The results of your content marketing efforts over the next 12 months will be a direct result of how you begin. Here are five steps to get you going in the right direction from the start.
- Define Why. Create/Refine your mission statement: This mission statement is specifically for your content marketing only and will define your core content strategies and priorities. By putting this in writing your will be forced to identify what you think your company is right now and what you want it to be by the end of 2018 with your content marketing leading the way.
- Define What. What should your content marketing look like and what do you want it to achieve: This concept, in essence, is defining your brand through content marketing. What unique attributes do you bring to clients? How are you different and how do you best convey that message to create action?
- Define Who. Target, target, target: To help you define your target audience combine hard data and past sales trends with a personal look at who your best client may be beneath the surface. Define your audience in terms of who they are, what their concerns and challenges may be and how they might look to you to help them solve problems and find greater success. If all you look at is hard data without taking a more personal look it’s like clapping with one hand – only half successful.
- Define How. Map out exactly how you will create and deliver your content marketing: This is where you define your editorial processes, guidelines, tools, tactics and methodologies to make your content marketing mission statement a reality. Who will write the content? What channels will the content be broadcast on? What is our core message?
- Define Success: How’d we do, was our content marketing effective?: Measure your content marketing’s performance. Determine if it was well received by current clients and define if it brought in new business. Identify weak areas and rework for success. To reach the right people at the right time, through the right content marketing channels and generate action you need to track and adjust continually.