Content Strategy | 8 Smart Questions Every Marketer Must Ask

Is Your Content Strategy Optimized?

– Updated 2020 Version – 

 

Content Strategy… 2 powerful little words that have taken the digital marketing world by storm.  Everyone knows the importance of content for businesses both big and small… but not all marketers are optimizing their content marketing strategy to its fullest potential.  And in today’s digital world, without compelling content and a robust marketing strategy for execution… you don’t stand a chance for success.  Here are 8 smart content strategy questions that every marketer must ask.  

1.  Is My Content Relevant, Interesting and Customer Focused?

Does your content matter to your audience? Is it in line with your overall brand strategy? Sharing a story on eating healthy may be timely to the New Year, but may not be relevant for the audience of a car manufacturer. Knowing who your audience is and what they like is the first logical step to creating relevant content.

Understanding what problems, issues or challenges your audience faces is even more powerful in creating relevant a content strategy that provides them with solutions they are seeking.  Stick to what you know best and be creative in how you deliver your message. Create content themes and vary your content based on a prioritized schedule. Be interesting and intriguing and always be generous with the content you share.

Above all, don’t oversell. It’s all about balance and ensuring you are delivering consistent, relevant and valuable content to the people who matter most to you… your audience (customers, prospects, partners, etc.).

 

2.  Am I Providing Thought Leadership Via My Content?

Are you creating content that sets you apart in your industry? Do your customers, prospects, peers and competitors seek you out because you know what you are talking about? They should! Your content strategy should highlight your area of expertise and showcase your deep understanding of the issues and problems your audience faces.

Your content should be informational, educational and/or entertaining, but should also embody your level of knowledge within your domain. Don’t be afraid to share your best stuff either… it’s what gets you recognized as a thought leader. When you establish yourself as a thought leader, guess what? You get more traffic and prospects and conversions because you have proven yourself based on your content. That’s powerful.

Your content strategy is a direct reflection of your business, so shine the light on what you know and share it with the world.

 

3.  Do I Sound Like a Robot?

It’s been said before, people want to do business with people… not businesses. Same theme can hold true for your content strategy. Article after article of mundane industry jargon won’t get you very far. In today’s social world, you have to humanize your content.

Great content is like great storytelling. It should flow more like a conversation than an encyclopedia and your content should mirror the personality of your business as well as make you more relatable on a social level.

Your blog articles should be easy to comprehend, your social posts should be engaging, and your videos should be interactive. At every opportunity, try to converse with your audience instead of talking to them. Know what type of content they crave and cater to their needs! 

And, as much as possible, your content should have a personal spin to it… allowing your audience to relate to it (and you) on a more meaningful level. Utilize content to enhance the Know-Like-Trust factor with your audience.

 

4.  Is There A Method to My Content Marketing Madness?

Content marketing without a strategy is not going to get you very far. Do you know when your audience is most likely to consume your content? Do you know where and how they consume your content? What about your competitors?

Understanding when you have the highest reach on social media or what time of day you get the highest open rates with your emails are critical things to be mindful of when deploying your content strategy. Simply pushing out content haphazardly won’t help you develop your content authority or trust with your audience. Consistency is key! 

Creating an editorial publishing calendar isn’t just for the “uber-organized” anymore.  Smart businesses know that a comprehensive editorial publishing calendar is the hub of their content strategy. It keeps your content consistent and holds content marketers accountable and responsible for ensuring their strategy is optimized.

 

5.  Am I Maximizing My Content AND Reach?

Beyond knowing when and where to publish your content, are you making the most of the content you create and maximizing your reach by ensuring a multi-channel approach? You have to spread your content marketing love across multiple platforms and formats to ensure you are reaching your highest potential each time. 

Just putting out great content isn’t enough. You’ve got to spend a good deal of time and effort to promote your content to ensure it’s getting seen!

For example, you wrote a white paper on email marketing tips and posted it to Facebook. It shouldn’t end there. Think creatively about all the ways to promote that content to extend your reach! Create a video snippet of the highlights and post it to YouTube and Instagram Stories or Reels.  Turn your key takeaways into a series of informative tweets. Go live on your favorite platform and conduct a Q&A session. The opportunities are endless when you think creatively! 

Share your content and spark discussions in LinkedIn groups.  Be creative in your approach, cast a wider net and increase your odds of catching a lot more fish.

 

6.  Is My Content Visually Appealing or Appalling?

Content without visuals is like an Oreo without the cream filling. The two go hand-in-hand and you can enjoy bits of one more than the other, but they really just do work better together. Images, memes, Infographics, gifs and videos have become the standard in social media. They are known to perform much better than text alone, though have the power to negatively impact you when executed poorly. 

Content marketers must take the time to ensure they have strong visual elements to complement their content strategy. Visual content is not only eye catching, but when relevant to your written content, they may net you more reach as well. Visual content capture our attention and draw us in.

Marketers should also take the time to optimize images wherever possible. Social media platforms aren’t a one-size fits all approach. Tailoring your visual elements for each platform will yield the greatest results. There are so many great free tools like Canva, WordSwag, Adobe Spark and more that even a design novice can make beautiful images quickly and easily.

 

7.  Is Video a Major Part of My Content Strategy?

Hint:  the answer should be YES. Video is, without a doubt, a powerful force for content marketers.  Smart marketers are increasingly incorporating video marketing into their overall content marketing strategies. 

As noted above, we live in a visual world. Video is the immersive visual that allows us to express ourselves to others in a way no other medium (besides face-to-face) can. It takes content marketing to a whole new level. 

Try to include video across all your platforms for optimal exposure. Create original videos or repurpose your written content into short explanatory videos and share across social platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn!

Live video sessions can be a great place to showcase new and exciting happenings, to go in depth on how-to do something, or to have an interactive session with your engaged audience. The opportunities to share content through video are endless. The key is keeping it relevant, interesting and informative for your audience.

 

8.  Can My Content Be Discovered and Will It Be Shared?

If you follow the tips above, you will already be on your way to creating “shareable” content. But don’t stop there. Smart content marketing has strong roots in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You took the time to ensure that your content is relevant, interesting, visually appealing and well thought out… so take the equal amount of time to do relevant keyword research and basic SEO to ensure your content can be discovered. 

There are several things you can do to improve your on-page SEO for your blog, including making sure you have identified your keyword or keyword phrase, have the right Title Tags and Meta Descriptions and that your content is rich and relevant without being written for the Search Engines!

Another great way to gain more traction for search is through link building. When credible and relevant sites link back to your content, your page authority and relevance increases. But, getting links back to your site takes time and effort. Building relationships with peers, influencers and other media outlets can help.  

Also of importance is reaching out to your key influencers and advocates for help in spreading the word about your content. If your content is amazing, your fans and followers will want to share it. And that is the whole point of creating content in the first place, right? Make your content easy to share by including share buttons on your website or even directly asking your followers to share your content. This can sometimes make a huge difference! 

You want as many people to consume your content as possible. Take the time to make your content both “discoverable” and “shareable”.

 

Takeaways:

Content marketing should be the heart and soul of your strategic marketing plan… and your overall business plan for that matter! Creating a compelling content strategy doesn’t need to be overly complex. When done with thought and with your audience in mind, it can have a significant and far-reaching impact on your content marketing success. Be creative, be relevant, be interesting and be smart in your endeavors.  

 

Want more Content Marketing and Content Strategy tips and insights?  Download our free guide: Master Content Marketing Like a Pro and get tons of pro-tips, actionable insights, and recommendations on creating a killer content marketing strategy. 

We’d love to hear what you think it takes to create a great content strategy. Please share your thoughts below!