Creating a sustainable and regenerating approach to content is essential to effectively connect with various types of users across multiple channels and increase conversions. Consistent messaging is vital to designing the foundation for which a brand can begin to be followed and trusted, one of the main reasons why a user will visit in the first place and really the only reason why they might ever return.
Taking into consideration vast market share of users, organizations must appeal to and connect with each segment in an authentic manner through a tailored content strategy.
A truly effective content strategy shares information with consumers to help them improve their lives. It’s become increasingly clear that content is the cement that helps build an organization’s infrastructure and keeps the house from falling down.
Brands, bloggers and businesses are constantly singing the praises of content marketing and how it can support a brand, but the crux of the issue is that few seem to truly understand how to implement a strategy, what its main goals are, and at the base of it – how to go about developing an effective and sustainable plan around it. It’s important to know that content is about more than just being a good writer and that a strategy fit for the brand it represents must be put in place.
Review
Evaluate and analyze existing assets. This includes both visual and contextual material, from everything including print to digital media. Review website analytics, social media statistics, email campaigns, and marketing initiatives, taking an overall hindsight of what has come before. Take an inventory of information, company culture, standards and infrastructure.
Ideate
With top of line takeaways from the existing asset review, define points of view, subjects and topics that resonate with the user. Expand and generate fresh material. Create user personas to develop an expanded market share steeped in the data of what has come before with a new approach.
Construct
Understanding the strategic point of view, pull together the parts and pieces to reveal user pathways and begin to construct the architecture of the strategy. This includes bringing together stakeholders, detailed marketing plan, metadata and services/infrastructure needed to support the ongoing maintenance of the plan, the creation of assets, copywriting and community building.
Schedule
Once the material has been built, an editorial calendar can be constructed acting as a framework for ongoing implementation, actionable items and assignments for various team members accountable for various aspects of the strategy implementation.
Manage
From daily or weekly create content reviews, data monitoring, posting and community management – daily operations are necessary to keep the wheels turning and quality control at maximum levels.
When a team works in tandem to understand that the purpose of content planning is to deliver the best outcome – for designers, clients and strategists alike – the process turns into a more creative and smooth experience. This shift unifies a team, which builds trust in each other on a heightened level – understanding that the main goal is to deliver the best final product and ultimately, a more engaged user and better bottom line.