Content Strategy: It’s Not an Option for Your Business

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it should come as no surprise that unique and engaging content is the goldmine of today’s business world.  Having a content strategy is critical to a successful digital marketing plan – and overall business plan. Yes, the pandemic changed the way many of us do business, but it was only a matter of time before all of our target audiences became dependent on the internet for….everything!  If you’re not making the most of your business’ online presence, you are paving a clear and clean path for your competitors. 

Having a content strategy means developing a process of creating and managing content that has context or a purpose. Businesses need a content strategy to drive growth and increase revenue while at the same time helping companies to understand their customers better. When developed and executed correctly, a content strategy allows your business to focus its content marketing efforts on the most effective channels with the most effective messaging.

Yes, content is at the forefront of all forms of online marketing efforts, but that content should be unique and speak directly to your target audience. It is important to pay close attention to developing effective strategies for leveraging content to boost brand visibility, save money, time and drive traffic to your product or services. Some key areas that should be considered when developing a content strategy:

1. Identifying and understanding your target audience

One of the first steps in developing a successful content strategy is identifying and understanding your target audience. It involves gaining a deep understanding of who they are, what are their needs and wants. Once you have a firm grasp of your target audience, you can begin developing content specifically tailored to them. Not all content will appeal equally to all audiences, so it is important to segment your content accordingly.

In developing an effective content strategy for your business, it might help to work with a team of experienced marketing professionals who can help you create the most effective and engaging content for your target audience.

2. Creating engaging and compelling content

Another key element of a successful content strategy is creating high-quality, engaging content that truly speaks to your audience. Write with your audience in mind. Know who you are trying to reach with your content and what interests them. Channel your content to answer those questions they are having. Pay attention to your audience’s search intent. With these vital components in mind, it becomes easier to write and tailor your content accordingly using a mix of multimedia content, blogs, infographics, videos and more.

3. Optimizing your content for search engines

Optimizing your content for keyword research on search engines is a crucial part of your content strategy plan.  Achieving this requires identifying the keywords your target audience is looking for and then creating content based on these keywords. Consider using SEO tools such as Google Search Console, SEMrush or other alternatives to help you identify the most relevant keywords and phrases. Another important tip to keep in mind is always to ensure the keyword or phrase are used in your title, headings, and image alt text as these are the elements that search engines look at when determining how well your content will rank.

4. Use the right social media platforms to promote your content

Promoting your content is essential to driving traffic and generating leads. You can reach a wider audience, build relationships with potential customers and drive traffic back to your website or blog by leveraging social media platforms. Before you start promoting your content, it's necessary to take some time to research which social media platforms your target audience is using.

You can optimize your posts with hashtags and other features to engage and encourage interaction with other users.  If you are able to tag another in your post – only if it makes sense – the wider you cast your net.  Social media ads can also be used to promote your content to a broader audience, helping you target specific demographics, interests and even locations.

Social media is a great data gatherer.  You can monitor your activity and results by tracking how many people are clicking on your links and how much traffic you're driving back to your website. This will help fine-tune your content strategy and ensure that you're getting the most out of it.

Conclusion

A successful content strategy will produce results.  But, you have to do the work.  Remember, consumers drive market, so your content needs to speak to your target audience.  Whether you are launching a new product or service or starting a new business, you have to truly understand the wants and needs of your prospective clients.  Building a content strategy around what THEY want and not what you think they want, will give you a giant step toward a successful content marketing plan.

Not sure how to create a content strategy?  Contact the experienced team at SK Consulting today!

Increasing ROI with Refreshed, Refurbished Content

 Any successful business owner knows that high-quality content is vital to any marketing plan.  And any seasoned marketing professional knows this original content is essential to a successful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.  Sometimes it’s hard to create content and once you do, it is often published and forgotten about, growing stale and outdated. 

Just like with plastics, glass and metal, recycling is a good thing.  Refreshing an
d updating content allows you to work smarter rather than harder.  With a bit of planning, you can revamp, repurpose and refurbish your content to bring you more traffic and a higher return on investment (ROI).

1. Update Current Content Regularly

The older a blog post or article, the more page authority it can build on the search engine results page (SERP).  That’s great, but you don’t want to drive traffic to information that’s outdated or no longer accurate.

Make a plan to revisit your content every six months to a year and regularly update your current content. During this process, you can check that all links are still working, all data is still accurate, and all facts are still relevant and up to date. In some cases, you may just have to make a few tweaks to statistics.  In others, you may need to add a new intro, summary or just a paragraph to provide updates.  This is much better than having to start from scratch!

