Building a Strong Content Strategy to Develop Your Brand
Lorelei Garnes, Msc.Digital Marketing Specialist
Content strategy is the planning, development, and management of content—written or in other media. All brands must have a solid content strategy to successfully reach their consumers, using a diverse strategy which includes several types of content on multiple platforms. The trick is in producing the right mix of blogs, videos, email campaigns, infographics, and social media posts, and in continually creating fresh ideas relevant to your brand. Here are a few tips on how you can pull off this delicate balance and develop an effective content strategy.
Map out the customer journey
Before you actually begin developing your content strategy, map out your customer’s journey towards making a purchase. Include your understanding of their thoughts, emotions, and expectations at each touchpoint along this journey. This will help guide your progress on developing a solid content strategy, by including the most useful and relevant content for your customers when and where it’s most effective.
Practice non-linear storytelling
Everyone recognizes the value of storytelling and how well it connects with people. However, most of the time, you’re just not going to have the luxury on every platform to tell a complete story from start to finish. Recognize the important or most relevant parts of your story for the specific platform you’re using and deliver that part well. All you really have to do is communicate the main idea behind the story, and it will be effective.
Be mindful of content destination
Whenever you create fresh new content, have a good idea of where you intend to post it. Your content should be optimized to reach the target audience that spends time on that specific social media platform. If it isn’t, you may waste some really good content, because your intended audience just won’t see it. Wherever your audience is, that’s where you also need to be with the appropriate message.
Make sure content reflects your brand’s values
Keep in mind that most customers will be consuming your content well before they decide to make a purchase. You need to communicate the essential values of your brand in each piece of content you post. Make sure to relate those values in a voice that resonates with your target audience, so they will understand and appreciate what your company is all about. This is one of the key factors that motivates consumers to make a purchase.
Lorelei Garnes, Msc owns WNC Social Media Buzz, offering digital marketing services, serving businesses of all sizes. Call 828 421 2807 for all your digital marketing needs or visit www.wncsocialmediabuzz.com.