When marketing your business, you want your audience to understand your brand’s value and highlight your product or service.
One of the best ways to promote your offerings is through creative and compelling content.
But crafting this compelling content doesn’t just happen by chance. You must first carefully consider your marketing goals and develop a strategy accordingly.
Your business deserves more than just any content. It deserves content with a clear purpose that can move it forward. Are you ready to take the first step on this journey?
Let’s begin!
Setting the Stage: Defining Your Goals
Clear goals are imperative for successful content creation and content marketing.
What are you aiming to achieve? Increased brand awareness? Higher conversion rates? Enhanced customer engagement? Knowing your destination will guide your content creation and your marketing efforts toward success.
These goals can serve as your guideposts, ensure your content strikes the right notes, and finds the right audience. But to truly succeed, you must craft content with intent to ensure that each piece contributes to the overall growth of your brand.
Without goals, content is just content—floating aimlessly in the vast digital expanse. But attach a plan to it, and suddenly, it transforms into a powerful tool for your business, a catalyst for growth and engagement.
Remember this: the ultimate aim of content marketing is to drive profitable action. Your content should be a force that moves your audience to act in ways that fuel the growth of your business.
Before you dive into the strategy itself, take time to figure out what exactly it is you hope to achieve. It does not need to be a singular goal, you can hit multiple objectives with related actions. But you do need to know what you want to achieve and who you hope to reach when developing your content marketing strategy.
Each goal will have a slightly different (but often related or intertwined) content approach.
Now that we’ve mapped out our content goals, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and dive into the fun part – figuring out how to nail those goals and make our content dreams a reality!
Here is a closer look at some common goals and some content marketing advice to help you get there:
Goal 1: Crafting Trust for Audience Connection
One marketing goal that might seem small but packs a serious punch is generating trust between the audience and your brand.
Why does it matter?
When your audience trusts your brand, they’re not just spectators; they’re engaged participants, ready to hit that ‘convert’ button because you appear or have proven yourself trustworthy.
But let’s be honest – building trust isn’t a quick fix. It’s a journey, a slow dance that happens one content piece and interaction at a time.
Here is how it is done:
- Show and Tell Your Brilliance: Convince your audience that you have the smarts. Share your knowledge, insights, and expertise. By sharing this information, you demonstrate that you are a valuable resource that they can return to over and over again.
- Get in Their Heads: Be the empathetic mind reader. Understand what keeps your audience up at night. What are their needs? What are their pains? Be a digital detective and explore the actions of your web traffic and the behaviors of your ideal target demographic.
- Become the Go-To Guru: Have the goods. Your audience is on a quest for information and solutions. Serve it up, and serve it up with flair.
By making trust the hub of your content strategy, you are committing to delivering information and a reliable source of expertise that your audience can lean on.
Audit Your Content
Great content lies at the heart of these efforts. According to a content marketing study, short content, ranging from 300 to 900 words, draws in 21% less traffic and garners 75% fewer backlinks than articles of moderate length, spanning 900 to 1200 words.
Exceptional content has the potential to elevate your position in search engine results pages (SERPs), foster heightened engagement, and, in the end, drive more conversions for your business.
To check if you’re acing this trust-building game, keep your radar on a couple of things:
- Content Quality Check: Each piece is a superstar – well-written, factually spot-on, hitting the bullseye for your audience, and delivering that “aha” moment on a topic that truly matters.
- Eavesdrop Virtually: Tune in to the vibes your audience is sending your way through feedback, reviews, comments, mentions, chats, and all that jazz. Their chatter spills the tea on how they perceive your brand and whether you’ve earned their trust. Keep your ears to the virtual ground.
- Survey the Scene: Sometimes, you’ve got to ask straight up. Conduct surveys to take a sneak peek into the minds of your followers, blog readers, fans, and customers. Get the scoop on how they view you as a brand.
Goal 2: Empowering Your Audience Through Knowledge Sharing
Many brands seek to educate their audience through content marketing.
Why create and share this type of content? It plants a seed of trust in your target audience and helps them choose you when the time is right.
To make this goal your own, ask yourself these questions before hitting the publish button:
- Is this content genuinely helpful, or have we gone full-on sales mode?
- For those keyword-focused topics, are we really answering what people are searching for? Are we giving them what they’re after?
- Does our content do justice to the topic? Is it like a deep dive into a subject or just skimming the surface?
- Is it well-written and packed with research and credibility?
- Does the content bring something fresh to the table, or is it just echoing what everyone else is saying?
Because here’s the deal: if a blog falls short in being educational—maybe it’s a bit shallow, the words aren’t flowing right, it feels rushed, or it leaves readers unsatisfied—then it’s not helping you hit your goals.