2. Create useful downloads and templates.

Everyone understands that blogs are a great source of content and a great way to increase your SEO.  But you shouldn’t limit yourself to only publishing written blogs and articles. 

Explore additional content types such as downloads, infographics and templates that are relevant to your audience and to the written content you provide. If you sell skin care products, for example, you could create a branded checklist of how to care for your skin or obtain video testimonials from customers that are willing to share their positive results.

3. Tease content through videos.

Think about what grabs your attention more.  If you see a post leading with a graphic or video, are you more likely to click on it than if you just see text?  You’re not alone!  Videos help grab our attention and can add context to topics, particularly for highly technical or how-to type pieces. 

Teaser videos can serve as a preview that entices your audience to click through and read the post that you’re promoting. Reuse the teaser video in your email marketing, on your website and via social media.  In today’s age, you don’t need a professional videographer.  Save money and do it yourself or hire an intern using budget-friendly platforms like Adobe Spark or WeVideo. 

4. Consider Offering “Locked” Content

Asking for an email before someone can download your whitepaper, webinar or how-to piece has been called into question by some.  However, when these readers enter their email address for access, they are giving you permission to add them to your email list (provided they check the opt-in box you will put on the sign in form).  This gives you a great opportunity for follow-up, targeted marketing. 

This process is known as gating.  Gating content means the piece is “locked” and requires someone’s contact info to unlock it, such as their phone number and name or their email address.  If you choose this route, it is recommended to create a unique landing page for the content you are locking.  Promoting the unique URL will improve the click thru rates and will boost downloads.

5. Promote new content through digital advertising

Creating online ads is another great way to boost your ROI using your content. Got exclusive data from a recent survey? Planning a webinar on a hot-button industry topic? Share that information directly to your target audience.  Yes, there is a cost.  But it’s called ROI for a reason.  If done right, you will see a positive return on your investment.

It’s important to research where your target audience gets their information before you agree to a spend.  For instance, a tattoo parlor will probably get a better return using Instagram or Facebook than LinkedIn.  But a medical device company who wants to grab the attention of physicians and buying agents will probably do better utilizing LinkedIn ads. But, again, make sure you understand where your target audience obtains their information and that the cost of the ad is worth your investment.

6. Create a newsletter that features your content.

If you don’t have a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter yet – start one today.  These email missives can be used to share your latest blog, news from your organization or an original thought piece.

Along with optimizing your content and promoting it via organic social media posts, an email newsletter is a great way to get your content marketing more exposure. It meets people where they already are and gives you an opportunity to drive more traffic to your website while keeping your brand top of mind on a regular basis.

Just make sure your newsletter is less than the equivalent of 2 pages long.  Nobody wants to read an entire book in an email.

Summary

When it comes to content, it’s about quality and quantity. But you don’t have to have a large team of writers to pull off a content marketing plan that brings in good results. 

As long as you make sure that what you publish is up to date and accurate, well-executed and promoted properly you can improve your search engine ranks.  If done correctly, your refreshed content can help save you time and money while delivering fantastic results. 

Need help creating a content recycling plan?  Contact us today!

Content Strategy, Content Marketing. What’s the Difference?

Content strategy and content marketing are often confused and treated as interchangeable words. But, they’re actually two very different things. 

To give you a visual – think of content marketing as a pie and content strategy as the plate on which it is set.  Tasty, but the difference goes deeper.

What is Content Marketing?

Think of content marketing as one aspect of your complete content strategy. It is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Typically, the content used for content marketing guides individuals through the sales funnel.  It serves to attract customers and build meaningful relationships with them. 

That includes content in the form of:

• Blog posts
• Case studies
• Social media posts
• eBooks
• Whitepapers
• Landing page copy
• Email marketing copy

All of these content types help to form the foundation of a content strategy. 

What is Content Strategy?

Content strategy refers to the overarching plan you have for every piece of content related to your business. Content strategy concerns itself with the vision—the ins and outs of how and why your content will be created, managed, and eventually archived or updated.

Think of content strategy as a building blueprint.

Blueprints are mapped out and confirmed before any building work begins. Your content strategy should work in the same way, outlining the objectives of your content, as well as the delivery of it.

However, content strategies shouldn’t be set in stone, either. New channels, devices and trends are constantly emerging.  Your strategy needs to be fluid enough to accommodate changes. Ask yourself the following before moving forward with content distribution:

• Why are we creating this content?
• What audiences do we want to address?
• What kind of actions and reactions do we want to achieve?
• How will we promote the content once it’s published?
• How will our audience find our content?
• Where and when will you be publishing your content?
• Who is in charge of creating your content?
• How will you maintain your brand style across various platforms?

