What is content strategy? It has been described as the planning, development, and management of informational content, whether written or as seen in other types of media. What does that mean and how does it relate to you? Basically, content strategy is where you decide what type of content you want your users to see and when. Through the effective use of content strategy, you can make sure that your followers, fans, or website users are seeing, and in effect doing what you want or need them to do in order to sell yourself, your company, or your product.
Now that you know what content strategy is and how it can affect the outcome of your social media marketing campaign, you’re probably wondering how you can successfully use this to your advantage. You happen to be in luck because today we have a comprehensive list of tips and tricks you can use to make sure that the content strategy you come up with for your social media marketing campaign will be fool proof.
Tip #1: Make Sure You Identify Your Target Audience
Think about who you are trying to target with whatever it is you are marketing, and plan your content strategy around the type of content this audience will relate with. Let’s say, for example, that you want to target a young adult audience for clothing that is designed for this age group. If that’s the case, then you should be writing fashion advice geared towards young adults. If you wrote content on, say, how to get through menopause and a midlife crisis, you are not going to be targeting your audience at all. So think long and hard about what you are marketing and who you are marketing it to.
Tip #2: Listen To What People Are Saying
Now that you know who your target audience, you need to sit back for a little while and listen. Listen to what your target audience is saying about your given industry or product and take what they say into account before compiling your content strategy. Don’t just search out your target audience, however, check out the competition to. See what they are doing, what has worked for them, and what has failed. Take into consideration what they have done that worked, and while you should never copy someone else, you should adapt that into your own marketing program. Avoid what has failed in the past at all costs, and if possible, do not even allow your content to come close to what has already failed.
Tip #3: Compile Your List of Keywords
All content strategy planning should begin with a list of relevant keywords. A quick browse around the web will give you a comprehensive list of keywords that are currently trending (or bringing in customers) for your product or professional field. I cannot stress enough that you must use only keywords which are truly relevant to what you are promoting. Let’s take a look at an example. Say that you are promoting cell phones. A list of relevant keywords would include: cell phones, cellular, IPhones, and cell phone companies. A list of keywords which are not relevant include: music, computers, computer programming, and promotional services. If you use the wrong keywords you are essentially spamming users who may be directed to your site, and that will only hurt your search engine ratings, not help them.
Tip #4: Move With The Times
Once you have finally implemented your content strategy you cannot simply sit back and watch things work. You must consistently work at keeping your content strategy fresh. Things change, and depending on what field you are working in or what product you are selling, they can change rather quickly. Continue to listen to your prospective audience, engage them, keep an eye on the competition,and above all, keep that content flowing! The more content which can be found at your website or social media page, the more people which can potentially be directed there. That doesn’t mean you should bombard your site all at once, but simply that you should continue posting valuable information at a steady pace. Don’t let that content go stale, however, or no one will be prompted to pay you a return visit.
A Few Quick Tips On A Fool Proof Content Strategy
- Keep all of your content up to date
- Make sure that your content is interactive and engaging
- Use a social media tracking tool so that you know exactly how or if your strategy is working
- Don’t just post written content- spice it up with videos, pictures, polls, and other various types of media
- Figure out which social media platforms your potential audience is using, and make sure you are on it!
Using the above mentioned tips, you can make sure that your content strategy will be an effective part of your social media marketing campaign. The truth of the matter is that without a truly fantastic content strategy, your marketing campaign will fail miserable. So we wish you luck on creating a fool proof plan, and hope that it continues to work well for you for as long as you implement it!
