3 important steps to take before starting with content marketing
Big chance that you are already involved in some form of content marketing by for example creating posts on social media or maybe even writing blogs. Just creating content won’t cut it these days, because the competition is fierce.
Did you know that almost 70% of businesses are actively investing in content marketing in 2020?
Content marketing is an important part of your strategy and deserves a serious approach. So where do you start? There are three important steps you should think of before implementing a solid content marketing strategy that pays off:
- Consistency and relevancy over frequency
- Make sure to invest in your content marketing
- Have a dedicated content team in place
Step 1: Consistency and relevancy over frequency
Content marketing is not something you decide to do and are done with in a day, week or even month for that matter. It’s a marathon not a sprint. It’s about how you tell your company’s story every time from different angles and with a diverse range of topics.
It’s about being present on your channels and above all being consistent and relevant. I’m not saying that you need to post several times a day - there is no golden rule for that - but at least a couple of times a week. Depending on how much time you can dedicate to content marketing, it’s more important to post consistently than frequently.
"The best posting frequency is the frequency that you can keep up with consistently."
For example on Instagram, if you make a habit of posting several times a day and then transition to only a few times a week, you may start to lose followers and generate less engagement per post. Same goes for the rest of your content marketing activities. Take advantage of all the opportunities you have to connect with your audience by being consistent and present at the right time.
Make sure that your content addresses all of the touch points between your brand and your desired audience to build a meaningful relationship. You can accomplish this by posting interesting content consistently and keep doing so.
Step 2: Make sure to invest in your content marketing
Like I’ve mentioned before, content marketing is not something that you simply do in a day. Patience, time and resources need to be invested if you want to see some long-term results and accomplish your business goals, like:
- Creating brand awareness
- Improving your brand reputation
- Optimizing your salesflow
- Generating leads
It’s important to define one main goal and make it as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-oriented) as possible. In addition you can also formulate one or two secondary goals. This way you can easily define in what direction to steer your content marketing. Identify how your product or service can solve the problem you know your audience has and coach and educate your audience through this problem with relevant and engaging content. A solid strategy consists of:
- Goal(s)
- Brand personality
- Persona research
- Content audit
- Types of content you want to create
- Content distribution plan and channels
- Content calendar
Read more about these steps in this article: How to develop an effective content strategy.
The more defined your content strategy is, the more successful it will be. Once you’ve implemented your content marketing strategy, it’s time to start testing and experimenting. This process takes a lot of time and effort.
Step 3: Have a dedicated content team in place
In order to make your content marketing successful you need to have a team of professionals in place to carry it out. These people are key in making your efforts worth their while. A successful content marketing team consists of the following roles:
- Strategist - to build a solid and smart content strategy
- Editor - to develop content ideas and perform a check
- Content creator - to produce content
- Analyst - to measure the success of your content efforts
- Content manager - to oversee and coordinate the content
At DPDK we are a content marketing agency with a dedicated marketing and content team who are responsible for creating content that is in line with our brand identity. They are guarding our tone-of-voice and making sure that our content marketing efforts are consistent and relevant at all times.
Need an extra set of hands to make your content team even more successful? Our experienced professionals are happy to help. Get in touch!
