With over 27.9 million small businesses, the importance of strong marketing has never been important. After all, if you want to rise above the competition, you need to be able to stand out consistently and successfully.
Whether you’ve just started brainstorming a business plan or you’re already up-and-running, it’s important to know your content marketing objectives.
Having a cohesive and clear plan is essential for getting the business results you want. Fortunately, you can follow this step-by-step guide to achieve the best outcomes.
Let’s get into it!
Achieving Your Content Marketing Objectives
Define Your Objectives
First things first, you need a plan and roadmap. You need to know what you’re working for. Otherwise, you’ll be shooting in the proverbial dark and you’re likely to land all over the place.
Narrow your focus by asking yourself the following question: why do you need content marketing to begin with? What are you hoping to achieve?
Typical responses to these hopes include:
- Increasing overall traffic and audience
- Increasing brand visibility and “buzz”
- Increasing credibility/ perception of industry expertise
- Increasing revenue
Maybe you have all of these content marketing objectives. That’s perfectly okay. But, for the sake of your planning, it’s best to focus on the top objective.
Know Your Demographic
Who uses your services? Who needs your products? Is it college students, senior citizens, toddlers with disabilities, middle-class women in Southern California?
Whoever it is, you need to know your demographic really, really well. Your business won’t fulfill a need for everyone, so it’s best to spend your energy, time, and resources on the people your business could attract.
This is one of the most important content marketing strategies because it allows you to target the rest of your advertising.
How so? Knowing your demographic provides you with direction on how to use the most effective marketing.
For example, you probably won’t need to invest in the greatest Twitter strategy if your business caters to senior citizens. On the other hand, you’ll definitely want to use the virtues of Twitter to reach out to Millennials.
Knowing the age, interests, and general purchasing habits of your target demographic allow you to tailor appropriate content marketing objectives.
Produce Killer Content
Even if you have the greatest business in the world, you do need a way to make sure people see it, know it, and love it!
This is where the “killer content” of your content marketing objectives comes in. Having blogroll on your website is great for this. Whether you develop the blog content or outsource it, creating SEO-friendly blog posts is an excellent strategy for increasing visibility.
Stuck on how to produce consistently awesome content? Consider these questions:
- What can I teach my customers?
- What do I think my customers need to know about my services/products?
- What other interest do my customers have?
And, there’s no harm in checking out your competitors! Effective marketing means working from all angles. See what kind of content they’re producing and go on and make yours even better!
Have a Budget
Whether you choose to hire a freelance writer or web developer, it’s likely that you’ll need to financially invest in order to achieve your content marketing objectives.
Nowadays, a shoddy website can actually hurt your reputation. Ineffective marketing can destroy your business.
With that in mind, make sure that you actually have a solid and detailed budget before making any hiring decisions.
And, remember, this is not something you want to skip out on. Your marketing budget may just be the difference between lackluster website performance and a steller, knockout one.
If you think you can do it all yourself, think of it as a double investment. An investment for your business and for your mental sanity (and who can put a price on that?). After all, you’re probably not a master at everything. Focus on channeling your expertise and leave the rest to the pros.
Think Outside of the Box
What do the best businesses have in common? They aren’t afraid to be bold in the name of being memorable and successful!
Think about this next time you’re stumped on how to move forward. Do something different! Take a leap of faith and take that risk you’ve always wanted to take.
Successful businesses are built on both intellect and risk. They’re also built on a person following his dreams, no matter how absurd or impossible they may seem.
Playing it safe may make you some money and keep your business afloat, but creativity will always prevail in a world of competition.
Consider these tips to hone in on creativity:
- Don’t be afraid to use controversial content if you feel passionate about a certain topic.
- Play with mixed media! Already got the blog posts nailed down? Throw in some videos or Ebooks. Offer consultation services!
- Ask what your consumers want to see. Make their visions become a reality!
Thinking outside of the box keeps a business fresh and unique. And, who wouldn’t want that?
Edit & Audit Your Strategy As Needed
Just as businesses and people change over time, content marketing objectives will, too. This is because your ideas and your products/services will naturally evolve.
With this in mind, continuous assessment is key. Be sure to audit your site on a routine basis. Check the trends. Is traffic where you want it to be? Are your keywords working as well as you think they are? Is anyone watching the Youtube videos you’re posting? Where do you still need to improve?
Again, this might be another area of outsourced professional expertise you need to have in your arsenal.
Remember, if your business isn’t where you want it to be, don’t be afraid to inspect things, change things, and take risks. This is where growth happens!
Final Thoughts
Building the business of your dreams can be as exciting as it is stressful. With that in mind, it’s best to have a plan and patience.
Need help with fine-tuning your content marketing strategies? Be sure to contact us! We’re here to help you during every step of your exciting process!