A content strategy provides an outline for your marketing content. A great content strategy should be based on your blog’s objective, your audience, your industry, your content delivery vehicle and more. A strategy that’s working for you will help keep your bounce rates low, keep the search engines on your side and your ROI high.
Determine Basic Content Strategy
1. Define Your Blog’s Purpose And Audience
List out the goals you have for your blog. What do you want? Better visibility, better SEO, manage your reputation, more leads? Also define who your audience is – the kind of people you want to attract to your blog, in terms of industry, location, interests and other demographics.
2. Determine The Kind Of Content You Want To Generate
Based on your niche and the preferences of your target audience, determine whether your blog needs industry news, event coverage, problem and solution articles and so on. Also determine the form of the content –blog posts, audio or video podcasts, microblogging and photos.
3. Determine Content Delivery Vehicles
You can post content on your website, guest post on other blogs, set up content newsletters to deliver your posts, upload mini posts on Facebook and more. Determine the length and coverage of your posts according to the content vehicle, based on where your customers are.
4. Determine How You Will Generate The Content
Determine if you will generate all of your content by yourself, or use others. When it comes to using outside help, determine what skills you’ll look for, such as coding for infographics, writing skills for posts, a keen eye for videos and so on.
5. Set Things In Motion
When you’re done determining content types, content vehicles and content generation, set things in motion. Create a content schedule (number of posts a week) for each month, hire the manpower you need, make a list of blogs for guest posting, and create a newsletter template.
Execute Content Distribution
6. Set A Timetable For Content Delivery
A timetable with set deadlines helps you plan your topics in advance. It also helps you to upload short or long posts based on the day of the week. For example, audiences may be more prone to reading a long post on weekends as opposed to weekdays. A timetable also gives you the flexibility to post current industry event news on your blog.
7. Create A Content Distribution Plan
A content distribution plan must work in sync with your timetable, to ensure your content gets read. Use Facebook, Twitter and newsletters to spread the word. When your content is published, use the same channels with a link back to your content.
8. Set Up An RSS Feed
An RSS feed is a great tool to pull in more readers. Your RSS subscribers will automatically get notified and will also get a link to your post. Submit your RSS feed to tools such as Technorati and Alltop to get backlinks – this ensures that you get more mileage and more people will find you online.
9. Repackage Your Content For Social Media
It helps to repackage posts into shorter content pieces for Facebook or Tumblr, so that people can access your content quickly and share it. Use Twitter and LinkedIn to share your headlines, key insights and quotes. Follow up on syndication opportunities with other blogs so that you get your content marketed to their audiences.
10. Email Post Summaries To Subscribers
Repackage a post into an easy-to-read summary, and email it to your subscribers to get them to visit your site more often. Summarize a week’s or a month’s posts, add links to the actual post and email it to subscribers.
Explore Content Generation And Curation Aspects
11. Maintain Stock Posts
Even if you have hired a writing resource, it’s best to keep some posts in stock, just for emergencies. Keep several stock posts in reserve, but don’t use them unless there’s a lag in your flow content.
12. Alternate Between Short And Long Posts
Alternate long, original and insightful posts with shorter ones offering curated links and industry excerpts. This strategy gets subscribers hungry for meatier content, which increases your refresh rate and reputation.
13. Do a Post Series
Split large posts into bite-sized chunks and release them slowly, creating a ‘post series’. This content distribution strategy gets your readers to tune in regularly and helps you get steady traffic.
Work On Readers’ Psyche
14. Recommend Similar Content To Readers
Recommend related content at the bottom of each post, from your own site, or from other authoritative sites. This strategy endears your blog to people, which increases pages per visit and subscription rate.
15. Ration Content
The trick is to give informative pieces and then provide a break so they can digest your offering properly. Don’t keep posting several pieces a day, because your audience won’t be able to process it all.
Stephen Wood writes for Invesp, a sale funnel optimization Company that helps online businesses in improving website usability and conversion rates of marketing campaigns.