These days, it seems everyone is talking about content marketing. There’s good reason for all the discussion: engaging, branded content is a great way to connect with consumers, and help pull them through your sales funnel. Done properly, great content can generate quality leads and, just as importantly, position your organization as a trusted resource for information.
We worked diligently on a content plan to support the launch of Vya. Here are a few key takeaways we’ve discovered exploring this process:
Make it relevant.
Kick off content planning the same way you approach any marketing initiative – with research. This includes reviewing competitors, meeting internally and analyzing key metrics to help shape strategy and determine what potential clients are interested in reading.
Localization can also help drive relevancy. Consider empowering your local sales team to customize content with contact information, local trends or sales information. Connecting your content with what consumers are interested in is an effective strategy to brand your information, and help you stand out.
Make it easy to find.
Content is only great if people can find it, read it and share it. Spend time identifying how you will promote and share blogs, white papers, infographics and case studies to ensure it is within easy reach of your target audience.
The same goes for your partners. Treat all content – white papers, briefs, blog posts, social posts, and more – like any piece of marketing collateral. Be sure it’s easy to access and teams know how to customize and seek the necessary approvals. Local sales teams can share relevant articles in email newsletters, highlight on individual websites, social media channels and other relevant platforms.
Track it.
Like any good program, set up goals before implementing a content program and ensure measurements are in place. Do you want increased web traffic? Acquire more blog subscribers? Capture more qualified leads? Identifying that goal early in the process makes tracking content easier and more effective. Consider website analytics, social metrics, downloads and more as possible metrics for your content plan.
Evaluate it.
It’s important to do more than just track clicks and download to help determine if content marketing strategies are working. Take a step back and evaluate the big picture: Are pieces performing as you anticipated? Are there topics customers are asking about? Does your strategy have any holes? Is information missing? Be sure to set aside time to evaluate content at least once a quarter to ensure you continue to offer interesting, branded content to your customers.
There are many ways to approach a content marketing plan. The most important is identifying a strategy and process that works for you, delivers valuable content to customers and positions you as an industry expert that target audiences continually seek out. Setting a solid strategy from the beginning is key to ensuring your content marketing plan translates to your final goals, and helps turns readers into leads, and leads into customers.
Do you have a content marketing plan? What are your biggest challenges? Share your thoughts with us at @vya_systems.
