Successful Content Marketing Strategy Checklist
We’ve written about content marketing quite a bit before on the DD blog, from emoji domination to how to drive sales to video content marketing. Done right, content marketing drives conversions and can generate leads up to three times more than traditional marketing. But what are the essential steps to a successful content marketing strategy? What makes content great and how do you integrate it into your overall marketing strategy? Planning, writing, editing, and distributing are only the bare bones of a content strategy.
The good people at Textbroker sorted through this year’s research from the Content Marketing Institute and created an infographic that dives into the following specific areas:
- Audit and Analysis
- Goal Definition
- Development and Planning
- Creation and Seeding
- Monitoring and Controlling
According to the Content Marketing Institute’s reports, a successful content strategy has to be documented. This completely resonated with me personally because in order for anything I do to be effective it needs to have been written down first! This research found that 53% of marketers who have a documented content strategy think it is effective. Only 32% of those marketers actually write down the time, place, and reason for publishing their brand content in addition to the ways they publicize it but hey, baby steps! Having a clear (documented) strategy is really an essential step to any good marketing campaign and content is no exception.
Textbroker has parsed it into five steps but I would like to add one more – Promotion. Without adequate promotion, your content won’t work for you. Share it on social media, put it in an email newsletter, feature it on your blog! Paid content promotions also prove helpful (for example, PPC, native advertising, or social media ads/sponsored content). You’ve worked hard to create good content, now promote it and get the word out to relevant audiences that you aren’t currently connecting with.
Strategy first, folks! Rather than a trial and error approach, try checking off these steps. Read on for details:
