Content Marketing
A Beginner’s Guide to Content Strategy
Aug 16 2022
Your content strategy is essentially about defining what you will post and when. The specifics of frequency and content optimization will depend largely on the channels that you use. However, it’s helpful to create a general idea of the different types of content that you will create upfront.
Your content strategy will be heavily based on your marketing strategy, objectives, and your target audience. Keep these in mind as you get started.
Here’s a tip for you: If you are struggling with your content topics or feel like they aren’t interesting enough, go back to the listening stage to get ideas! Look at great content that is relevant to your business on Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and blogs to get inspired by some of the best content creators in the world.
The first step in building your content strategy is to define the relevant content topics for your business. Having 5 – 10 content topics is usually helpful, although you could have fewer.
You may start with a large list and refine it over time. For example, an ice cream company may have a content topic list including:
The topics can be refined over time as you gain experience. Don’t think of them as a set list forever, but more as a starting point. You will also note in the list above that most of the topics are relevant for the customer and the brand, however, a few are more self-serving for the business. It’s good to have a mix of content at this point.
Power Tip:
As you define the content topics that are relevant to you it can be helpful to think about the full marketing funnel, especially for channels like your website where visitors are in varying stages in their willingness to buy from you. Some may be ready to convert while others are just getting to know you. Once you’ve developed your content buckets ask yourself if you have covered the entire funnel.
Let me give you an example: If you look at the website for Sephora, a beauty company, we can see a variety of content topics present representing the entire marketing funnel.
As you execute digital marketing you will use different content on different channels. In the ice cream example, they may post emotional photos and joy of ice cream on Instagram but focus on Pinterest recipes. Their website may heavily focus on ingredients and promotions. Later, as you build your channel strategy you’ll determine which content belongs where.
Action Item:
Define the content buckets that you can bring to life across digital channels. Consider if you are representing the entire funnel and explore the content that your audience is interested in.
Keep in mind that as you execute you’ll learn more about the content that performs best. Also, recognize that content works in trends. For example, five years ago inspirational quotes were really popular on many channels, and now we find they aren’t achieving the same success.
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