Having a content strategy means you’ll achieve better results from your content marketing efforts. It’s just that simple.
Today we’re chatting about what content strategy is, why you need it, and how to get started—even if you’re not an experienced marketer.
TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
[00:55] The First Step in Content Marketing
[02:12] What is Content Strategy?
[06:01] Should You Include Social Media in Your Strategy?
[07:04] Why Do You Need Content Strategy?
[08:02] Reasons Why Content Strategy is Important
[11:44] An Example of How Content Strategy Helps
[13:20] How to Get Started with Your Own Strategy
[15:41] Summing it Up
[17:27] Bloopers
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Xtensio’s free content strategy template
Ubersuggest
Guide to using Ubersuggest
The First Step in Content Marketing
[Meghan] We’ve been talking about content a lot, and that’s because so much of online marketing is content marketing. If you’re in the digital space, you’re going to need content.
And, the first step in content marketing is content strategy.
[Theresa] Strategy is a good beginning step. I’m always talking about planning and goal setting, and there’s a reason why! It’s because these basic things form a solid foundation that gets you moving in the right direction.
[Meghan] I think a lot of business owners bypass the basics. I know I have!
Sometimes those foundational steps are boring or they feel super complicated. You can certainly patch together your marketing. But studies show that marketers who plan get better results.
[Theresa] And there you have it! Proof again that planning pays off! Incidentally, that’s no surprise to me.
[Meghan] No kidding! You’re the ultimate planner. Planning is your thing!
I most definitely prefer a plan. And that’s probably why I like strategy so much.
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What is Content Strategy?
[Meghan] After all, content strategy is a documented plan for the content that you’re going to publish online to achieve your business objectives and goals. It is the who, what, why, and how of your content.
At least, that’s how I look at content strategy. It’s like that old saying goes…if you put 100 marketers in a room, you’d get 100 different answers.
[Theresa] Yeah, I can see how marketers have their own way of approaching content strategy. It probably depends on experience, industry, B2B vs B2C, and other factors.
[Meghan] Now that you mention it, there are a lot of factors and variables at play.
Content strategy ranges from the very simple to the very complex. But its main purpose is to guide your content efforts so that you’re creating and publishing content that meets the needs of your customers as well as your business goals.
What is Covered in a Content Strategy?
Examples of what is sometimes covered in content strategy:
- Audit – assessment of current performance
- Content goals – identification of future performance
- Content types – what format to use
- Keywords and SEO guidance – guidance for improved search performance
- Competitive analysis – comparison with the competition
- Content distribution – how to get more eyeballs on your content
- Social media – how to incorporate social platforms into the plan
- Content calendar – specific content topics with goals and dates
[Theresa] A content strategy really does a great job of answering that question we all have: “what content should I create to attract more leads and sell more stuff?”
Of course, it’s much more than that. It entails more insight, knowledge, and research.
But having a strategy for your content really does guide your work in a purposeful way. It’s effective and efficient, which I absolutely love!
[Meghan] Right?! Content strategy is a snoozefest for most people. But when you think about having a plan to follow for your content, it provides peace of mind that you are:
- not wasting time on frivolous efforts;
- spending time effectively to build a profitable business;
- organized so that you wake up each day knowing what to do when it comes to content creation.
The way I approach content strategy is like a mini business plan. My angle is lead generation, SEO, and influence. And, I prefer to focus on one main asset, like a blog.
I like to start with a blog content strategy as the main asset and work from there.
A blog is the perfect starting place for video, audio, and social content.
[Theresa] In other words, blog content can be repurposed into other formats like videos, audio, and social media posts. So, all of us can create blog posts and turn them into content for other platforms.
I’ve done this with my blog at TheresaCifali.com. It’s an especially smart, effective way to go about content marketing when you don’t have a big team but you want to reach audiences on multiple platforms.
[Meghan] Exactly! You can turn audio and video into blog content, but in my experience, starting with blog content yields better results.
Should You Include Social Media in Your Content Strategy?
