What is Content Strategy?
And Why Content Matters
If you’re a business owner, chances are you’ve heard the term “content strategy” before. But what does it actually mean? And why is it so important?
In short, a content strategy is a plan for how to use content to achieve your business goals. That might sound simple enough, but there’s a lot that goes into it. A good content strategy takes into account your target audience, your brand voice, your business goals, and more.
Why Does Content Strategy Matter?
Content strategy matters because content is one of the most important ways to connect with your audience and achieve your business goals. It’s how you communicate who you are, what you do, and why someone should care. Good content can help you attract new customers and followers, build trust and credibility, and boost sales.
How to Create a Content Strategy
Now that we’ve answered the question “what is content strategy?” let’s take a look at how to create a content strategy of your own. Here are the steps you’ll need to take:
1. Define Your Goals
The first step in creating any kind of strategy is to define your goals. What do you want to achieve with your content? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Boost sales? Grow your social media following? All of the above? Be specific about what you want to accomplish.
2. Know Your Audience
Once you know what your goals are, you need to understand who you’re talking to. What are their needs and wants? What kind of language do they use? What kind of information are they looking for? Knowing your audience will help you create content that resonates with them and helps them achieve their own goals. (Which will in turn help you achieve yours.)
3. Understand Your Competition
Before you can create truly great content, you need to understand what’s already out there. That means taking a look at what your competitors are doing right (and wrong). How are they positioning themselves in the market? What kind of tone do they use? What topics do they write about? Studying up on your competition will give you some great ideas—and help you avoid making any major mistakes.
4. Find Your Voice & Tone Once you understand your goals, audience, and competition, it’s time to start thinking about how YOU want to come across in your content. What’s unique about your brand voice ? How can you stand out from the crowd? Be thoughtful about the tone and personality of your brand—it should be consistent across all channels (including social media).
5 . Choose Your Channels Speaking of social media… now it’s time to decide which channels will work best for sharing your content . There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here—it all depends on where your audience hangs out online . If they’re active on Facebook , that might be a good place to start . If they’re more likely to read blogs , focus on guest blogging or creating helpful articles . Wherever they spend their time , that’s where YOU should be spending yours .
6 . Create editorial guidelines Now that you know which channels you’ll be using , it’s time to start creating some editorial guidelines . These guidelines will outline the who , what , when , where , and how of publishing content across all channels . They should also cover things like style , voice , tone , messaging , length , format , etc . Having editorial guidelines in place will make it easier for everyone involved in creating and sharing content (including outside contributors) to stay on brand . Plus , it’ll save tons of time down the road .
7 . Make a plan Once you have all of the above figured out , it’s time to start making a plan for what kind of content you’re going publish , when
