{"id":624,"date":"2020-09-26T01:59:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-26T01:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helprocure.com\/blog\/?p=624"},"modified":"2022-11-18T21:01:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T21:01:51","slug":"marketing-content-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helprocure.com\/blog\/marketing-content-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Master Content Strategy for Small Business in 5 Simple Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A content strategy is you using content as an investment wisely while marketing is of high cost f<\/span>or a small business.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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With a <\/span>carefully<\/span> laid out content marketing strategy, small businesses conceive content marketing as very efficient<\/span>. Furthermore, it produces a high ROI than when they have no content strategy guide in place.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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According to Content Marketing Institute (CMI)<\/a>, \u201c46% of small businesses have a documented content strategy, compared to only 41% of larger organizations<\/em><\/span>\u201d.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Respondents who have a documented digital content marketing strategy report higher levels of content marketing success<\/span>. Compared with those who have a verbal strategy only, or no strategy at all.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ensuring that you have a useful content strategy for website ranking and usable content, that is well structured, and <\/span>easily<\/span> found is vital to improving the user experience of your website and attracting potential clients to your small business<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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What Is Content Strategy?<\/h2>\n

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Content strategy refers to the planning, creation, development, and management of useful, usable content<\/span>. It is important to note that content not only includes the written aspect but also images and multimedia<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Tactics for content strategy marketing involves figuring out what content will help your target audience, and what will prompt them to take actions that will boost your business<\/span>. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It helps you layout goals you want to achieve through your content, the kind of content that is most suitable to achieve those goals, and how you are going to measure its performance<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Why Content Strategy Is Important for Your Small Business<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

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Your content is a means to show off your brand. Through the content you dish out, you form a connection with your audience. For these reasons, your content quality has to be at its highest stage of flawlessness.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Creating content for the sake of having it is a total waste of resources, thus you need to create content that serves a purpose, engages your audience and drives relevant consumers to your products and services<\/span>. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It is here content strategy comes in, as it does the heavy lifting to define why and what content should <\/span>be created<\/span>, so each piece is easier to develop<\/span>. As you make your way through the content lifecycle, you\u2019ll learn what content types resonate with your audience best<\/span>. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A content strategy for the web will also help you target your audience and determine if you are placing your content in the right channels<\/span>. You\u2019ll find ways to optimize your workflows, get feedback from customers, prospects, partners, and the public about your content that can help you refine your <\/span>overall<\/span> strategy<\/span>. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Basically<\/span>, without a content marketing strategy, you would be taking a huge risk with your content<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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How to Create Content Strategy<\/h2>\n

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Creating a content marketing approach your audience will love isn\u2019t a piece of cake. But with time and research, you will be able to create a solid content strategy for SEO that delivers the desired results<\/span>. Now let\u2019s walk through the steps you need to take in creating yours.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Step #1: Define Your Goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The first step to creating your content strategy is defining what you want to accomplish<\/span>. At this stage, you need to figure out how you\u2019ll measure if your content marketing is working or not.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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What are your goals? Do you want to build consistent website traffic, increase brand awareness, support customers or even attract and keep employees<\/span>? You need to figure this out first to ensure your strategy is solid.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Also, it\u2019s natural for your goals to change as your business grows. So make sure to <\/span>periodically<\/span> revisit your content strategy goals to keep them aligned with your business needs<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Step #2: Know Your Target Audience<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Knowing your audience is critical to a successful content craft. If you want your content to do well, you need to figure out who your audience is and what they like. Who do you want to reach? What do those people care about? How and where do they like to receive information?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Answering these questions would help you determine what media types to use, what topics to address and the delivery channels that make sense for your content craft<\/span>. There are several options for learning about your audience. Polls and surveys also come in handy as well as checking out your competitors.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Step #3: Examine Your Competition<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Look at your competition; see what kind of content they share and what seems to be working. Taking note of their results will help you in creating your content procedure. You can also decide if there are things no one else is doing but you think would resonate with the audience.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Step #4: Choose the Right Distribution Channels<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Each platform attracts a different audience for distinct topics, so you need to do your research and choose the distribution channels for your content<\/span>. There are tools online which can help you with this too. BuzzSumo<\/a> is one good tool to help you figure out where your industry\u2019s content performs best.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Step #5: Look for the Perfect Topics for Your Content Marketing Scheme<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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80% of readers will view your headline or topic before opening your content, while only 20% will click to read your content<\/span>. In that case, it is crucial to choose topics that have evergreen potential.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You need to create interesting and engaging content to attract a huge following. So you have to find the perfect topics to post strategically<\/span> for your audience. It’s the headline that makes a piece of content stand out, get shared and evoke curiosity.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Content Strategy vs Content Marketing<\/h2>\n

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Content strategy and content marketing are often mistaken to mean the same thing but this is not the case at all<\/span>. Instead, they complement each other.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Content marketing<\/a> is simply<\/span> the creation, publishing and distribution of content. It is otherwise known as organic marketing and involves giving value to people. So they recognize your brand as a trustworthy solution to their needs and desires.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While content strategy helps you determine exactly what you want to achieve with your content<\/span>. Content marketing strategy <\/span>is made<\/span> up of the processes that serve to create and promote that content<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Think of it as a map. It helps you answer the “why” of publishing content, determines “who” you are reaching with your content marketing, “what” kind of content you will publish and <\/span>lastly<\/span> set metrics to “measure” content marketing success<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Content Strategy vs Content Plan<\/h2>\n

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What is a content plan? <\/span>A content plan <\/span>is comprised<\/span> of all the marketing assets and data-gathering functions needed to achieve the goals put down in your content strategy<\/span>. <\/span>Your content plan will both align with your content levels and scale as you increase your content marketing budget<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Your<\/span> content strategy lays the groundwork for what you need to include in your content plan as it (content plan) <\/span>is made<\/span> up of building blocks chosen based on the goals outlined in your content blueprint<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Example of a Content Strategy Template<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Below is a content strategy example and roadmap from Brain Traffic on Pinterest that shows you how you can effectively implement your digital marketing scheme. You should go through it to get an idea of how yours can be created.<\/span><\/div>\n
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