Why do you need a content strategy? According to Michael Benner on Forbes.com the answer is as follows:
This is a simple argument: The web, social and mobile revolutions have changed the world connecting all of us and enabling the seamless flow of instant information. We are all now the most popular and trusted source of news and information for each other.
Marketing is not just about promotion. Traditional Marketing techniques are no longer as effective as they used to be. The amount of content and messaging being delivered to consumers every day is increasing exponentially. And so, a content strategy can save marketing and maybe your entire business!(Source Forbes)
A detailed content strategy helps with all facets of your marketing effort, especially your blog, newsletter, and social strategy. A good content strategy answers the questions most often asked by your customers and prospects and tells a story about how you or your product/solution will improve their life. As Michael goes on to say in his article on b2bmarketinginsider, the content you provide should to be helpful and not boring.
Easy enough said, but how do you deploy a meaningful and detailed content strategy? Lets look at two theoretical examples: A B2C Travel Company and a B2B IT/Cloud Solutions Company.
ABC Travel
This B2C company is seeking to promote its latest travel destination – Wakiki Beach Resort. What ABC Travel knows is that people who experience this destination love it and people looking for travel destinations like to hear about these experiences.
So for ABC Travel their content strategy will focus on these positive experiences and will include the following recommendations:
- Create original content on a regular basis that discusses how people would experience different parts of this destination, from local shopping to tips on hiking or just relaxing.
- Leverage other people’s experiences and use them effectively:
- Post positive experience testimonials in your blog, newsletter, website and social accounts.
- Respond to comments or questions on your blog and social sites.
- Use video to deliver destination highlights and to record comments from people describing their experience at the destination.
- Invite people to post their pictures and portions of their home video from their visit.
- Create an experience-focused newsletter, where your original content is surrounded by experiences shared by prior visitors.
- Capture leads from promotions based on shared experiences. Â Ask people to share an experience on their social sites, and reward them if they can get friends to book a trip.
As you can see, from the core principle of “people sharing experiences”, ABC Travel is able to quickly establish a detailed content marketing plan.
ABC Tech Solutions
This B2B company sells cloud-based IT solutions. What ABC Tech knows is that the biggest hurdle to getting customers to convert to their service is fear of the transition. So the main principle of their content strategy is: “Don’t fear the transition, it is not as hard as you think”. To achieve this goal, their detailed content strategy will include the following recommendations:
- Develop original content on how organizations succeeded in their transition and the efficiencies they found.
- Use LinkedIN Groups to capture other peoples thoughts on transitioning to the cloud and post these thoughts and conversations on your blog
- Curate content from other experts that dispel fear of transition and highlight efficiencies earned.
- Respond to concerns posted online or via email with links to real people’s experiences.
- Produce a regular “transitions” newsletter, which includes your blog and social content on this subject.
- Have a form where you can schedule a call with an expert on how to make your transition happen today.
In this detailed content strategy, ABC Tech is addressing their customer’s fear of transition head on. The strategy addresses this core issue from several angles which emphasize user-generated content and testimonials along with content curated from outside experts. Ultimately this strategy leads people to talk to an expert at ABC Tech who can convert these leads into new customers.
In both of these examples, a core customer issue was identified that becomes the start of a content strategy. From this, a detailed content strategy can then be defined. What types of content strategies have you created and how did they work?