Fully executing your content strategy will take a lot more than just answering the questions above, but they should help provide a workable foundation.

1. Set Measurable and Achievable Goals

In order to measure the success of your content marketing campaign, have clearly defined goals and objectives. Each piece of content should be created in order to achieve a desired end result. That might include more leads for your business, increased email sign-ups or more social media followers.

On the flip side, if you publish content based on a whim, you’ll fall short of adding to the message your brand was set up to convey, and end up diluting it instead. 

2. Build Journeys

In addition to aligning your content with your organization’s goals, you need to include the journey you want your audience to take. The content you publish on social media and on your website shapes that journey.

The goal of your content should be to speak to prospects at multiple points throughout their journey to inform them further and thus guide them down your sales funnel. From the time they first come in contact with your company, to when they finally make the decision to buy from you — you should have content for every step of the way.

3. Choose Content Types

Producing content is great, but what kind of content best conveys the message of your organization? You may want to consider things like infographics, YouTube videos, testimonials, and other content types to complement your standard blog posts.

4. Define Distribution and Promotion Channels

Once your content is created, where will you send it? Identifying the most relevant channels for your organization is the key to gaining more traffic and converting more customers. 

You need to think about the most suitable social networks to focus on.  Where does your audience live?  Are they on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn?  Find the online communities that allow for engagement with your current and prospect base.

5. Create an Editorial Calendar

Your content strategy and marketing efforts need to come together like clockwork, and this is where your editorial calendar comes into play. Your calendar should outline when and where content should be published, right down to the most active times of the day for each channel. 

Serving Separate Purposes

There is a significant overlap between content strategy and content marketing efforts — and yet they serve separate purposes.

Content strategy explains the whys and hows that overarch every piece of content created. Content marketing is made up of the processes that work to create and promote that content. 

Many organizations jump right into dishing out content before ever stopping to think about the underlying strategy. The solution is to implement both short-term and long-term content strategies that will help you build a focal point based upon your content marketing goals. 

Need help creating a content strategy?  SK Consulting can help!  From concept.  To creation.  To Implementation.  We’re there for you every step of the way!

Content Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations

It’s no secret that the majority of nonprofits work on a limited budget.  Employing a fully-staffed communications team is typically unheard of.  Many rely on freelance writers, editors and designers to help them develop content. Higher education institutions tap their alumni to make connections with each other, generating content to draw more alumni into donating to their alma mater. Organizers in the nonprofit world, especially those who are conscious of every donated dollar they spend, should embrace the high ROI of content marketing.

No matter how an organization generates content, it is a necessity for them to understand their audiences and be able to tell their most authentic stories. The more targeted, the better. This means that content managers should continually develop new strategies to add to their arsenal of best practices. 

How can this be done?

1. Segment your donors.

When program staff and nonprofit managers become more aware of their target audiences, they become clearer about how to craft unique messages, and begin framing their content towards getting specific results.

This may require some research and data analysis of your donor portfolios, but segmenting your donors, or grouping them into categories (such as place-based locale, giving amounts, or issue-based interests), will allow you to integrate storytelling, story gathering, program planning, and monitoring and evaluation all into your content marketing strategy.

2. Craft audience personas.

With some light research into your donors, nonprofits can learn about donors and alumni by how they interact with your web pages, your calls to action, your social media feeds, and your e-newsletters and donation clicks. Nonprofits can use this data to create an audience persona, or multiple audience personas based on your donor segmentation research.

Audience personas can help your team create content for a more specific group of supporters than ‘the general public.’ These audience personas, developed and based on actual supporters (or potential ones), can give direction on how to create content in the personalized ways your donors like.

3. Plot your supporters’ journey.

When you ask people to take on your cause, it has to be something the donor feels speaks to their own goals. How you craft your content will depend on what you believe is your supporters’ journey. Plot the supporters’ journey with clear calls to action and share relevant stories that help them see how supporting your organization’s cause or mission allows them to succeed in their own goals.

Organizations often frame content from an internal projection, rather from the donor’s point of view. Make your content about the donor, not only about your organization.

4. Encourage constituents in sharing their story.

Your most powerful, often overlooked, and untapped resources for authentic storytelling are the people you serve. With some initial investment of time and training, and sensitivity to constituents’ comfort in sharing their struggles, failures and successes, constituents who share their stories can become the nonprofits most impactful storytellers.

Constituent personal experiences ring true to donors in ways and words that scripted mission and vision statements cannot. When a person who has benefited from your organization’s programs can speak to how effectively your interventions addressed their problems in unique, highly-personal, and innovative ways, those stories reveal the profound ways in which your organization values and measures success.