Goal 3: Building Real Connections
If you succeed in any of your content marketing goals, whether they are listed here or not, you are building a real connection with your audience.
Trust and knowledge build empowerment, allowing your audience to feel a part of your brand and processes.
Here are some things to keep in mind when attempting to build real connections with your audience:
- Keep it Real: In any relationship, being genuine is key. So, spill the beans in your business dealings, and let that honesty seep into your content. Whether it’s a change in prices, policies, or a few hiccups along the way, be upfront and let your customers in on the why. Do not be afraid to show them who you are.
- Stay Chatty: Whether it’s a chat bubble on your website or a lively convo on social media, be present and attentive. Because, let’s face it, relationships need good old-fashioned two-way banter. Responding to comments, DMs, emails, and queries, shows your audience that you are just as engaged as they are. It shows them you care about the product you put forward and want to meet their needs.
- Actions Speak Louder: Trust isn’t just words on a screen; it’s about walking the walk. Keep dishing out content that talks the talk and include the receipts, repeatedly proving that your business is the real deal. Trust, relationships, and good vibes – that’s the name of the game!
Goal 4: Increasing Website Traffic
Enhancing the influx of visitors to your website involves creating content that transcends mere quality, offering substantial value that resonates with both your target market and search engines.
Consider this statistic: 88% of B2B sites are discovered through unbranded searches. This signifies that users locate them through conventional keywords that address specific problems or information gaps.
However, it’s crucial to avoid hastening the process. Attempting to prioritize search engine rankings without prioritizing valuable content is similar to putting the cart before the horse.
Search engines are discerning and will not promote content users perceive as lacking value.
For those aiming to boost traffic, content marketing and SEO should be considered in tandem.
Be sure to account for the following:
- Audience Understanding: Go deep into your audience’s preferences, discerning the information and solutions they seek.
- Keyword Research: Navigate through the vast sea of keywords, isolating those that align with your brand and mirror the terms used by your audience in their searches. Look for gaps in related keyword use in an effort to position yourself ahead of your competition.
- Content Excellence: Produce content incorporating relevant keywords and serving as a comprehensive resource, prioritizing education and trust-building. The ultimate goal is to become a respected source within your industry, attracting traffic organically.
Goal 5: Maximizing Impact From Traffic to Customer Retention
In content marketing, the journey from growing traffic to retaining customers is a multifaceted expedition.
Let’s explore the interconnected goals and strategies that transform initial website visits into sustained customer loyalty.
Growing Traffic: Unveiling the Path to Visibility
Crafting valuable, helpful content becomes the launchpad for ascending search engine rankings. Your potential for traffic catapults as your content claims its place among the top results.
Keep in mind:
- Unbranded Searches: A staggering 88% of B2B sites are unearthed through unbranded searches, emphasizing the pivotal role of regular keywords in addressing user queries.
- Content-First Approach: The road to ranking is paved with valuable content. Prioritize content creation over a singular focus on search engine optimization, ensuring that your content holds intrinsic worth.
Increasing Leads: Turning Traffic into Relationships
The influx of traffic signifies an opportunity, but what’s next? Transforming visitors into engaged audience members and potential customers is a strategic move.
Key considerations include:
- Lead Generation Focus: Elevate your lead generation game by building an engaged list of email subscribers. Implement CTAs within your content and offer compelling lead magnets to entice sign-ups.
- Increasing Sales: Turning Content into Revenue: The power of content extends beyond traffic and leads; it can directly contribute to sales. Navigate the nuances of content-driven sales strategies, including:
- Strategic Keyword Targeting: Identify the right combination of keywords, pain points, and solutions to create content that seamlessly leads to direct sales.
- Building Trust: Consistent, nurturing content builds trust over time, influencing purchasing decisions even when direct sales aren’t the immediate goal.
Retaining Customers: Content as a Retention Tool
Customer retention is continuous, and content marketing plays a pivotal role in post-purchase engagement.
Considerations for effective customer retention include:
- Tailored Content for New Leads: Address the information needs of new leads, offering valuable insights and guidance.
- Ongoing Support through Content: Extend support beyond the sale by creating resources like knowledge bases, FAQ pages, and user guides tailored for existing customers.
Each phase unveils distinct challenges and opportunities as we navigate this comprehensive spectrum—from boosting traffic to retaining customers. By strategically aligning content efforts with these goals, you attract attention and foster enduring relationships that propel your brand forward.
Navigating Content Marketing Strategies with okwrite
If you’re facing challenges with your content strategy or require expert assistance, don’t hesitate to contact okwrite.
No matter your content goals, our team of experienced content creators and strategists is prepared to develop content that aligns with your goals and connects with your audience.