MarketingBusinessClient Resources

Content Marketing Strategy: 8 Principles & Examples

Stuart Crawford

Welcome
A content marketing strategy is a crucial ingredient for online success. Here are 8 fundamental principles at the core of your content marketing.

Content Marketing Strategy: 8 Principles & Examples

There are two types of bloggers, people who are constantly blogging about the same topic and people who don’t. If you don’t blog regularly, you may think it is too much work, and you will never get a big following. 

In fact, if you post twice a week, you will still grow your blog’s audience. You will increase your traffic. And the audience will be interested in your posts. And if you post more often, you will also get more likes and comments. So, you must create posts that are interesting to your readers. 

You can write about a recent event in your life or write about a new topic you are learning. You can write about anything you want if you create exciting content. You have to write something that will be interesting to people. And if you write a little bit every day, you will attract new followers and new people who will share your blog.

A content marketing strategy is a crucial ingredient for online success. As Google continues to change the game, brands must understand how to best position themselves. 

Many rely on their content marketing strategy to attract attention, engage, and build relationships. This article will discuss why a content marketing strategy is critical and how to implement a successful content marketing strategy.

Content marketing is one of the hottest trends in digital marketing today, but many people don’t know how to make it work. So if you want to get started with content marketing, here are some easy steps that will help you craft a winning strategy:

1 – Create Your Brand Voice

Types Of Brand Voice

Content marketing isn’t just about creating content; it’s about using content to build relationships with people. To do that, you need to give your brand personality through the type of content you create. 

This doesn’t mean you have to create content in a specific voice that perfectly fits your brand persona, but you shouldn’t just put out whatever you have written on your blog, podcast, or whatever else you publish. 

Instead, use the content you already have to communicate what you stand for, how you interact with your customers, and what makes your brand unique.

It seems almost impossible to imagine someone who doesn’t have a voice, but people have to learn to talk with it, just like any skill. But creating a brand voice is one of the key differences between the best content marketers and the rest. 

To learn how to create a brand voice, you have to get in touch with your own voice. Find out what makes you unique, what kind of content you’re good at, and what you enjoy writing. Once you’ve determined that, build a personal style around it.

2 – Build Trust

If people don’t trust you, they won’t engage with your brand. So why is trust so important? 

According to Google, trustworthiness is one factor that drives search results. And while social media can often help build trust, that alone doesn’t guarantee results. 

But what is it? Well, trust is what you feel in your gut when you’re being told something, so the more you can do to build trust in your company and products/services, the better.

Related  Top 10+ SEO Guidelines for Designers to Follow

Content marketing is different from traditional advertising because it focuses on helping readers learn more about your product or service. 

The goal is to help your potential customers make a purchase. You need to write content that attracts people who want to buy your products. By doing so, you will make sales. 

There is no mystery to content marketing. It would help if you focused on writing about your product or service so that it is attractive to your customers. This means you have to create valuable content for your potential customers. Make sure you are telling your customers what you can do for them. You should be able to help your readers solve problems and achieve goals.

3 – Create Content

Evergreen Content Marketing

Content marketers aren’t creating content just because it’s their job. They’re creating content because they want their audience to take some action. Whether sharing their blog posts on social media or signing up for their newsletter, it all comes back to driving action. By creating content, you’re helping people solve a problem or achieve the desired outcome.

There are two main types of content for content marketing: informational and transactional

Informational content is the type that people share for knowledge and learning. Transactional content is something that people share for social purposes, such as sharing a new deal or discount that they found through the website. 

When creating informational content, include useful, valuable and relevant information to your audience. The key to creating successful informational content is to keep your audience in mind as you write. Make sure your content is helpful to the reader and fits their need.

Here’s the thing: no matter which type of content you create, there’s a strategy behind creating that content that will help you connect your brand and your business with your audience.

4 – Find the Right Platform

You can use Google Analytics to help you understand your current audience and how they engage with your company. It would be best if you learned about the traffic your site is getting to tailor your content to meet your visitors’ needs better. 

For example, if you find that your site is not attracting enough new visitors, you might consider creating more exciting blog posts. Or, if you find that your audience is older than you expected, you could write more content that appeals to older visitors. 

Whatever you decide, make sure that you produce the type of content your audience wants to read. You can also use Google to learn about keywords and search terms people use to find your website. You can create content specifically targeting those keywords and search terms. 

You can increase the chances that people who search for those keywords will find your site. You can even include those keywords in your site’s URL. Whenever someone searches for those terms, they will come directly to your site.

You can also use Facebook Insights to help you create content that appeals to your audience. You can learn which content works best based on what type of post people liked or shared. 

Related  Direct Mail Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide

It is crucial to stay on top of changes in your website because the technology behind it may change in the future. So, you’ll want to check out what’s happening online and how people respond to your current content. 