5. Allow for authentic voices to tell your organization’s story.

Nonprofits, whether they recognize it or not, naturally attract authentic storytellers. Your message drew them to you, and they want to give back, and share the purpose of your organization’s mission. That’s why they showed up.

And don’t overlook your staff!  They were drawn to your organization for a reason as well.  Why do they show up every day?  What does your mission mean to them?  Everyone has a story to tell and theirs could be key to a great campaign for your organization.

6. Set clear guidelines on how individual stories highlight your organization’s mission.

Some precaution and clear guidelines should be established with constituents, volunteers and staff when their individual stories are used to highlight the organization’s work and mission.

Make sure you get signed waivers for all photographic images and text.

Add time at the tail end of deadlines for stories to be properly reviewed for cultural and political sensitivities that might create difficulties for constituents, volunteers or staff whose stories are featured.

Add disclaimer-like language in the “ask” part of the content to make sure donors know they are giving to the organization, not the individual, and that giving to the organization adds to the collective impact on the community at large.

7. Build content marketing into your programming.

When planning events and programming, consider how to capture the events; how to frame the story of each activity to your donors and supporters; or the policymakers you want to hear your perspectives.

Try to have all visits, talks and trainings documented through video, in pre-event montages or post-event interviews. Often this documentation cannot be done by staff delivering the programming, but could be an ideal job for a volunteer, student or intern to show your mission in action.

Nonprofit organizations often go to great lengths to plan events, but neglect to create a content marketing strategy for how to capture these experiences and share them widely to donor audiences.

8. Assess what content marketing strategies work best for your target audiences.

Nonprofit organizations need to think strategically about communications – outline a plan; write it down; set measurable goals’ and assess them.  Not all steps have to happen in one year, nor in the order outlined here.

Developing branding, the time taken to review and analyze the organization’s content, has incredible intrinsic value. Often, organizations find a new voice, uprooting old organizational mindsets and changing the ways in which success is measured.

Highlighting your organization’s impact on the personal, community and social levels widens the net of who your content speaks most authentically to and helps open links for you to connect with new donors, volunteers and supporters.

Incorporating Video into Your Marketing Plan is Essential

Everywhere you turn, you see videos.  Social media is abuzz with it.  And while many forms of marketing turn out to be fads or here-today-gone-tomorrow strategies, video marketing is here to stay.  If you want your business to stay relevant in a constantly-evolving digital landscape, you must add video to your content marketing strategy.  This doesn’t mean you need to ditch the blogs and other content avenues, just add great video to your plan!

Right now, everything is being dominated by video. This means video marketing is an essential part of any content marketing strategy that hopes to survive the next few years.

What is Video Content Marketing?

It’s not just creating videos for the internet and hitting publish. Like any content strategy, it takes the right amount of planning. Think of video the same as written content marketing. Instead of creating a 500+ word blog post, you create a short video sharing the same information and topics.

Ultimately, the goals of video and traditional content are the same. You want to educate your audience, establish trust, and position yourself as the expert.

It’s important to realize that video content marketing is not the same as commercials. Commercials, like on TV, have the sole intention of selling. They’re not created to explain, engage, or simply to inform. Video content marketing provides value, and it isn’t just an advertisement.

Why Use Video?

What is it that makes video marketing so effective? The proof is in the statistics. YouTube alone has more than a billion users, which is almost one-third of all the internet users on the planet. Why?

Build on Emotions
Videos are inherently emotional. Unlike text, you’re able to connect with users face-to-face. Video resonates on a deeper level with audiences than other types of content because you can speak directly to your ideal customers.

Even if you’re just sharing a how-to video, the fact that you’re able to interact as a person instead of a screen makes a world of a difference. Your videos don’t need to be heart-wrenching emotional tales to capture your audience. As long as you use creativity and personality, you’ll still build a higher level of trust than traditional content.

Video SEO
YouTube is actually the second-largest search engine after Google, so video is now essential to a modern SEO strategy. Google looks at more than just written content when it ranks your website. Google looks at multimedia assets to see the entire package of what you’re bringing to the table.

Because videos are easily shareable, they’re perfect for link building campaigns. Including videos on your pages can help keep users there longer and keep them scrolling. All of these things come together to improve your page ranking.

Customer Journey
Your customers go on a journey that takes them from learning about your business to actually making a purchase. In most cases, this isn’t a quick journey. That’s why content marketing is so essential. It follows your customer journey from start to finish, gently guiding them where to go every step of the way.

Video encourages engagement and it can be used to build a unique message for every part of the journey.  Video fits perfectly into the funnel, and it helps your brand stand out in a competitive world. Consumers want to be educated. They want to learn about products and services before they make purchases. Video offers a way for customers to not only experience products or learn more about your services, but understand why they need them.

Engagement
What’s more likely to stop you in your tracks? A stand-alone picture with a blurb or an exciting video? In the world of social media, things move fast. People scroll through their feeds on their way to work, during breaks, and before bed. They aren’t always taking the time to read through every message, especially when they’re so used to advertisements from companies.

How will your business stop consumers in their own busy schedules and cause them to take notice?

How to Use Video Marketing

First, most videos are viewed online without sound. Because social media usually mutes videos by default, most users won’t unmute them unless they’re particularly engaging. That means it’s helpful to include subtitles if they’re relevant, or to include messaging suggesting users turn on the sound.

Next, you’ll want to build your video to the platform format. For most platforms like Facebook and Instagram, that means creating square video. The square format takes up the most real estate on social media, so it’s most likely what’s going to capture your users’ attention. For Instagram and Snapchat, you’ll need to use vertical video that fills the entire screen.

Shooting Your Video
You don’t need to blow your budget on a professional film crew and editing software to make your own video. You can even use your smartphone camera if that’s your only option.

For instructional videos that rely on sound, consider investing in a microphone. You can purchase one that can even attach to your smartphone. Having clear, crisp sound shows you’re serious and that you know what you’re doing.

Editing

If you’re planning on using your video on more than one platform, edit multiple versions. Ideally, social media videos are short (under a minute long) while website videos can be longer. Again, you should include subtitles on social media videos as well since most users likely won’t use sound. Use text and other effects when you think it’s appropriate, but don’t go overboard. For instructional and educational videos, it’s helpful to use graphics and animations.

The Future of Video

Video marketing isn’t just another trend. It’s the future of content marketing, and the sooner your business can utilize video, the more prepared you’ll be for tomorrow. Not only is video engaging, but it’s an easy way to provide even more value to your prospective customers.

User-Generated Content and Its Impact on Your Brand

Traditional advertising is a one-way street: Brands advertise to consumers instead of having a conversation with them. And that’s a problem.

Today, younger consumers aren’t interested in traditional advertising tactics; they want to lead the conversation and feel an authentic connection to brands. Building those relationships takes more than an ad; it requires engaging, one-to-one brand experiences.

Investing in experiential strategies pays big dividends for your business. Trust us. In addition to getting better insights into their consumers, business owners are learning that this interactive approach is a gold mine for user-generated content that amplifies their brands and drives loyalty.

When consumers share content created at your live event, it extends your activation beyond the footprint and allows your product to reach people who might never have seen it otherwise.

User-generated content is perceived by consumers to be more trustworthy and authentic than brand-created content. This builds brand awareness and consideration among a wider segment of consumers.

There are a lot of ways to create a brand experience that’s so incredible that consumers can’t wait to let other people know. Here are a few steps you can take:

1. Think beyond the boomerang. Don't rely on a single photo engagement. Instead, the entire activation must be share-worthy and envy-inducing, with content creation built into multiple touchpoints throughout the experience.

If you’re hosting an event, get live testimonials.  Ask attendees if they wouldn’t mind doing a live stream with you to share their experience.  Tag other vendors to capture their audience.  If you own a restaurant or catering business, capture individuals or patrons enjoying your food.  This is video proof with an actual, live person, that your product(s) are mouth-watering good!

2. Consider why consumers share. Consumers are selective when it comes to the content they share. For an activation to be deemed share-worthy, it must resonate emotionally, be eye-popping, and align with something the consumer is passionate about.

Consumers are highly-visual individuals.  It has been stated that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Imagine what a great video is worth.  Don’t post just to post.  Post videos and stories that pull at the heart strings, tug at the envy bone and plant themselves in the emotional part of the brain that is hard to eliminate.  (Think puppies and babies)

3. Let the consumer be the story. A consumer’s experience with your product is more powerful than any marketing message a brand can craft. For the most impact, give consumers the experiential tools to allow them to tell their story in their own voice.

Think of it as a live testimonial.  Let them share their experience with your product or business.  What did it do for them?  If it’s a skincare product, why did they want to try it and why do they love it.  They had a problem, you provided the solution, they tell the story.

The brands that resonate most powerfully in the future will be those that facilitate and foster the ability of people to connect with other people. Bringing people together to tell their stories creates the communities that consumers long for and builds brand loyalty. Utilizing video, consumer stories and true, authentic engagement will set you and your business up for success!

If you are not sure what user-generated content is or how to incorporate it into your business, contact the experts at SK Consulting.  From concept to creation to implementation, we’re there with you every step of the way!