Often the idea of developing a whole strategy for content creation is considered overkill, or simply too time-consuming. After all, isn’t content just writing a few blogs and creating an annual brochure? Of course, the simple answer is no, absolutely not! But you’d be surprised at how many senior business leaders still think exactly that.
To help clear up those misconceptions and give you a basic framework to get started with, we’re sharing five key reasons that having a comprehensive content strategy should actually be an integral part of your marketing plan.
1. Content is everything
First and foremost, let’s dispel that frustrating myth that content marketing is just blog writing. While blogs are undoubtedly a big and important part of a content strategy, a good one will also include email marketing, social media, product landing pages, brochures (digital and physical), press releases and even event marketing collateral. The list goes on. Essentially what we’re trying to say is that virtually all marketing relies on good quality content being written - or produced. Because yes, content is also imagery, video and illustrations. Told you, content is everything. So why wouldn’t you have a strategy for it?
2. Good SEO relies on content creation
These days we all know how important SEO is for businesses, especially as more and more things move solely online. While many people think of SEO as a very technical field (fair enough, it can be a minefield!) experts know it is also entirely reliant on creative content creation.
For example, you can spend weeks researching hundreds of keywords to target, but to actually start targeting you’ll need to write content that includes them. And don’t fall into the trap of ‘keyword stuffing’, where you aimlessly try to fit loads of keywords into existing page copy. If you want to have real, long-lasting SEO success you’ll need to produce well written, genuinely helpful content that Google will recognise as being useful to users. Start with the keywords, then develop a full and thought-out content strategy which guides you to regularly produce relevant and engaging content full of those magic little phrases.
3. Content drives engagement, and converts
On the topic of engaging content, let’s be clear that well written content is still the single biggest way to actively engage potential customers. Done well, content will inspire, educate, entertain or help its readers. It should always have a purpose, and it should always be tailored to address its specific target audience. Get those key basics right and you’ll find readers coming back again and again, and eventually converting into customers. Remember, though it might not seem like it with the endless streams of waffle on the internet, producing consistently quality content is rare. Do it and you’re on your way to success!
4. It pays to be organised with content
Just like with any other strategy, having your content projects, deadlines and ideas all mapped out in one place will give you invaluable oversight. From being able to accurately allocate resources to spotting gaps in the market, there’s no getting around the fact that the effort of getting organised in the first instance will be well worth it in the long run.
Another way that a clear content strategy can be useful is in helping you streamline all of your various marketing channels. Got a big new product launch coming up? Make sure you’re producing a timely email to let customers know about it, start shouting about it on social media at the same time, and don’t forget to produce a perfectly optimised landing page where people can find more information, too. By including big launches in a content strategy, you can ensure all the collateral is consistent and ready to go on time.
5. Tracking progress relies on strategy
Another trap businesses often fall into with content is forgetting to track progress or performance of a campaign. It’s all well and good coming up with amazing ideas and producing great content, but if you’re not tracking it, how do you know it’s actually doing its job?
For example, as hard as it might be to accept, sometimes the best laid plans and most ingenious ideas are a bit of a flop. That’s not necessarily because the idea was bad, but perhaps the execution needed work, or the timing was off. Perhaps you simply didn’t share the content enough. If you’re tracking each project in your content strategy - logging engagement, clicks, page views and conversions - over time you’ll be able to suss out the answer, and most importantly, learn from it for next time.
Content marketing with Melt Digital
If you could do with a helping hand to get your content strategy off the ground, or you need a team of writers to do the heavy lifting for you, let us know.
As experts in organic digital marketing we know a thing or two about what makes good content, and we'd love to help. Find out more about how we see content strategy for SEO.
