The world has changed. Before the internet, you could only use ads to show people what your business offers. Today, there are different media you can use to promote what you sell.
But how?
Today, I will show you how to use an online content strategy to help your business. The end goal here is for you to use a content strategy to drive traffic to your website or store and then convert that traffic into customers.
What is a content strategy?
Content is a buzzword in the business world, but it is not as complicated as you think. Before understanding a content strategy, we need to step back a little and understand what content means.
Content is not an ad. Content is information that people consume, like news or helpful information. Before the days of the internet, the most usual content that we see is found on television.
In TV shows, there are guests, like a chef. This chef is going to cook live and provide the recipe and tips. In the end or in the middle of the show, the chef will recommend a product, like Del Monte Tomato sauce.
This chef and the show were sponsored by Del Monte.
What they did on the show is not an ad, but content.
Today, you can do the same. You can create content on YouTube, on your blog, newsletter, or on social media.
A content strategy is nothing more than a plan on the following:
- What kind of content to publish
- Where to publish the content
- Who the target market is
- What goal you are trying to achieve
In essence, it is a business plan where you want to reach out to people. You want to tell them that you are a business and that you can provide value. From there, you want to build a loyal following, and then you can endorse your products or services.
How to Use an Online Content Strategy to Help Your Business
So, how do you make a plan? What kind of things should you prepare to plan your content? There are four pillars that I want to discuss with you today.
These are:
- Identifying your goals
- Creating the workflow
- Determining the content plan
- Creating standards
Let us take a closer look at each one.
1. Identifying your goals
What do you want to achieve?
You cannot mix the same goals together. When creating a content strategy, you have to line up your goals and plan a different kind of content for each.
Here are some examples of goals:
- Get traffic to your website
- Get more email subscribers
- Attract a following on YouTube
- Increase followers on social media
As you can see, these goals require that you have different content for publication. Obviously, YouTube requires videos, but you cannot expect video content to increase your email subscriber count.
The same thing goes for a blog—you can publish content and increase your email subscribers, but they will not necessarily follow your video content.
Do not attempt to sell through your content. If you keep on doing this, you will alienate your audience. They will feel like you only want their money. Instead, build content around these goals. The selling will come later.
2. Creating the workflow
You cannot publish content on your own. You will have to outsource your content one way or another. This means that you have to look for people who will work with you.
The content workflow involves people. You have to assign responsibilities to your freelancers. This way, you can get this problem out of your mind and focus your marketing efforts.
Where are you going to find these people?
They are everywhere. You can visit Fiverr and look for freelancers there. You do not have to pay them a monthly salary. Only pay them per project. However, Fiverr can be a little expensive if you need quality work because there are many fees.
One alternative is to post a job on job boards. You can also explore social media channels.
Make sure that you hire someone who specializes in the content that you want. A video editor is not necessarily a storyteller—you need a scriptwriter for that.
For your blog, hire an affordable freelance writer who understands SEO. This way, all the content on your blog provides value to your readers and meets the basic expectations of search engines.
3. Determining the content plan
The content plan includes your content structure. This is the plan where you create categories of your posts or videos. This is how you decide which audience you are trying to get and how often you will publish.
Here are some key things to know:
- What kinds of content to publish
- Where to publish the content
- How this different content meets your goals
- Who will write and produce the content
- When the content will be published
- Which the content needs high priority
This is the phase where you can create a series. For example, you can create a tutorial on how to build a Shopify store. Here, you can include lessons like how to get the Shopify service, find voiceover artists for ads, and so on.
From here, you can start planning more comprehensively. You can delegate the tasks to your freelancers, and they will create the content for you.
4. Creating standards
My last tip is to create standards. This should make all your content uniform in their respective structures. As such, your content will become professional.
Here are some examples:
- For video – use the same intro and outro; make the animation standardized.
- For blog – create a set of rules for the structure; add SEO elements that the writer will follow.
- For social media – use the same image sizes; use the same logo and position it in the same areas of the different image or video posts.
As you can see, what you are doing here is establishing a brand. To do this, you must take the time to create a guideline for your freelancers. This way, the people who see your content will have a sense of familiarity.
If your blog posts, images, or videos are not standardized, your audience will think you are not professional enough. They will think that you did not even take the time to develop a stylebook or brand.
If this happens, do you really think you can persuade them to buy?
I don’t think so.
Study each pillar carefully, and then build from there. You will realize later on that all of these are interconnected. Start with your business goals and then work your way backward.
Summary: How to Use an Online Content Strategy to Help Your Business
Content is king. There is no doubt about that. Whether it is videos, images, posts, or blogs, content is still content.
What you want is to produce content that people love to consume—content that will either make them feel better or content to expand their knowledge.
Stop focusing on ads and start focusing on giving value. Give your audiences regular content that will change their lives, and you can expect to build a following.
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