Let the groaning begin…yes, you know the year is fast coming to a close. With that comes end of year reports and strategizing for future success. So, tell me, what will you do different in the coming months?
Are you happy with your content marketing strategy ? Are you reaching your prospects, answering their questions and nurturing leads effectively?
Or, are you still struggling to connect the dots between your ebooks and your ROI?
As you start planning your content marketing strategy for 2015, take a step back and look at where you’ve been. Review your reports and identify the types of content that seemed to resonate with your audience.
What Resonates?
Does your audience consistently download your ebooks or share your infographics? How can you both create more of those AND repurpose your “hot” content? Can you turn that ebook into an infographic and the infographic into an ebook? What about creating a series of blog posts or a video from the material?
Different types of content – video, blogs and white papers can all attract different types of learners. The visual types like the videos, pictures and infographics while the readers like text based content. When you’re looking at your content, do you see a pattern? What gets shared, commented on or downloaded the most?
Here are three ideas to keep in mind as you develop your 2015 content marketing strategy:
Measure— Do you want more conversions on a specific landing page? Then plan content that will drive people to that landing page
Mix It Up! Ideally, you content will have a mix of visual and written to reach different types of learners.
Rinse and Repeat –Do you have a system for repeating your “wins” or are you still struggling to figure it out?
For example, if you’re in the beginning stages of a content marketing strategy and implementing your plan then you may still have a lot of questions.
Questions like, “How do we get more engagement?” may require an honest assessment of your social media and SEO strategies to see if they’re aligned with your content marketing and with your buyer. It may be time to return to your buyer personas for some answers.
Who Is Your Audience?
What are their pain points? What questions do they have? One of the exercises I often do in my social media training sessions is what I call the 5 x 5.
Break it Down
The 5 x 5 is an exercise where you answer 5 of your most frequently asked questions through your content. Answer them in five videos or five blog posts or and ebook (or all of the above!) It might make sense to put together a checklist or a quiz. Try out multiple ways.
Next, answer the 5 questions you WISH your prospects would ask.
There you are, 10 pieces of content. You’re welcome.
Ultimately, you’ll review your content’s performance, review the metrics and tweak. You might tweak the type of content or the distribution method. For example, if your YouTube channel gets tons of views but no sales then you need to evaluate. Are the videos embedded on the site with a strong call to action or are people watching them on YouTube and then going on to their next thing in life? If your blog posts get shared who is sharing them and where? And how do you track the people who return to your site and turn into a lead?
If you don’t have all the answers to these questions today that’s ok.
You have to get started somewhere.
If you keep showing up and put out quality materials that are aimed at your audience, you’re going to get noticed.
What’s your biggest content marketing strategy question? I’d love to hear it in the comments below.