You can use Twitter Analytics to see which kinds of tweets bring the most traffic to your website. You can then write a new tweet and try again. Or, you can re-use old tweets to boost your rankings. This can be an effective way to grow your followers. 

If you have many followers, you may get featured on Twitter’s Discover page, which can help bring new followers to your account. You can use Hootsuite to see which tweets are most popular. You can learn from that and write more engaging content that people are interested in.

5 – Engage Consumers

Average Shares By Content Type

Content marketing isn’t just about creating beautiful blog posts and social media content; it’s about making the content that people consume relevant to their needs and interests. This means using content based on research that’s easy to understand and addresses a topic of interest to the audience.

According to HubSpot, “Content marketing is the marriage of content creation and distribution across all digital media channels, including social media, blogs, email, search, websites, mobile apps, etc.” 

It’s been around for years, but it has only recently taken off. Why? Because it works. The science behind why it works is pretty straightforward. The key is to create and distribute content that resonates with consumers.

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to drive people to your website. The key is to use a content marketing strategy as a tool rather than an advertising strategy. 

Think of content as the foundation of all marketing, and you’ll need to focus on creating great, helpful content for your site and customers to build brand awareness and increase leads. 

If you think that creating great content requires tons of research and planning, you’re wrong. There’s no reason to spend time and effort preparing a content marketing strategy. Just start writing and creating.

6 – Engage Employees

Today, your employees play an integral role in your business and customers’ lives. That makes content marketing strategies vital for every organisation’s marketing efforts. 

If you don’t take the time to develop a strong content marketing strategy, you’ll likely lose your employees to competitors who have developed a solid strategy. 

Suppose you have an established content marketing strategy in place. In that case, your team can focus on other key business areas, such as developing new products or expanding an existing brand.

“What kind of culture do you want to cultivate?” 

This question gets to the heart of why content should be part of your company’s marketing strategy. A common misconception about content marketing is that it has to be done just for content creation. 

Content is often thought of as “just” something to help support a website or social media presence. But content isn’t just a tool to help drive traffic and increase conversion rates; it’s a strategic investment in building a more engaged workforce.

Related  Boost Your Click-Through Rate: How to Skyrocket Engagement

7 – Develop a Content Calendar

Calendar View

There are different ways to approach developing a content calendar. Some of the most popular include using Google Docs, Monday, Trello, and Evernote

Each of these tools allows you to track ideas, projects, and assignments. They all allow you to set due dates for tasks, and you can break down your ideas into short chunks that correspond to the dates you choose for your content.

As a content marketer, you don’t need to be bound by creating a schedule, but it certainly helps. It’s best to start with just a few pieces you want to publish at certain times, then expand from there. Having a few pieces planned out at a time gives you something to reference if you need a little inspiration, and you can always use that time to develop new ideas.

When you write blog content, you may feel like you have to write something every day, but you’ll likely be posting too many posts if you don’t set some schedule. Don’t just throw random blog posts up there willy-nilly. 

Think about what types of topics are popular and write about them regularly. An excellent place to start is by figuring out what your blog should be about and then writing about that topic at least once a week.

8 – Manage Your Content

Every week, have a goal to update your website content. Update it with new posts, changes to old posts, or a complete overhaul. Even if you don’t have much to share, keeping your website updated is good. 

It is easy to lose focus. You should make a point to remind yourself to keep your website content up to date. You might even consider keeping a notebook with you that reminds you to update your website. It might help you remember, and it is a simple task.

It’s time to get rid of those old strategies and create a new content marketing plan for the next 12 months. The most important thing to consider in developing a content marketing plan is the purpose of your content or what you hope to achieve with it. 

  • Do you want to build brand awareness? 
  • Drive sales? 
  • Create awareness and trust? 
  • Increase conversions? 
  • Provide your content in the form of a webinar?

Conclusion

I hope you found this article helpful in planning and executing your content marketing strategy. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Every brand has different needs, goals, and audiences, and the right approach for one business may not be ideal for another. 

That being said, it’s essential to understand your audience and know what content works best for them. 

This post broke down eight fundamental principles at the core of your content marketing strategy. We also provided a quick snapshot of how we execute content marketing strategies for various clients.

Are you wondering why your blog isn’t growing? Or why you aren’t getting enough traffic? This guide will help you figure it out.

Photo of author
Written By
Stuart Crawford
Stuart Crawford is an award-winning creative director and brand strategist with over 15 years of experience building memorable and influential brands. As Creative Director at Inkbot Design, a leading branding agency, Stuart oversees all creative projects and ensures each client receives a customised brand strategy and visual identity.

Need help Building your Brand?

Let’s talk about your logo, branding or web development project today! Get in touch for a free quote.

Leave a Comment

Trusted by Businesses Worldwide to Create Impactful and Memorable Brands

At Inkbot Design, we understand the importance of brand identity. With our team of experienced designers and marketing professionals, we are dedicated to creating custom solutions that elevate your brand and leave a lasting impression on your target audience.