For businesses that mainly use content for their advantage, it's important to remember to prioritize planning the editorial calendar and content strategy. It's important to know that having a documented content strategy is one of the primary factors that separate the most successful and least successful businesses in content marketing. That is why planning ahead is important. Below are the top 6 tips for a successful content strategy.
- See what worked and what didn’t
One of the first things to do is to revisit all content and campaigns from the past years and observe how it performed. A lot of companies are not aware that by doing this, they can immediately see how they performed with their target market. They should be able to know what are the topics that generated the most leads, formats that generated more interest and social shares, and most especially, they will be able to know what to avoid using again. It is important to take an honest look at these metrics so that you can develop a short list of topics to revisit and expand upon, as well as formats to focus on.
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- Establish key themes
We are all aware that our buyers are always changing. New trends are trying to impact their daily lives and market dynamics shift according to how they measure success. This is why it's recommended to do a quick gut check on your target audience and try to connect direct to it. Identifying buzzworthy topics and doing keyword research that can be linked to the brand to help it stand out.
- Think outside the storytelling box
Marketers are beginning to realize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to generating content that your readers love. That is why it is important to be very open to different topics when it comes to content marketing. Develop a core narrative and once you've found it, you can then determine what format fits best with what you are trying to say or share with the audience.
- Prioritize foundational “hero” assets
“Hero” assets are considered to be longer and more robust. They pack a lot of marketing punch which can fuel campaigns for several weeks. This can be identified once building the list of core topics and themes for the year. It is recommended to have four foundational topics to keep the demand engine running.
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- Give content more legs (and leads)
One way to accomplish this is to look for quick-hit content ideas that are based on some of the themes covered in the foundational assets. Also, repurposing and modularity are great approaches for creating quickly.
- When in doubt, ask for help
We can all agree to this, developing an in-depth content calendar and execution strategy takes time and effort. Creating quality content is also tedious. Thus, asking for help is always an option. There should be someone you can ask for advice so that content will not be compromised.