[Theresa] Okay, so what about social media content strategy?
[Meghan] Personally, I keep social media separate. I view social media content as a subset of a main asset content – like a blog, vlog, podcast. So I suggest a separate content strategy for social media. Otherwise, things get complicated and overwhelming fast.
[Theresa] Good point. Separating these strategies keeps things manageable. So, focus on creating a content strategy for one main asset, like a blog, vlog, or podcast. Then move on to creating a strategy for your social media content.
Tackling tasks like these in smaller chunks and one-at-a-time means you’ll avoid overwhelm and make progress.
[Meghan] Yep! Small steps. You want to make it as easy as possible on yourself.
By the way, I have a few tips for making content strategy easier, so hold out for the end of the episode!
Why Do You Need Content Strategy?
[Theresa] Okay, so we know what content strategy is, but maybe it’s not obvious why you need it or why it’s so important to your success. So, let’s talk about that some.
[Meghan] A content strategy connects the dots between your content, business goals, and your customers’ needs.
That is to say, the content you produce needs to coincide with the products and services you offer while also appealing to your target market. You really need to align all of these three things for your content to be successful, to be profitable.
And that’s why you need content strategy. It makes the puzzle pieces fit together.
[Theresa] That is the beauty of strategy. You can finally see the bigger picture of your business on one side, the customer on the other side, and the content that bridges the gap between the two.
[Meghan] And that’s why content strategy is key. It’s about the bigger picture and making all of the pieces fit together to form that picture.
So, I’m going to run down a list of reasons why content strategy is important to your success.
Reasons Why Content Strategy is Important
1. Keeps you on track with a plan
First off, content strategy keeps you on track with a plan. A roadmap makes your content creation efforts easier, better planned, and more effective, which means you’ll be more likely to carry out your work since you’ll know what you’re doing and why.
You’ll avoid wasting time, and we know I love that!
[Theresa] You know that feeling when you sit down to create content but you don’t know what to create? Well, having a plan makes all the difference to your productivity and effectiveness. This is a HUGE benefit of strategizing your content.
Plus, content marketing requires consistency. And having a plan will make consistent publishing much easier and more achievable.
2. Increases your chances of your prospective customers finding you
[Meghan] During the process of creating a content strategy, you’ll discover what your ideal customers are looking for online. You’ll learn about their behavior and your competition so that you can determine your prospects’ preferences and needs.
That means you gain the insight to create the kind of content that your target market wants. In turn, you’ll generate more targeted leads and attract more targeted visitors to your website.
And that’s another reason why content strategy is important. You increase your chances of your prospective customers finding you.
[Theresa] One of the best reasons to publish content is to attract new leads and increase your visibility. But you’ve got to be purposeful and strategic. Your content should catch the eye of those folks who are interested in your topics and therefore are good potential customers.
3. Improves your conversion rate
[Meghan] Another reason you need content strategy is to improve your conversion rate. If you’re not publishing effective content that leads people to your offers, then you’re missing an opportunity.
Strategy makes it easier to understand your customers’ desires and align those with your content and your products and services. If you miss this step, there will be a big gap between your content and your offers.
Website visitors and potential leads won’t make the connection between your content and what it is that you do. Or how it is that you help solve their problems. And that means they won’t buy.
[Theresa] This is a big reason! You’ve got to lead your prospects to the solutions they need and the offers that you have. Content strategy does this for you.
4. Raises your influence and authority
[Meghan] Another reason content strategy is important is that it helps you focus on the content that highlights your expertise. It helps you understand the topics and themes that will build you up as an authority in the eyes of newcomers, prospects, and existing customers.
This is super important because people buy based on emotion and they use logic to back up their emotional decisions.
[Theresa] So, you actually appeal to people both on emotion and logic when you’re publishing the right content. And that will help you generate more leads and sales.
5. Helps you compete in search
[Meghan] Finally, content strategy is important because it helps you compete in search. Knowing the keyword phrases to focus on and who’s ranking for those keyword phrases will help you outperform your competition and improve your visibility in search.
