Whether you’ve been working to a content plan throughout 2020 or are thinking about content for the first time for 2021, a clearly defined strategy is crucial. 

Content is perhaps the most powerful marketing tool for businesses of all shapes and sizes, and will become increasingly important over the coming 12 months with Google giving more weighting to quality content when it comes to ranking.

It is also the most effective way to engage customers, foster genuine relationships and build trust. For these reasons, marketers must realise that content is marketing and is no longer optional.

Where one-sided conversations previously existed between brands and their customers, content marketing has now opened up a dialogue between both sides, making brands less one-dimensional and more interactive.

Whether your brand is prepared to spend more time on a content strategy or not will determine its success in capturing the attention of consumers and driving engagement and loyalty.

Here are some key things to consider when mapping out your strategy…

Strategies tailored to content marketing goals

Content cannot exist in the same state across every platform and for every purpose. It should be tailored to meet a specific goal which could be anything from driving engagement, inspiring a sale, attracting new customers or simply entertaining readers. 

Without a pre-prepared strategy which has identified the current and potential capabilities of each marketing channel, content planning will be ineffective and will fail to meet objectives.

Messaging across each channel should be carefully aligned with the audience, their preference and the desired outcome of their interaction.

For example, social media may aim to drive engagement which inspires brand loyalty and to build a following.

On-site content, on the other hand, may aim to provide further information on products or services in order to drive sales or improve an organic search capability.

Different approaches for different departments

Content has a plethora of uses for business, which can range from customer engagement to communicating with employees.

For each of these different stakeholder groups, a business will need to tailor their tone of voice and communication method to ensure relevance.

For example, customer communications will usually be created to drive an action such as a sale or connecting on social media, whereas employee or recruitment content will be more aligned with communicating the benefits of working for the business or ensuring that processes are understood.

Distribution is key

A content strategy needs to not only consider tone of voice but also how it will be communicated to its intended audience.

In order to distribute content effectively, a brand/business should conduct in-depth research to understand the platforms where each stakeholder group spends their time and where they would prefer to communicate and interact.

Using this information, a distribution plan can be created which aligns the optimal times to send an email or publish a post on a social media channel. With this information, you can ensure you extract maximum value from the content you create.  

When considering your content strategy, it should include a detailed plan of how each piece of content will be constructed, the tone of voice, timings of distribution and where it will be used.

Through this precise consideration, you can better ensure that your content engages with your chosen audiences and yields the optimum results in order to meet your marketing and wider business objectives.

If you would like a free consultation on developing a content strategy, contact a member of the team below.