In the last article, we have shown you the benefits of including content marketing in your marketing strategy. The numbers show us content marketing represents an inbound marketing strategy that can constantly generate notable results. To get the results you want, you need to build your content strategy carefully. Check below the first things you should know when starting a content marketing strategy.
Starting a content marketing strategy. Why is it important?
Content marketing represents a complex process consisting of well-structured steps to follow to achieve your objectives. According to Investopedia , one of the main reasons why a start-up fails to reach the maturity threshold in business is represented by the lack of a well-structured strategy and business plan.
This affirmation is strengthened by Neil Patel, one of the most influential people in the digital marketing area. According to him, even though most people use content marketing as a primary strategy, only 9% of marketers from B2B believe that their company’s business is effective in terms of content marketing.
As I said, the content strategy helps you to achieve long-term results. When you notice the results late to appear, it means that something is not all-right or, as Neil Patel says: “You do not have a content strategy at all”.
What you should take into account when starting a content marketing strategy
Make your mission and objectives clear
According to OptimMonster, the first thing you should establish for your content strategy is the mission and purposes. The mission represents your company’s general goal, while the purposes represent the steps you fulfill that goal.
Defining the mission of your organization is a crucial issue to consider. To identify this common element for any brand, let’s take the example of their mission statements from totally different brands as a field of activity, namely Amazon and Nike.
For Nike, the brand mission is highlighted by the next affirmation: “Do everything possible to expand human potential”, and for Amazon, the mission sounds like this: “We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience”.
This corporate mission promises attractive e-commerce services to satisfy target customers’ needs. These two statements have in common that both put in the center of their business mentality, the customer and his needs. When you are starting or develop a content marketing strategy, every solution you came with must represent a real solution for the customer’s problems.
Maybe one of the main problems of the content strategy that marketers do is that they make that piece of content subjectively relating to how they want their message to look.
Identify the company values
Each company has its values that will materialize after in the way that will carry out the activity. At DMBC, two of our core values are empathy and professionalism.
What we are committed to doing, based on these values, is always to offer our customers a finished product obtained from a careful research process that respects each client’s culture and tone of voice.
A well-structured activities calendar
Any content strategy has a list of clear objectives that must be achieved simultaneously or at a time. An activities calendar helps you not lose sight of your proposed goals, helps you have coherent communication, and focuses on company growth.
For example, if we talk about the launch of a new company, the first objective which must be achieved is represented by the popularization of these brands. After the brand gets to be known by a critical mass of people, they start the loyalty actions and further the conversions ones.
You can find here more details about how it should look, the content that generates sales, and what criteria people use to make decisions online.
Build your company Buyer Persona
According to Hubspot, Buyer Persona represents an illustration of the ideal client. This reflection is based on in-depth research and on the data you gathered about your client until then. This applies to any form of marketing.
Talking about email marketing, most marketing agencies use email marketing as a method to promote their products or services. When you have a personalized email, the chances of being open increase.
According to Insta Page, 82% of marketers reported an increase in open rates through email personalization after personalization of email depending on the buyer persona of every customer.
How many forms of content marketing are there?
About this question, all we can say is that: “Sky is the limit.” Content marketing dresses many faces. To discover the most rentable form of content marketing for you and your business, you, first of all, must clarify your objectives very well. That is why we show you the content marketing forms you can implement and how they can be applied to your business.
Content Video
According to Hubspot , content video has become one of the most used contents marketing forms. One of the objectives you can achieve with content video is conversion. According to EyeWideDigital, videos on the landing page can increase your conversion rate by 80%.
The main purpose of the content video through marketing will be to generate results for your business. These results will be measured by the acquisition people will do on your site. After all, you invest a certain amount of money to get better results than the money you invest.
One of our projects in the video area is creating a YouTube channel in the form of a digital magazine. The goal that the client proposed to us was to grow the online community of people who opt for a sustainable lifestyle, which, more precisely, is to learn how to recycle burnt light bulbs.
