Content Marketing Strategy 101
"Content marketing is the strategic marketing approach of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action."
“In just one sentence, what is your best content marketing advice?”
"We recently polled our LinkedIn group, The Content Marketing Forum, to ask them this exact question and were overwhelmed by the number of quality responses we received from marketers around the world. Most of these responses fell into one of four categories:
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Best Content Marketing Advice In Just One Sentence
1. Start with A Sound Strategy
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What Do I Need To Get Started in Content Marketing?
There are two essential elements to every successful content marketing plan:
These two elements are key, not only because they help you decide what content you should be creating, but also because they are great lenses through which you can examine content projects from an enterprise perspective and figure out if there’s something in particular that you should not be doing.
Let’s explore each of these in more detail:
- An understanding of your goal(s)
- A mission statement
These two elements are key, not only because they help you decide what content you should be creating, but also because they are great lenses through which you can examine content projects from an enterprise perspective and figure out if there’s something in particular that you should not be doing.
Let’s explore each of these in more detail:
Understanding Your Goals
Content should never be created for its own sake. Rather, it needs to support at least one core marketing or business goal. Consider the ways you would like a proposed piece of content to help your business. For instance:
- Do you need to raise awareness for your brand?
- Do you need to build your email list?
- Do you need to nurture prospects along their buyer’s journey?
- Do you need to convert your audience to paying customers?
- Do you need to retain customers and/or increase their purchases (up-sell/ cross-sell)?
- Do you need to convert customers to evangelists?
Creating (and Following) A Mission Statement
A mission statement outlines a company’s reason for existing — and the priorities and perspectives it upholds in pursuit of that mission. As such, it should speak to three components of any successful marketing endeavor:
Hint: Your audience should never be “everyone” — even if you can find a use case for everyone. Be as specific as possible, and then get to know this person as well as you can. You may have a few different audiences you plan to target with your content, and that’s perfectly fine. If you’re wondering where to “draw the line,” consider whether their informational needs are different. If they are, you will likely need to consider them separately.
- The core audience target: The type of person you can help most with your content
- What will be delivered to the audience: The types of information you will provide through your content
- The desired outcome for the audience: Things your audience will be able to do once they have consumed your content
Hint: Your audience should never be “everyone” — even if you can find a use case for everyone. Be as specific as possible, and then get to know this person as well as you can. You may have a few different audiences you plan to target with your content, and that’s perfectly fine. If you’re wondering where to “draw the line,” consider whether their informational needs are different. If they are, you will likely need to consider them separately.
What Is Content Strategy Anyway?
Content strategy is not a single solution or deliverable. It’s a process and a mindset. If you approach your content marketing initiative knowing that it will constantly evolve, and that you’re guiding its evolution, then you’re practicing content strategy.
The de facto definition for content strategy comes from Kristina Halvorson, founder of Brain Traffic, and author of Content Strategy for the Web. She describes content strategy as “planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content.”
Content strategy evaluates business and customer needs and provides strategic direction on how improved content and content processes can help to achieve specific objectives. It’s a continual process of improvement.
Content & The Sales Funnel
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Content Marketing Funnel
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So how do content creators adapt to the changing sales funnel? How do they engage, inform, and entertain invisible audiences, turning them into visible leads?
It starts with addressing each stage of the sales funnel with quality content that focuses on the target audience's needs as they move toward purchase. Before mapping content to various stages, it's important to understand the mindset of a prospect at each stage. The top, middle, and bottom of the the sales funnel can generally be connected to three common mindsets:
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Today’s buyer is different. A pitch from the sales team is no longer the first contact a buyer has with your company.
Instead, due to the abundance of information on the internet, your buyers will do their own research first. In fact,66–90% of the buyer’s journey is complete before he or she even reaches out to a sales person. So, it is your job as a marketer to help your customers self-educate through their buying journey. High quality, educational content marketing helps you become a trusted resource for your buyer. It helps your brand stand out from the noise, and it also reduces risk for the buyer because you are creating a lasting relationship. |
TOFU, MOFU, BOFU Process
Knowing prospects' concerns allow for a content strategy that speaks directly to their needs. The sections below provide examples of how content might align to each stage of the sales and marketing funnel.
Top of Funnel
The top of the funnel, or "awareness" stage, is the perfect place to educate prospects--not about a specific product or solution, but about topics that matter most to them and/or their business. This stage attracts new prospects, answers questions on topics relevant to both the buyer and brand, and builds trust.
This is the widest stage of the funnel, so content doesn't need to be dense. It should contain enough information to keep prospects engaged. Content should be entertaining and educational. This is the perfect place to work in humor and show a bit of character. The goal is to move buyers from "limited knowledge" to a greater degree of proficiency while leaving them wanting more. The purpose of top-of-the-funnel content is to intrigue, not to sell, and to capture quality leads looking for further information. |
Common Types of Top-of-the-Funnel Content:
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Middle of Funnel
The middle of the funnel, or "evaluation" stage, tackles the issues impacting leads at a deeper level, and gradually pulls them toward solutions. Content in this stage makes a connection between top-of-funnel educational resources and information around products and services.
Prospects at this stage are investigating and comparing. They research multiple companies, weigh the pros and cons, and seek out data and information around how a solution would actually function within their organization. Content served at this level must detail how to solve particular personal/business challenges and highlight value propositions. This stage must continue to educate prospects, but should also challenge them to think differently about a solution. Content with data, facts, and third-party involvement fits within this stage very well. |
Common Types of Middle-of-the-Funnel Content:
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Bottom of Funnel
At this point, prospects enter the "purchase" stage. Marketers look for intent to buy—absorption and interaction with top- and mid-funnel content. Content at this stage should help overcome final objections and empower opportunities to make an educated decision.
Content should reinforce positive sentiments built up from previous interactions with the company, holding creeping doubts at bay. High-level content is replaced by niche and/or product-specific assets. This is a stage for advanced topic matter content showcasing expertise and equipping sales to act as thought leaders. |
Common Types of Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content:
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Note that these are just suggestions of types of content that work in these stages. Many of these types can work at any stage of the sales cycle depending on the subject matter and the granularity of the information it includes.
Companies need to test performance of content in various stages, making adjustments as data is analyzed to keep the content strategy fresh and effectively targeted.
Companies need to test performance of content in various stages, making adjustments as data is analyzed to keep the content strategy fresh and effectively targeted.