How to Develop a Content Marketing Plan in Six Easy Steps!
In this article I discuss how to develop a content marketing plan in six easy steps.
Media Mark is a content developer and digital media marketing agency in Reno Nevada. Our focus is on helping small businesses compete in highly competitive online & brick and mortar markets.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing process focused on creating and sharing customer-centrict online material, such as videos, blogs, and multi-media content intended to stimulate interest in products or services. Content marketing creates and publishes relevant, valuable, consistent & informative product information designed to attract and retain a defined audience, ultimately to drive sales and consumer interest.
How to develop a content marketing plan in six easy steps!
1. Document a Strategy – Define Your Goals!
A written strategy keeps your message consistent and provides tools to help make decisions when developing content. Here’s a few links to get started. These links are go-to-resources for everything content marketing. But if you’re too busy managing your business, our professional content developers are here to help! Click here to view our content marketing plans.
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/create-content-strategy-drive-organic-traffic
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/content-marketing-plan/
2. Know your Customers – Do your Research!
Assuming you know your customers is not enough! Dig deeper. Use all available data. Talk to your customers. Conduct surveys. Hold events. Create customer profiles. Do keyword research. Dig into customer reviews, both positive and negative. Utilize Customer Relation Management (CRM) tools, but be aware not all CRM’s are created equal. Media Mark recommends and implements a CRM specific to your business needs and model.
To effectively attract customers you need to know as much about them as possible. It’s said we should know our customers better than we know our families. Media Mark knows what it takes to understand your customers. Understanding your customers is a process; once you’re aware of their needs you’ll be better able to meet those needs. But how do you do that? The below links provide some ideas on how to get started.
If you need help click here for a free consultation or quote.
“Data means nothing if you don’t know what to do with it! We do!”
http://customerthink.com/10-ways-of-getting-to-know-your-customers-better/
https://blog.marketo.com/2015/02/3-ways-to-be-your-customers-bff.html
3. Create a Content Publishing Calendar –
Creating a content calendar; a schedule for your posts will help keep you accountable and on track. Click here to download our free content publishing template.
4. Provide Value Based Content – Don’t Just Advertise!
Building brand advocates is imperative to sustaining market share, and earning new markets. Yes, businesses need to earn their markets! Just reaching out is no longer sustainable. Informed customers are, well, informed! And they like it that way. Creating value based content provides the means to directly engage and retain a recurring customer base.
5. Be Consistent –
It helps to produce relevant original content, on a regular basis, in order for it to show up in the search results. Even when you aren’t seeing immediate results it’s important to not give up. Keep growing, learning, and producing high quality original content. Consistency is a key metric to managing a successful content marketing program.
6. Publish Your Content –
When most people think of publishing content they generally think of tweeting and posting to Facebook and Instagram. These are all great places to publish content, and a great start, but they are not the only options.
First let’s talk about syndicating content. Incorporating industry influencers is a good means to syndicate your content. Creating relationships with industry influencers is beneficial in promoting and publish content in the right places. If you’re content is top quality, you will find industry influencers are more than willing to syndicate your content, as well build all important back-links.
Content publishing is a full time job. If you’re simply posting to your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feed you’ll find it difficult to garner much of a following, or reap the benefits of what a proper content marketing campaign can do. To succeed in managing a vibrant, customer driven, content and publishing campaign, follow these steps, and provide valuable content to your customer base.
Managing a blog is the single best content platform available to small businesses. A blog provides direct customer interest to your markets, as well as creating new website pages to help increase page rank.
Stick With It –
As with any marketing strategy, you’re going to run into some trial and error, but if you stick with it you’ll eventually see a qualitative Return on Investment (ROI) in your content marketing efforts.
It’s no small thing understanding what consumers really want, and what motivates them to make a purchase! But that is a core concept of an effective Content Marketing plan.
Hiring a professional content developer helps increase sales and your return on investment (ROI).
Media Mark creates, produces and publishes highly focused content marketing campaigns for better ROI. And we prove it every day!
The adage – “Marketing does not cost it pays” only holds true for those who do!
Real time metrics analysis is amazing, and helps guide efforts through accurate data. Media Mark reports and analyzes online metrics and adjusts campaign efforts for the best ROI in marketing. Data is useless unless you know what to do with it. We do!
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Thank you for reading, and good luck!