Content Creation in Marketing

New marketers often make the mistake of thinking that any content is good content. But content without strategy is like a ship without a rudder, it usually leads you nowhere.

A content strategy is one of the most critical components to marketing success. Developing content that resonates with your target audience will lead to better engagement and higher conversion totals while turning your brand into a greater authoritative voice in your space.

Let’s dive into the importance of developing a strategy for your content, and the many platforms that you may consider for housing that content.

Why You Need a Content Creation Strategy for Your Business

82% of marketers used some form of content marketing in 2021. From blog posts to podcasts, the majority of successful digital marketers recognize its value.

A successful strategy is built on knowing your target audience. You must know the spaces they occupy so you can send the most hyper-targeted content their way.

The beauty of content marketing is that it attracts visitors to your website without extensive outreach measures. For example, you can post content to a blog and allow it to rank for valuable keywords naturally using simple SEO techniques, rather than having to invest heavily in paid ads campaigns that are expensive and yield minimal results.

Content marketing is like a gift that keeps on giving. When used correctly, it can generate ongoing traffic to a site or a specific webpage seemingly on autopilot. You create the content once and within a few days or weeks, it can start driving qualified leads.

A content strategy can also keep your brand on track to meet deadlines and address special occasions throughout the calendar year. You can schedule content releases around certain holidays, product releases, or other events to help capitalize on those moments.

Strategizing based around popular consumer days like Black Friday is a must. Not only can you reach more consumers with your targeted content, but a sound strategy will help you begin planning far enough in advance.

Preparation is key when it comes to devising your content strategy. Knowing your most important dates throughout the year will help you get a leg up on the competition.

Different Types of Content Marketing Strategies

Content marketing is not a one size fits all proposition. Determining the right content strategy for your business depends on many factors.

• Who is your target audience?
• Why are you trying to reach that audience?
• Where is your competition investing their content marketing efforts?
• What digital mediums do you prefer?

If you’re not playing to your strengths as a brand, your content strategy will likely fall short. It’s vital to create content that’s geared for your best digital mediums.

Here are a few of the most popular digital mediums for content strategists.

Social Media

Social media consistently lands within the top 3 most used channels among B2B companies, and it’s easy to see why. Social media has over one billion active users on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and now TikTok is leading the charge.

Social media can be used in tandem with other mediums to get your content out there. A tool like Buffer is great for disseminating new content across a variety of social platforms, reaching new customers in a more automated fashion.

Social media content creation can happen in many forms. You can share written content on Facebook, creative photos on Instagram, short-form videos on TikTok, and so much more. The options are limited only by your imagination.

Blogs

Regular blog posting is essential for building keyword rankings and improving website authority metrics. Blog content creation can provide a steady pipeline of organic traffic, as well as providing a repository of content that can be used across other channels like social media.

As with any website content creation, your blog should be informative while also being geared towards Google search rankings. That doesn’t mean you should be keyword stuffing (don’t purposely cram keywords into a page), but you should be strategizing with some high-level keywords in mind.

The cluster model is a slightly more advanced blog content strategy, but it is highly effective. This involves the internal linking of multiple blog posts that have topical relevance, essentially creating a cluster of similar content. This helps show Google that your brand is a clear authority across the entirety of a topic.

Videos

Video content creation is gaining popularity by the year, especially thanks to the rise of TikTok, Instagram reels, and the continued dominance of YouTube.

Consumers watched over 12 billion minutes of digital video content in 2020. This massive figure can be partially attributed to the global pandemic, but it’s clearly a sign that video content is consumed by the masses.

You don’t have to be Steven Spielberg to produce a high-quality video. Thanks to the latest iPhones and other high-quality devices, you can record and post a great piece of video content within minutes.

Videos can also be used in tandem with other content marketing efforts. Let’s say you create a how-to video showing users how to replace a showerhead. You could also write a blog post with step-by-step instructions and you could embed the video within the post.

For those that are camera shy, there are video creation software tools that allow you to produce high-quality videos using text slides or images. You can also try outsourcing content creation altogether by using an experienced digital marketing agency that knows how to create engaging videos.

Podcasts

41% of Americans listen to podcasts monthly, and there are podcasts covering just about every topic under the sun.

If you feel comfortable broadcasting long-form conversations, podcasting might be a solid avenue to try. You can share each podcast on multiple channels like Soundcloud, iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. Plus, you can accompany each podcast episode with a written transcript that can live on your blog.

Podcasting is just another great medium for content creation for your business, especially if you enjoy long-form communication with your audience.

Infographics

People often forget about Google Images when they think about keyword rankings, and infographics are a great way to rank here.

Infographics are images that include statistics, pie charts, and other graphical representations of data. Since these images are shared broadly, it’s advised that brands include their logo somewhere on the infographic to receive credit. This element of branding makes infographics a prime example of branded content creation.

The key to success with an infographic is shareability. You want to strike the perfect balance between using fascinating informational content and incorporating visually stunning graphic design elements.

People should want to share your infographic because it conveys useful information, in addition to looking pretty.

Why is Content Creation Important?

Content creation has numerous purposes. From building brand awareness to increasing traffic, generating leads to retaining customers, your content should be engineered with certain objectives in mind.

What is Brand Awareness?

Brand awareness campaigns happen near the top of the sales funnel. These are meant to target potential customers who were previously unfamiliar with your brand.

Content for a brand awareness campaign is typically less brand-specific and more focused on general topics of interest. You essentially want to use content in a manner that answers niche-specific questions and helps build trust.

For example, if you are a home services provider you could create a “Guide to DIY home projects” which would show readers your expertise in that industry, while empowering them to complete a project of their own.

Ultimately, you want people to “like,” “comment,” and “follow” your brand so you can continually communicate with them.

What is a Lead Generation Campaign?

Lead generation campaigns can intersect with brand awareness campaigns to an extent. The main difference with lead generation is that you are creating content with the express purpose of increasing sign-ups, social media followers, and subscribers who have a clear intention to buy your products.

The type of content you would produce in a lead generation campaign should be informative, while also encouraging readers to “sign up to learn more.” Clear calls to action should be made, letting people know that they will be rewarded for their efforts with even more useful information if they subscribe.

Many content creation ideas can be used to reel in leads. You can use video testimonials from past customers explaining their positive experiences with your products, or create an infographic showing how your B2B product increased productivity in the workplace.

Lead generation is the gateway to list building, and content marketing is a great way to achieve this. Through a sound content strategy, you can start adding names to your email and remarketing lists with ease. Good SEO content creation practices allow you to gain organic traffic on autopilot.

What is a Conversion Campaign?

Conversion campaigns target customers further down the sales funnel, those who are familiar with the brand and more likely to make purchasing decisions.

By the time a person is ready to buy, they will have likely followed you on social media, subscribed to your newsletter, and become a valuable lead.

When creating content that’s geared towards conversions it’s important to include call to action (CTA) opportunities within the content. For example, a blog post about the latest line of fishing equipment should include a button that takes customers to the product page to let them purchase the new rod.

Tips for Creating Great Content Every Time

How do you begin making high-quality, effective content for every marketing purpose? It’s all about being prepared.

Start with the end in mind

Envision the end game. Are you trying to create brand awareness? Or, are you targeting loyal members who might be considering making another purchase?

This will dictate not only the style of content you create, but also the segment of people you are targeting.

For planning purposes, you should map out each piece of content based on different phases of the sales funnel. This will help you create content that’s more specific to each consumer’s needs.

Know your audience

A content strategy should not solely be based on SEO purposes, you need to be mindful of your audience’s needs.

A/B testing is a great way to learn what your audience likes. For example, creating two different pieces of content and sharing each out on social media will show you which one performs best. You can utilize these insights when strategizing future content.

Use your best skills

Capitalize on your strengths as a content creator. If you enjoy video creation, consider using YouTube as your primary digital medium. If your talents lie in the blogosphere, stay with written content.

By committing your content to certain platforms, its quality will be stronger. Your audience will also know where to expect your content on a regular basis. If you’re posting a bunch of different styles of content across different platforms, you will lose consistency.

It’s always smart to post your best style of content to the platforms where your audience is most likely to find you.

Keep it simple

It’s easy to overthink your content creation process, but you will achieve the best results by keeping things simple.

Focus on the messaging in each piece of content. Before you write a blog post or record a new video, consider what you want the messaging to be. Understanding this messaging will help you create the content more easily.

You don’t have to write hefty 5,000-word guides every time to attract eyeballs. You can gain traction simply by creating shorter but more hyper-targeted pieces.

Embrace consistency

Content creation is all about consistency. If you can keep your content schedule up-to-date and release new content on a regular basis, your audience will grow.

Brands struggle when they release content at inconsistent intervals, keeping their audience uncertain and confused. You need to make sure to honor your schedule and stay consistent at all times.

Establish a content creation workflow that allows plenty of time for planning, conceptualization, content approvals, and publishing. This will ensure a consistent rollout of new content and it will keep your followers happy.

Be yourself

Probably the most valuable content creation tip is ‘authenticity.’ Consumers can sniff out a brand that’s not acting real.

If your content is heavy-handed on the SEO front, meaning you’re using suspect tactics like keyword stuffing, your content will sound hopelessly artificial.
It’s okay to use SEO tactics, but make sure you’re coming from a place of authenticity above all else.

Master Your Content Creation

Take control of your content by mastering the content creation tools at your disposal. Whether it’s Facebook content creation, YouTube video content, or content creation for business, there are several modes of content creation you can adapt successfully.

A well-thought-out content strategy will help build your audience and keep them coming back to your brand. Are you not sure how to get started? Contact a team of experienced content marketing professionals to set you on your way.