So, you want to dive into content marketing but feel like you’re standing at the edge of a cliff, unsure of the first step? Fear not, building a content marketing strategy from scratch isn’t as harrowing as it sounds. It’s about building a foundation, brick by brick, with a clear plan and a dash of creativity. Let’s break it down, shall we?
1. Establish Your Mission and Goals
First things first: what’s your mission? This isn’t just corporate fluff. Are you trying to increase sales in business, boost brand awareness, or perhaps educate your audience? Define this mission clearly and set specific goals. Maybe it’s increasing click-through rates by 20% or driving a 30% uptick in newsletter sign-ups. This step shapes every piece of content you will create.
2. Conduct Audience Research
Who are you talking to? Understanding your audience is crucial. Are they savvy tech enthusiasts or busy stay-at-home parents? Use surveys, social media feedback, and audience analytics to gather data. This isn’t just about demographics; it’s about understanding their behaviors, needs, and content preferences.
3. Audit Your Current Content (if applicable)
Got existing content? Great. It’s auditing time. Which pieces performed best? What flopped? An audit isn’t just housekeeping. It’s about understanding what resonates with your audience so you can replicate that success. Tools like Google Analytics and social listening can provide invaluable insights here.
4. Choose the Right Content Channels
Where does your audience spend their time? Are they scrolling through Instagram, searching on Google, or maybe watching tutorials on YouTube? Each channel has its own strengths and content types. Align your channel choice with your audience’s preferences and your content types. Yes, this means you might skip TikTok.
5. Decide on Content Types
Blog posts, videos, infographics—there are numerous types of content, and each serves different purposes and audiences. Video content is huge if your audience prefers visual, engaging content.
Video marketing is usually the most common choice due to its impeccable ability to increase sales, drive website traffic, and improve conversion rates.
However, infographics might be better if you need to distill complex data into digestible visuals. Decide based on what will best convey your message and resonate with your audience.
If you know your audience prefers videos but you have no clue what kind of videos to create, take the free Magic Video Quiz for personalized results around which type of marketing video will have the biggest impact for your business.
6. Brand Basics
This is also a great time to start establishing your brand guidelines. Select 2-3 fonts, 3-5 colors, and 4-5 words to describe your brand voice (AKA tone or style). Try to primarily use these fonts and colors in all of your content and practice using your brand voice. Maintaining brand consistency in video can be a little more challenging than in blog posts or infographics, but I laid out the steps on how to maintain your brand in video for you.
This is more so for you to learn how to write and create content with specific brand parameters than it is to nail down your brand.
You’ll probably change these fonts, colors, and brand voice definition within a few months as you get a feel for your content and calibrate what you actually want for your brand. However, you really can’t figure that out until you start creating content and learn from it. So, don’t get too hung up on what your brand looks like right now.
7. Create a Content Calendar
Organization is your friend. Create a content calendar that outlines what you’ll publish, when, and where. This helps keep your content strategy on track and ensures you’re consistently engaging your audience. Tools like Trello or Asana can help manage this process, but if you’re old school and like having something physical in front of your eyes (like me!), consider using a monthly or Year at a Glance Calendar. It helps me stay on top of my content, not to mention all the other tasks that keep my business running, without ever making me feel overwhelmed or lost. I can't recommend it enough!
8. Develop a Content Creation Process
Who’s creating your content? Whether it’s in-house or outsourced, establish a process for brainstorming, creating, and approving content. Include steps for video SEO optimization, like incorporating keywords naturally and ensuring metadata is filled out. Streamlining this process will save you headaches down the road.
BONUS TIP: Measure and Optimize Your Strategy
What’s working? What’s not? Use analytics to track performance. Look at engagement rates, traffic, and yes, sales. But also listen to your audience’s feedback. Optimizing your strategy isn’t a one-time deal; it’s continuous. Adjust based on data and feedback. Stay flexible and ready to tweak your approach.
Conclusion
Building a content marketing strategy from scratch might seem daunting, but with these steps, you’re not just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. You’re crafting a deliberate, thoughtful approach that will guide your content efforts toward real, tangible results. Start small, think big, and keep refining. You’ve got this, and hey, the view from the cliff? It’s not so scary after all.
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