Content Marketing takes experience and a refined approach to get results. It requires synchronization with the marketing team and awareness of the latest techniques. However, your awareness about technology, persona, and marketing skills do play an important role.
Content marketing was never easy, and remote work has added more woes to the already grim field. Sales managers require new strategies to handle a dynamic shift. Moreover, marketers also need to apply their minds to handle potential customers.
The start point for a content marketing strategy is getting the basics right. Those who are new to the game must adopt a systematic approach and aim for audience attention. However, content marketing is a long-term engagement that requires constant efforts and re-evaluation. It also requires out-of-the-box but clear thinking to get customers onboard.
In this article, we will give you ten proven tips that work for choosing the right content marketing strategy, that we’ve implemented on countless campaigns for Clients at RankJacker SEO.
1. Look for the Correct Customers
Content marketing strategy must begin with knowing your customers. Unless you know your target audience all efforts will be futile. Finding the right customers is not only critical but difficult as well. The best way is to think from your customer’s point of view.
A little research on demographic profiles, target areas, and gender profiling will be a good starting point. The right strategy is understanding your customers and how you will solve their problems. Reach out to various communities by sharing relevant and reliable content. The more you reach out, the better your chances are to convert leads into customers.
Quick Tips
- Creating a buyer’s persona will help find the target audience
- Look for the best platforms to find your audiences
- Be the voice and passion of your customers
- Be consistent in your creativity and content
2. Find Your Customers Journey Map.
Once you are sure your customers find out the route they will take you to find you. If you were the only good Samaritan in the game it would have been easy, but your competitors are trying their best to woo your clients. Your content must be able to guide your customers to you at every stage of interest, awareness, want, and purchase.
A customer’s journey will help you to use all your enabling tools to get them to your doorstep. A good alignment will formulate a great content marketing strategy.
Quick Tips
- Mark a journey route of your customer
- Understand what your potential customer is looking for
- Align your marketing strategy with your customer’s requirement
3. Have a Clear Branding
Your brand not only defines you as a business entity but is also the voice of your customers. Your branding must be specific. Moreover, your content marketing strategy must focus on the objective set by you or your company. Success may take time, so be consistent and persistent.
Your marketing strategy should be well researched and in sync with your brand value. More than the sales, efforts must be made to build your brand value.
Quick Tips
- The brand value should be a synonym for your customers
- The target set should be achievable
- Interaction with customers is critical for successful content marketing
4. Have Clear Business Goals
Align your content marketing strategy with your business goals. In addition, your company’s KPI must also be in sync with your marketing strategy. Your plan will work only if you are sure about your business goals and your team members are ready to take on the challenges.
Set clear but achievable goals. If required, do a brainstorming session with team members and make out a doable content marketing strategy. All ideas may not hit the bull's eye. If required change the strategy or have inbuilt flexibility while planning.
Quick Tips
- Evaluate how many lead conversions are practical for your business goal
- The target must not be impractical or too ambitious
- Set up KPIs to measure your success
- Evaluate your performance after each campaign
5. Content is King
All content marketing strategies are based on content creation. Dull content is the poison for failure. In other words, only great, relevant, and interesting content will help your sales. Moreover, the content must be feeding the needs and interests of your target audiences.
Content must be made in simple and conversational language. Content must be crisp, sharp, and compelling for your audiences. In addition, keep your content up to date and be consistent in publishing. After every content, your audiences should look for more and feed them at regular intervals.
Quick Tips
- Research on hot topics that are trending
- Look for articles that have good viewership and engagement
- Don’t make content that is confusing or does not relate to your customers
- If need be, give a platform to your customers to share their views and creativity
6. Explore the Power of Social Media
Social media is a powerful engagement tool and works well for content marketing strategy. Good content on social media handles ensures engagement and increases your brand following. When used proactively these leads are good to become potential clients.
Social media is also a great tool for publicity. People not only visit your site regularly but also promote your content through their social network. However, timing and content quality play a pivotal role in social media platforms. In addition, be careful when selecting digital channels which should be relevant to your niche and brand.
Quick Tips
- Be consistent while posting content on social media
- Content must be suitable for the platform, when posting for various channels modify your content accordingly.
- Understand your audience and post content that engages them
- Podcasting can also be effective for certain channels
7. Research is Critical
The only way to have engaging content is by doing your research well. It has been proven that without research no content works. Lookout for trending topics and engagement metrics. Content must be original and unique. In addition, your content should be engaging and different from others.
Use technology to find trending topics and keywords that are prevalent. Keep a tag on tweets and social media platforms about buzz feed. Keeping track of hot topics will help generate new ideas.
Quick Tips
- Find out hot topics that are trending
- Keep a track of articles that have good viewership and engagement
- Take a clue from success metrics and pitfalls
- Give preference to new ideas and have a dedicated research team for creativity
8. Choose your Competitors Wisely
There will always be competition around no matter what niche you have chosen. The first step is to identify your competitors and aim to overtake them. Keep a track of your rivals and study their content, frequency, and engagement metrics.
The next step is to have a strategy in place to lead the pack. Remember a healthy competition works well with an audience, but a cut-throat attitude may pull you back. There is always something to learn from everyone.
Quick Tips
- Research your competitor and his content
- Set a time plan and roadmap to outshine your competitor
- Brainstorm ideas and ways to move ahead in the game
- A better way to move ahead is to create a win-win situation for both parties
9. Evaluate your Performance
Working with dedication may be futile if you don’t evaluate your efforts. Efforts should always be in the right direction and that is where performance evaluation becomes critical. You have to analyze and review impressions, and metrics and look for interim solutions.
Have a system in place to have a daily count of visitors and lead generation. See the graph of conversion rate and analyze what works and what doesn't. Use technology aids like Google Analytics, SEMrush, and other similar tools.
Quick Tips
- Have a time plan in place to check your performance post campaign
- Your Content marketing strategy must have an inbuilt evaluation system
- Make flexible plans for mid-course correction
- The use of analytical tools helps in having a clear picture of your performance.
10. Adopt an Aggressive Marketing Strategy
Aggressive marketing means having a proactive approach. Technology is changing every day and one must keep pace to stay in the competition. Content marketing is more than just content creation, the ultimate aim is to generate sales.
The best way is to get into the hearts and minds of your customers. Lead them to your product and ensure they stay with you. Post sales more than the marketing skills, product quality and after-sales services will matter.
Quick Tips
- Have a proactive marketing strategy that looks ahead and plans in advance
- Place CTAs at every stage for lead generation
- Do not neglect after-sales services
Conclusion
Choosing the right content marketing strategy is a proven way to generate sales. It requires getting into the mind of your customer and leading them to your platform and quality services.
We are confident these ten tips will help you muster the right strategy and increase your sales. Do let us know if these strategies work and if you have more ideas that work, please share in the comments section.