content strategy is so important //

Is your brand able to articulate a strategy for content marketing?

It should.

Planning is key to achieving the ever-elusive return of investment (ROI).

Even if your not a natural planner you will likely agree that it is easier to accomplish most tasks if you plan ahead.

Planning your week’s meals is better than just winging it. A list of things you want to do when grocery shopping is a better option than nothing. Plan your trip instead of just stepping on the plane without any idea of what you will do or where you will go.

Living in the unknown can bring out some people’s excitement. Planning is important for everyone, regardless of whether they want to save money or eat healthier, as well as get a table at a trendy restaurant while on vacation.

The same applies to content marketing.

Your content marketing efforts will be much more unsuccessful if you don’t have a strategy.

Without a solid content strategy, profitable content marketing is impossible.

Let’s talk about why content strategy is so important to answer the “why?” question.

First, let’s clarify what a content strategy is.

What is a Content Strategy?

A content strategy is a plan which outlines how you will create, publish, promote and manage content.

The content strategy defines your brand’s goals and guidelines. It also helps you to budget, structure your team, and establish content rules. These questions are answered definitively by the content strategy.

• Why do we create content? (What are our goals?)
• For whom create content? (Who are our target audiences?)
• How can we create content? (Will we hire in-house talent?) Hire writers/graphic designers/videographers?)
• Whatcontent should we create? What topics and formats should we be focusing on?
• When/where will you publish content? (On our website?) (On our website?
• How can our audience find our content How does SEO tie in?
• Who manages, publishes, and promotes our content? What does the content team look like and who plays what roles?

These questions are essential to answering when creating content. All of these questions can be answered if you create a content strategy before you publish any article. That’s key.

A content strategy is the key to creating profitable content

Content strategy is something that you have been paying attention to.

Why?

Smart content marketing delivers amazing results and is cheaper than traditional advertising.

To get these results you need a strategy. A strategy is a map that leads you to profitable content that generates ROI. Here’s why.

1. Companies that produce high-quality content are known for having a content strategy

According to a Semrush survey, 97% businesses said they use content marketing as part their overall marketing strategy. Only 57% of respondents said they had a written strategy and only 19% claimed that their strategy was complete.

What’s the clincher? The clincher?

What does this all mean?

Many businesses are using content marketing but not realizing its full potential.

You need a content strategy to do this. You will also need to have it documented.

This is important because without a plan, content efforts will be scattered. Unpredictable results are the result of scattershot efforts.

This is true if you are able to earn any results.

2. There is no content strategy. No results

Here’s how content marketing works without a strategy:

A small company decides to create a blog. It is a small company that decides to start a blog.

They don’t know where to look so they check out what others are doing and then follow their lead. They publish whenever they can, which means that publishing is irregular and scattered. With little differentiation, they post on the same topics as their main competitor. The blog can become quiet for months when the brand is busy.

One year later, the brand reviews the blog results and discovers none. They conclude that blogging is a waste.

It is in this case. The problem is that the brand involved started off wrong. Content marketing was seen as an accessory that could easily be accomplished in spare time.

Content marketing must be seen as a business activity. A content strategy can help you do that.

It is important to plan when, how and why you will do it and for whom. It is important to plan in order to ensure your brand posts consistently and frequently (because consistency leads better results). This will take more than one person’s time.

Reality check: This will take dedicated effort from someone whose 9-5 job consists only of content creation.

What will you do to direct this person? How will you assign the resources needed to hire or pay this person? How can you make sure that the content is successful? Plan. A content strategy is essential.

3. Your people, processes and technology are aligned by a content strategy

You want content that delivers results. Your entire team and brand must be on the same page. They should have the same expectations.

Documented content strategies align all the pieces, such as puzzle pieces that snap together to create a complete picture.

You can think of creating a content strategy like laying out your battle plan to increase brand awareness, draw in more website traffic and nurture your audience.

These goals require many moving parts, multiple people, and a lot of tools (e.g., a publishing platform, search tools, a calendar, content calendar, social media scheduling and tools, content checking tools, content editing tools, content checkers, collaboration tools, etc.).

The strategy explains how all of these pieces fit together.

This is why your team and you should decide about and record who, what and where and when so that your content has the best chance of success.

4. You can win buy-in with a content strategy

We’ve already explained that content marketing requires investment. It’s not enough to have people who can plan, create, manage and promote content. People who are skilled in their field are essential. You need people who can help you facilitate each stage.

What if your marketing budget isn’t sufficient? You will need to get buy-in from the top.

How can you get content marketing buy in? You need to create a strategy that includes goals, a timeline, metrics, and a budget.

This strategy is proof that you are competent in your field. It also serves as a guideline for others on how to successfully execute your content strategy.

It is a powerful document that you can use to get buy-in from your bosses, managers, clients, executives and any other person who has the power to invest.

5. Content strategy can give you a competitive advantage

According to a Content Marketing Institute survey, only 40% of marketers claim they have a documented content strategy.

In the past few years, this statistic has not changed.

Yet, every year, marketers who have a documented strategy outperform those without one.

They have a competitive advantage because of this. To gain an edge in content marketing, you need a well-documented strategy that guides everything you do.

The final document and creation are the key to a content strategy’s power.

Brands can identify key areas that are crucial to their success when they sit down and work out the content.

• Clarifying and refining their content objectives.
• Get to the core of what they need with content.
• Imagine what this content should look like.
• Strategize how to execute using a set of clear actions, like a blueprint.

This is why it shouldn’t surprise that content strategists and writers are consistently top performers.

Bottom line: Join the club if you want to be competitive.

Without a content strategy, your content marketing will fail more often

Your content strategy will be the foundation of your content marketing. It will decide whether or not your efforts fly.

Many brands approach content marketing with a laissez faire approach to it. They may even get “okay” results.

The truth is that “okay” shouldn’t be considered the standard.

This is because content can reach great heights for any brand regardless of size or industry.

This is how content can grow your brand.

However, to harness that power, need a content strategy.

Search Engine Land first published the post Why content strategies matter most.