Content strategy can include a website audit. This shows you how well your website is doing, how you’re performing in relation to your competitors, and areas of improvement for SEO. Fixing site errors and site structure may seem small, but it can give you a boost in search!
[Theresa] Like Meghan had said before, content marketing is synonymous with search engine optimization. So, you want to take advantage of well formed, strategic content to improve your search ranking. That’s another one of the big perks with content marketing.
An Example of How Content Strategy Helps
[Meghan] Let me give you a real-life example of all of this in action. Let’s say you’re a business coach who helps women re-enter the job market after raising a few kids.
If you publish a blog post about green smoothies, you’ll be attracting anyone interested in green smoothies. And, those people likely want help with losing weight or eating healthier, not with re-entering the job market.
At least, most people won’t immediately see an obvious connection between green smoothies and job hunting. And there’s the gap between your content and your services.
You’ll have a hard time getting people who read that post to turn into a lead because:
1) they aren’t your target market;
2) the content isn’t helpful in highlighting your expertise; and,
3) there is no correlation between the topic (green smoothies) and your services.
[Theresa] That’s not to say that some of your target market wouldn’t be interested in green smoothies. But it’s too broad of a topic. It doesn’t do a good job of weeding out the wrong people and attracting the right people to you.
Content strategy focuses you on the right content efforts to ensure you’re not wasting your time or attracting the wrong leads. And that’s why you need it.
How to Get Started with Your Own Content Strategy
[Meghan] Hopefully, we’ve convinced you that having a content strategy is worthwhile. And if we have, then here are a few tips for how you can get started creating your own content strategy.
Mind you, a typical strategy takes me about 40 hours to complete. There’s a lot of research involved, and I go really in depth. However, you can create a content strategy that’s more high level and that takes a couple of hours to complete.
[Theresa] I will add that even though you don’t have Meghan’s expertise and you’re not going to be as thorough, a high level content strategy is still valuable. You’ll learn a lot and be able to apply that to whatever content you’re creating or thinking about creating.
[Meghan] I can’t teach you everything you need to know in this episode, but I can point you in a direction that will give you the framework that you can use to guide your content moving forward.
Xtensio
I found this awesome online app called Xtensio. It has a generic content strategy template that’s free – no email address needed. And Xtensio offers guidance in filling out the template sections as well as resources for more information. They’ve simplified developing your own content strategy—even if you’ve never done it before. So definitely check out Xtensio’s free template.
Ubersuggest
And, one free tool that you can use for keyword and SEO help is Ubersuggest. Ubersuggest lets you analyze one project or one website for free. So, put your domain in and check out the results.
You’ll learn how your site is performing, what keywords you rank for, and what needs improvement. Ubersuggest helps you assess your website’s current state and how effective your content is or isn’t. You can also put keyword phrases into Ubersuggest to get content ideas.
But, if you’re unfamiliar with SEO, this may look like gobbledygook to you. I’ll link to a guide on using Ubersuggest in the Show Notes, and that may really help. However, if it’s too overwhelming, stick with the Xtensio template, okay?
[Theresa] Sounds good!
Content Strategy: Summing it Up
[Meghan] Okay, that was a lot of info. So, let me sum it up.
Content strategy is a plan that aligns your business goals, customer wants, and content so that you’re optimizing your content for maximum lead generation, search engine visibility, and profitability. In a nutshell, you’ll have better content, better leads, and better results with a strategy in place. And, you’ll know what content you’re creating and why.
[Theresa] That’s a great way to put it, Meghan! I’ll add that your strategy is fluid. This isn’t a “one and done” effort. It changes as your business and goals change or if you figure out you’re not getting the results you want.
You’ll need to revisit your strategy every three to six months. So, put it on your calendar to be sure you’re assessing your progress.
[Meghan] Exactly! As my dad says, “what isn’t inspected, isn’t respected.” In this context, that means you need to keep analyzing your marketing if you expect to be at the top of your game and improving your results.
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