Our solution was to create a playlist for each communication goal we set ourselves and to use storytelling to illustrate the messages we set out to convey. The result is that we have managed to grow the online community and create awareness about the cause supported by the customer. This type of content is very suitable to achieve awareness and loyalty goals.
Blogging
Another widely used form of content marketing is blogging. It has become a real trend in the world of marketing. According to HubSpot, blog posts remain the most effective form of content. Currently, blogs are in the top 3 most used business strategies.
It is good to involve the blog in your content strategy. It allows the measurement of the obtained results and does not require a very high material cost. HuffPost claims that blogging is a great way to express yourself as you are. Thus, through blogging, a goal that you will be able to achieve is to connect with your audience.
Through the blog, you will show your users that they play a central role in your marketing. And the list of benefits does not end here. Once you have a well-developed blog, this will drive more traffic to your site. That will be the moment when your users will become aware of the value of your brand. But also the moment when you will materialize this perception in the purchase of your goods and services.
Podcasting
This type of content is suitable for achieving awareness goals.
Podcasting is one of the most powerful content marketing tactics in the business environment. According to Kapost , 32% of marketers desire to learn how to make a podcast, while 23% plan to focus even more on podcasting. Forbes claims that one of the main purposes of the podcast is to bring about a positive change in the way your brand is perceived by the audience.
Within DMBC we created our podcast that can be watched both on YouTube and podcasting channels: Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast. We set ourselves with this media product to create awareness for the DMBC brand. Buț we also draw attention to the importance of content marketing in a broader marketing strategy.
The results we obtained were far beyond expectations. In addition to awareness, we also obtained leads from potential customers who listened to us and understood that they needed a content marketing strategy.
Branded magazines
This type of content is suitable for achieving awareness, loyalty, and even conversion goals. Keep in mind when creating a branded magazine – the message is NOT purely commercial. The content generated through a brand magazine emphasizes the needs of consumers and offers value, being very different from strictly commercial messages. This is a tactic by which a brand extends the consumer experience beyond the store from which it buys its products or from the moment it uses the latter.
This type of media product is already trendy abroad; brands such as Benetton, NET-A-PORTER, or Red Bull already having a history in producing and distributing their magazines. For example, Benetton launched its own COLORS Magazine in 1991, followed by Red Bull which launched the RED BULLETIN in 2005. Online retailer NET-A-PORTER owns PORTER magazine, established in 2014, while its competitor ASOS owns the RED BULLETIN magazine homonymous name since 2007.
Objective and quality content generates loyalty from consumers and the outstanding balance between valuable and commercial speeds up the purchasing decision. Why? Customers feel free to decide. For example, a travel bag company decided to create its magazine after noticing that more and more customers called the call center for travel advice. Thus, he realized that what is essential for them to happens after they buy the product, which is a perfect opportunity to generate brand engagement.
This trend is also taking place in Romania, so we talked to one of our scientists in the Beauty industry about how they decided to create a brand magazine with us. We also asked them what role it has in their marketing strategy and what results they have achieved so far. The talk is fully available in audio format on the D-PODCAST. We also talked there about the marketing decisions that the company made during the pandemic and about its plans.
Conclusions
In conclusion, with the accelerated digitization and the almost complete transition to the online environment, brands are no longer enough to communicate only through traditional media. Because customers want the information here and now, so there is a need to communicate almost instantly. We fulfill this need through what we cal owned media or branded media. More specific: brand podcasts, brand magazines (online or printed), blogs, articles, or the brands’ own YouTube channel/s.
If you want to know more details about what the content strategy might look like for your business or how you can improve the existing one, send us a message.
Things you should also have in mind when starting a content marketing strategy:
–Content marketing guide. Everything you need to know;
–Common mistakes in content marketing. 5 things you should avoid;
–Key performance indicators to track in a content marketing strategy