Content calendars can keep your strategy organized, identifying when and where to release content. From the outset, include topics, keywords, content formats, publishing dates and distribution channels, then update it over time as you identify new opportunities.
6. Adopt a new web address. New web addresses feature memorable keywords after the dot — like .pro, .fitness and .world. They signal what you offer to audiences before they navigate to your website, setting proper expectations and strengthening brand memorability. These powerful domains can be used to redirect to your current site or build an entirely new branded digital experience. You can even use new web addresses to create topic- and campaign-specific landing pages that can later be used to publish related content.

Related: 7 Habits of the Most Successful Content Marketers

Key questions to guide content production

To help determine whether your current content output and ideas align with your content strategy, consider answering these questions before starting a piece of content:

• Who is your target audience(s)?
• How far along are they in the buying journey?
• What is your topic and goal?
• Where will you publish your content?
• Which formats will you use?

It’s not rocket science — but it’s amazing how frequently brands publish materials without considering these basic questions. Don’t be one of them!

Good strategy makes content effective

The best strategies are built on a knowledge framework, starting with understanding your customers and their needs. You also must define your goals to know where your marketing strategy needs to take you.

With this knowledge, you can craft a strategy that effectively communicates your brand’s narrative and builds a deep connection with your audience.