How To Create A Content Marketing Strategy For Your Business in 5 Steps

Content marketing is a powerful and cost-effective method of sharing written text and video to a specific audience, with the intent of providing value for your niche, while promoting your online services and products. Sounds pretty important, right? Having a targeted strategy is key because the ultimate objective of marketing is to scale and grow your business.  Learn how to create a content marketing strategy in 5 steps.

Why You Need To Create A Content Marketing Strategy?

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When most people hear the word “content,” they typically think of written content like articles, blog posts or e-books. Don’t forget, though, that podcasts, videos, tutorials, infographics, and vlogs are also great ways of marketing your content.

The reason behind this form of marketing is to get your message to the masses. There are many ways to accomplish this, and using a combination of media will add interest, and keep your followers coming back for more.

Consistently delivering valuable and relevant content to your readers and viewers will position you as an expert in your field. As they absorb your information, overtime, they’ll come to trust you as an authority, making it far more likely they’ll buy your products, and take advantage of your services. This is the gist of content marketing.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, with no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.  Click here to read my affiliate policy.

Creating Valuable Information For Your Audience

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Think of content marketing as a form of attraction. Informative and helpful content, that solves a problem or meets a need, generates not only quality leads, but inexpensive ones as well.

Content marketing is critical to growing a loyal fan base. The best way to grow this following is by offering information that both you and your audience are passionate about.

Any successful entrepreneur realizes the importance of the know, like, and trust factor, commonly referred to in the online marketing world.  The idea behind this concept is that a consumer is more likely to buy from a person if they’ve come to already know them, like what they stand for, and trust their expertise.

[Read More: Site Content [The Ultimate Writing Platform]

Benefits Of Having A Consistent Strategy

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If you’re a blogger, affiliate marketer, or small-business owner, content rules and here are six reasons why:

• Brand Awareness
• Followers And Fan Base
• Engagement
• SEO
• Lead Generation
• Sales Conversion

Let’s get into the details of each of these valid reasons to focus on content as a major marketing strategy.

5 Ways To Create A Content Marketing Strategy

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1. Building Brand Awareness

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First, let’s define the term “brand.” From Wiki: “A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes an organization or product from its rivals in the eyes of the customer.”  Your domain name, logo, website colors, business cards, tagline, and fonts are all components of a brand that distinguishes your company from your competitors.

Increasing brand awareness is important because your brand is what your target audience will associate your products and services with. Brand awareness is the first step in the process of turning an initial follower into a dedicated customer; no awareness, no business transaction. Basically, branding puts you in the minds of your buyers.

Creating weekly content in the form of blog posts, videos, or tutorials familiarizes your readers with your brand, and what your business represents. If you’ve ever heard the term “sales funnel,” you’ll realize how important brand awareness is because it represents the first step in this important buying cycle, that hopefully culminates in the final action step of purchasing.

Here’s an illustration:

2. Get Free Followers

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Content marketing doesn’t cost a lot but, like anything worth doing, will involve effort.  Developing a loyal fan base takes time, and is the name of the game for any business with their sights on success.

Taking advantage of this free form of marketing is just good business. Provide high-quality content on an ongoing basis and watch how many people will start following you. This doesn’t happen overnight, of course, but if you consistently deliver great information, you will see your numbers increase.

Be sure to include a call-to-action on each piece of content you post to your website, while also including social media share and like buttons. A call-to-action is basically asking your visitors to complete an action. Examples include, “sign up for my newsletter by clicking this link,” or “get my free offer here.”

Get creative with your calls-to-action, and switch them up occasionally to access which ones work best. They’re a great way to expand your email list, direct your readers to your product page, or have them take advantage of a free training course you’ve created. Calls-to-action are a terrific way to supercharge your content marketing.

3. Encourage Engagement

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The more engaged you are with your audience, the more likely they’ll be to buy whatever you’re selling. Inviting your readers to comment on your content is a great way to encourage engagement. Replying to those comments lets your readers know you are actively present on your site, leading them to see you, not only as trustworthy, but an authority in your niche.

