It’s time to talk about content strategy. Whether you are a digital marketer, a site manager, or a business owner, its time you realised that you are best placed to push the idea of a proper content strategy for your business.
And today is the best time to do it, because if you aren’t thinking content strategy, you are being left behind by those competitors that are.
I am just as tired of hearing “Content is King” as you probably are.
However, the truth is that the level of consumption of content, in any form, is at its highest peak in history.
And it’s time you either gave up or jumped on the bandwagon.
I know, people have been pushing the idea of “content” for many years now, however the truth that most people don’t realise: if Content is King, “Context is the Queen” that pushes the king behind the scenes.
If Content is King, “Context is the Queen”
So the two main things you should consider are:
- You need a content strategy.
- That content strategy should be in context of your business and its aims.
What is Content Strategy?
Before we go too far, let’s define content and content strategy…
Simply put, content is anything that engages with an audience, regardless of whether its job is to:
- Inform
- Instruct
- Entertain
- Inspire
- Engage
And as such, content comes in various forms from text in blogs, web pages, pdfs, to presentations, images, videos and even instructionals. Content is all around you; you just have to recognise it.
As such, a content strategy is the process of planning, building, distributing and analysing content in a way that benefits a business, whether it’s to drive sales, build leads, grow trust, demonstrate expertise, communicate with its audience, or simply to build the brand.
Why Build a Content Strategy?
In the normal day to day running of most businesses, we are most likely creating a tonne of content – whether that is intentional or as a by-product of carrying our daily functions. However a clear content strategy has one key difference:
The role of a good content strategy is to make sure that any content that is being created, is aligned with the business goals, and that all the time, the effort, and financial investment on the development and distribution of content has a return on its investment.
It is very easily to fall into myopia and spend fortunes and resources on a badly executed content strategy – the key is to see your content strategy as a whole. This is why we refer to it as a “strategy” and not a “tactic”.
Building a single infographic for building links is not a strategy; it’s an execution of a specific tactic.
The strategy should have been the building of an infographic, distribution, a corresponding commentary, an invitation for an opinion by experts, a follow up survey and responses to the opinions and emotions expressed as a result of the subject of the infographic.
The build of the pieces should follow and even go as far as to enhance brand guidelines and the brand rhetoric. The whole campaign should be mapped out as a precise exercise, from conception to evaluation.
Unfortunately I find a lot of businesses fail in doing so, resulting in a less than stellar result.
Are you thinking of a content strategy? Speak to us. We may be able to help.