This is a blog by Mark Verzijl, Consultant at Sciential.
I often recommend 5 simple steps for companies to set up their content marketing strategy.
1. ๐
๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐.
Find out who is your ideal client, who makes decisions in these organizations, who influence decision-makers and what topics they are interested in. Knowing your audience enables you to add value to them. Added value is most likely the only reason for them to follow you, relevancy = king.
2. ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฒ
When you know your audience, first set up targets. This could be in terms of followers, views, website traffic or leads. Then set out a route to reach these targets. Define the topics that you want to incorporate, through which channels and at which moments. Then, create a funnel to get them there.
3. ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ
Mapping out your posts is the first step in consistent posting. Just as discussed in the webinar, reserve time to produce content and schedule this with an automation tool. This is a one-time effort (or at least, one time per month or quarter) to put yourself in the driver's seat. Spend the rest of your time on audience interaction
4. ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Depending on the size of your company, a dedicated person or team should be in the lead of content marketing. However, at the end of the day, it should be a team effort. Make sure that as many colleagues as possible engage with the content. After all, everyone has their own network which enables you to expand the reach of your content exponentially.
5. ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ
At the end of the day, this should be an ongoing process. Stay in touch with your audience, know what topics stem their interest and stay current. Again, content marketing only works when you add value to the professional lives of your audience and therefore, you really need to know whatโs in their heads.