Did you know that comments on your blog posts increase your SEO? This is because Google then views your content as useful and engaging, and your rankings will improve as a result. People sharing and liking your content is a great endorsement for you, extending your reach. Get your followers marketing your content for you. Think of it as free publicity!

Post original and interesting content weekly to keep your readers coming back for more. Experiment with videos and tutorials to shake things up. Take it one step further by creating your own YouTube channel or writing an eBook. Delivering up-to-date content keeps you in touch with your audience, and this connection is vital to the growth of your business.

[Read More: Is Video Marketing The New Blogging?]

4. Increase Search Engine Optimization

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I don’t doubt you’ve heard the term”search engine optimization” or “SEO,” but do you know what it actually means? SEO is simply the process of generating free, organic traffic from the search results of any of the major search engines.

Using a keyword-research tool is essential to optimize your posts for SEO. My favorite tool is Jaaxy. Keywords give you a peek into what people are searching for, and you can use this information to your advantage. Finding relevant keywords increases SEO, driving traffic to your website.

[Read More: Jaaxy Keyword Research Tool Review]

What constitutes a good keyword? A targeted keyword is one that has enough searches, but not too much competition, leading to rankings in Google. This is how it works: you find an optimal keyword based on search volume and competition. Someone out there in cyberspace googles your particular keyword. They click on the link to your post, that corresponds to the specific keyword, which leads them to your website. You have now generated a lead.

This is what is called organic, or unpaid traffic, as you didn’t have to pay a dime for advertising. If this same person is interested in your product, or whatever you are promoting, and they decide to purchase, you have now turned your lead into a profit.

Maybe they’ll even sign up for your email newsletter, allowing you to automatically market to them with each new piece of content you create. Can you see why keywords are important, and why taking the time to do your research before creating content is worth doing?

5. Generate Free Leads & Increase Sales Conversion

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A lead is simply a potential client or buyer. “Lead generation” refers to the interest a prospective client or buyer shows in the products or services an online business offers. What better way to provoke this interest than to write engaging and captivating content.

People are hungry for information, and tips and tricks on new ways of doing things. Fulfill this need and watch your leads, and eventually, your sales grow. This is how quality content sells., and is the activating force behind traffic, lead generation, and sales. Educational and inspirational content will always be a top-priority marketing strategy.

Teaching and informing your readers, on innovative and creative ways, to rise above their challenges is the best marketing tactic out there. They’ll return to your site for more helpful tips and tricks on how to improve their lives. Do your job well, and your readers will reward you, not only monetarily, but by sharing your content with others.

 Sales Conversion

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Sale, sales, and more sales; This is the goal of any online and brick-and-mortar business, and the ultimate objective of your content marketing campaigns. The hard work of writing articles and producing videos will eventually pay off, and I mean this, quite literally. Think in terms of quality and quantity,  then rinse and repeat.

The best way to increase your sales conversion is to receive a steady stream of website traffic from every piece of content you produce. Follow each of these steps to increase your chances of generating traffic:

• Increase brand awareness by delivering relevant content, pertinent to your target market.
• Encourage website engagement and social media sharing.
• Optimize SEO by performing keyword research for all your content.
• Focus on delivering fresh, original content on a weekly basis.

As you can see, the common theme underlying these techniques is great content. You can take this a step further by keeping an eye on your analytics to see which of your posts are performing best. Learn more about Google Analytics here. This information will give you an idea of what your readers are looking for and enjoying, and you can then focus on creating similar content going forward.

Looking For A Way To Make Money Online?

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Key  Points

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As you can see, content truly is king in the marketing world. From building your brand, to increasing your fan base, to selling your products and services, content marketing can’t be beat in terms of what it offers.

Are you a content marketer? Would you like to be? Let me know in the comments:)