New to content marketing? Here are 6 critical pieces of info you'll need before you start
Image credit: SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS / thumbnail image: Thought Catalog
Woah, woah, woah! Hands off the keyboard, cowboy/girl/person! You can’t just leap into content marketing willy-nilly; there are six things you’ll need before you start posting stuff. Let me hook you up with this tasty three-minute read…
1) What are your brand values and value proposition?
Your business values and proposition should always guide the content in your marketing emails, blog articles, and social media posts. Ideally, these would make up one of your brand’s content pillars and be a huge source of posting inspiration. So, if you don’t have this locked in yet, you better get on it!
2) Who are your target customers (like…really)
Have you got good, reliable data on your target customer? I’m not talking about, “We’re targeting Millennial women” or any vague BS like that — you’ve got to know who. Exactly who. When you know who they are and what they’re into, you’ll stand a much better chance of coming up with ideas they’ll want to engage with.
3) What are your target keywords?
Ya canne be posting on your blog without a solid keyword strategy, bae. Optimised content lures your target customer, answers a query, and hikes up your organic traffic. My basic rule of thumb is one primary keyword and a secondary term that supports the main theme.
4) What’s in your marketing/launch pipeline?
Hello content pillar number two! Before you start plotting out what you’re going to post, why not start where the ideas are fertile — upcoming product launches and campaign pipeline? Think of all the juicy content you could make outta that! Make a list and put it to work.
5) What are your brand FAQs?
Don’t start brainstorming ideas for your content marketing without a chunky list of customer FAQs! For the real gold, contact the customer service team or dig into your customer reviews.
Making content that answers popular questions ensures you rank for your brand’s queries, own the Google placement for them, and, most importantly, have a place to send customers when they ask. FAQs are honestly the gift that keeps on giving.
6) Which platforms acquire the most customers?
This one’s the real humdinger, which is why I left it ‘til last! I see too many new brands trying to be on every platform, but the truth is, you could be wasting your time with some of them!
Pay attention to engagement on your platforms and commit to the ones that drive the most conversions. If you aren’t on social media yet, dominate your platform selection process by considering your product, competitors, and target customers. This way, you can triangulate the best platform for achieving your business goals!
Are you still boggled? Don’t worry, mate — it’s a lot to take in. If you’d rather give it the dodge, get in touch and let me handle it for you or book a Witching Hour and we’ll plot the best approach together.
