The Complete Guide to Building a Content Marketing Strategy From Scratch

1.  Understanding Content Marketing: What is Content Marketing?

Have you ever built a content marketing strategy for your business? Building an entire content marketing strategy can seem impossible. Even more so when you are building it from scratch. We are going to make it easier for you. But first, what is a content marketing strategy, and what kind of investment is it? Let’s break it down.

Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience - to drive profitable customer action.

It is an investment in time, creativity, and talent. Content marketing is not just about digital assets like blog posts or videos. It’s about generating quality content your target audience wants to engage with. Content marketing is what gets people to care about your company’s products, services, and offerings.

With the context out of the way, let's move on to the actionable steps of creating a content marketing strategy.

2. Get Started With a Solid Plan

In order to create a successful content marketing strategy, it is essential to have a plan. A plan includes details about your target audience, goals of content campaigns, and each asset that aligns with each campaign stage. 

There are many tools that can help you develop a content marketing plan. One tool to keep in mind is SEMrush. This tool can help content marketers make data-driven decisions, optimize their content for search engines, and stay ahead of the competition in their industry. Another great option is Hubspot, which helps with content marketing by providing a suite of tools for content creation, optimization, promotion, and analysis all in one platform. Marketing agencies can also assist with developing a content marketing plan. Whether you develop content in-house or externally, It is essential that you have a solid plan that outlines who you want to reach and what you hope to achieve. 

3. Review Current Content Marketing Trends and Data 

Let’s take a look at a few content marketing stats in 2023 from The State of Content Marketing in 2023 [Stats & Trends to Watch] (by Hubspot).

1. 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
2. 22% of marketers say that Instagram has the most growth potential in 2023
3. Marketers say that sales, web traffic, and social engagement are the most critical metrics for measuring the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy.

Within the past year, we have been encouraging our clients to start participating in short-form video content. In one year, one client has grown their Instagram audience by 169%, engagement by 755%, and impressions by 724%! We have seen real growth when you can adapt to the ever-changing marketing landscape. 

Ready to see this level of growth? Schedule your free consultation today.

4. Creating Your Content: The Importance of Creating Engaging & Original Content

Creating engaging and original content is not just a trend, it is a necessity. Content is the backbone of any marketing strategy. It can create or break the success of any business. To make your content compelling and effective, you need to find what works for your unique brand and audience.

The first way to find what works for your brand is to be original. Find your brand’s niche and run with it! This may take some trial and error but it will be worth it. When you create original content, people associate your brand with that originality. Get out of the sea of sameness, and show off what makes your brand unique!

The second way is to get creative! There are so many businesses out there, which means you have a lot of work to do to stand out. You have to find what makes your brand unique and embrace it.

5. How to Analyze Your Content Marketing Strategy

How do you know if your content marketing strategy works? Measuring the impact of content can be challenging. Still, by utilizing analytics tools like Google Analytics and measuring key performance indicators, you can gain valuable insights that will help you maximize your content marketing success.

At a minimum, understanding the reach and engagement of your content can give you valuable insights into what kind of content resonates with customers and what type of content fails to get noticed. Additionally, using analytics tools to examine trends over time and compare them across different channels can help you determine which content distribution channels are most effective for reaching potential customers.

Given the right goals, data points collected from these analytical efforts can be incredibly useful in helping to inform strategies for future campaigns. Don’t forget that trial and error are necessary when perfecting your content marketing strategy!

Take Action

Now that you have the steps to create your content marketing strategy, it’s time to take action and start growing! If you need help or support, schedule a free consultation with Green Hearted today to chat about all things content and marketing-led growth.

Not ready for a meeting? Follow us on social!

‍

‍