Key to Profits: Content Strategy
Improve Your Content Strategy
Is there one marketing practice that can generate astonishing results in web traffic, leads, brand awareness, new revenue and customer loyalty? Oh yes. It’s called Content Strategy.
Content strategy is the hottest topic in marketing because effectiveness is something everyone is struggling with. Excellent content that hits the mark generates everything from high Google rankings to increased lead conversion to customer retention.
Improving your content strategy means going deep. Most web marketing is shallow, without a cohesive plan. Content strategy is front and center now for new business development, customer service, investor relations, ecommerce sales, and of course traffic building.
What is Content Strategy and How Should You Do It?
Digital marketing will grow more than 50% in the next 4 years. Rather than spending more on PPC or by missing the mark on random content development, you might invest in content strategy. By focusing your content choices and optimizing how CS is done, you avoid wasting time on content and channels that don’t work.
Engineering the Emotional Experience
Did the experience online that you had with various brands and companies affect whether you became their customer? Were you pleased with the experience you had with that company? I’ll bet you got your questions answered and you felt confidence and even joy from their branded messages. They made you feel emotion and convinced you to commit to the purchase.
That engineered experience begins out on the web and continues on the company’s website/blog. This is known as inbound content strategy. Their content strategist laid out a paved path that made your experience pleasant and fulfilling.
People buy with emotions and rationalize their purchase with information. This is what guides strategists when designing content experiences that produce emotion and convince visitors to become your customers.
Content Strategy is the guiding, high level vision that creates the high quality experience for customers which translates to a stronger brand and great sales revenue. Content strategy is the selection of material but is not content administration or even the production of content.
You Create the Promise of Satisfaction in your Content
It’s not that your customers are naïve. They believe they can interpret your communications to determine whether you’re the right provider for them. However, you need to shape the impression they get.
A content strategist begins with your unique value proposition and builds a bridge to your ideal customer. The strategy continues with fascination, engagement, and encouraging the completed sale. From beginning to end of your customer lifecycle.
The best definition of the content strategy is the guiding vision of how to use content to attract, engage and convince your target market. It’s one of the most exciting aspects of digital marketing and the one most likely to produce big profit.
What Does a Content Strategist do for You?
A content strategist builds plans to attract your ideal customer and make them feel very good. Your CS will build content that builds solid preference for your company. In short, we create content that makes them happy to choose you and remain your loyal customer.
In general, a content strategist:
- establishes content goals
- establishes how the brand and UVP will be conveyed through content
- discovers content gaps, opportunities, and improvement needs
- determines content channels to use
- determines how to use social media within the overall content strategy
- establishes guidelines for new content development
- determines or assists with planning SEO goals/strategy
- determines or assists with social media goals/strategy
- performs audits of competitors positioning and content strategy
- collaborate with and coach content creators such as writers and videographers
- contribute original content if appropriate
- ensures content management system meets clients requirements
- uses analytics and conducts testing to improve content performance
How do you discover the ROI on content strategy? Companies are expressing concern about this and are hoping to improve measurement in 2015.
Your strategist might need to be a motivator, coach and personal trainer in getting his team to reach the right results.
If you don’t have a content strategist, it’s time to make room for one. Dollar for dollar this professional will create more value than anyone you’ve hired. If you’re not into getting rich, then I’m sure you’re into improving your business performance.
Does your business need a new content strategy? It may be wise to consult with me before you hire a designer, SEO, or paid search agency. Reach Gord at 416 998 6246.