What is a content marketing strategy?

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How to create a content strategy?

Content marketing is a strategy used to create awareness of your brand or product, positively engage your audience and retain them via thoughtful and relevant content. This can include videos, podcasts, blogs or other media. Content marketing aims to establish trust with your target audience and keep your brand top of mind when your target audience moves to purchase.

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Step 1 - Establish your goals.

The first step in creating a content strategy is to establish your goals; what’s the reason that has led you to create a content marketing strategy? Are you trying to drive more traffic to your website or increase your sales leads? Are you looking to accelerate awareness of your brand or launch a new product? Once you have established your goals, then assign metrics; for instance, if you are looking to use your content strategy to drive followers on social media, how will you deem your content marketing strategy has been a success?

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Step 2 - Know your audience

The next step is about knowing your audience. If you have already established your ideal customer (see how to define your target customer), then this should be straightforward. Consider the demographics of your ideal customer, what age they are, their gender, where they are based, and why they would be looking for a product or service like yours.

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Step 3 - Understand the competitive landscape

Once you have identified your ideal customer, then it's critical to look at who else might be targeting them, aka, your competition. You will want your content and offering to stand out amongst the competition, so do your research! Identify your key competitors and find out how they are marketing, what content they are producing, and where they are putting it.

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Step 4 - Create your strategy

Now you know your target audience, where to find them, and how your competitors are marketing to them, it's time to start creating some engaging content. Consider the best platforms to reach your target customer and what content most appeals to them. Is it a long-form blog, or perhaps a short video or infographic is more digestible to your audience, not forgetting to consider the frequency of your content and what’s realistic in terms of production? At this stage, it might be helpful to look at a content calendar to give you a holistic view, monday.com or Hootsuite are good platforms to get you started.

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Step 5 - Start creating content!

Create your content with your target customer and your overall objectives firmly at the top of your mind. Remember, quality is better than quantity. Use platforms such as Canva to create compelling content that catches the eye of your target customers. And remember to promote your content. If you have created a fantastic infographic or blog, use social media to tell people it's there; otherwise, all your hard work will go to waste.

Here are a few ideas of the different types of content you might want to consider:

• Blog posts
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Ebooks
• Research reports
• Whitepapers
• Infographics
• Customer testimonials

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Step 6 - Monitor, Analyse and Refine

Once you have started delivering your content through your selected platforms, you must monitor performance and analyse how your target audience is receiving your content. There is no point in creating unique content if it's not reaching anyone.

Marketing with Bloom can help you define your content marketing strategy, get in touch today and let us help you create your perfect brand.

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