Simple Questions to Ask When Starting a Content Marketing Strategy

We all know that content is a necessary marketing component, but did you know that not all content is created equal? Filling up your page with blog posts, white papers, and case studies that aren’t optimized for your target audience will do nothing to help your business, and may even harm you. How can you be sure, then, that you’re creating high quality content that will attract positive attention to your website and help boost your sales? Here’s a look at four questions that you can ask yourself in order to streamline your content development strategy.

1. Who Am I Trying to Reach?

When designing content, you absolutely must have your customer at the front of your mind. Who, exactly, is your customer? What do they need and what pain points do they experience? How can your business meet their needs and solve their problems? These are the kinds of probing questions you’ll review as you develop buyer personas. Buyer personas are the key to getting to know your customers inside and out — both now and in the future. You’ll be better at understanding your customers and anticipating their needs and desires. The more your content is catered to these buyer personas, the more likely it is that they’ll engage with and respond to the content, as well as share it with others.

2. What Can I Offer My Customers?

Once you’ve developed your buyer personas, you need to take an in-depth look at what it is you have to offer those buyers. Make a list of all of your products and services, along with a description of each. From here, draft a written explanation of how and why they are valuable and why each specific buyer persona would benefit from them. This will help you to figure out how to promote a certain good or service to all of your consumers so that no leaf goes unturned. This process may also reveal weak points in your products and services, but this will provide you with the opportunity to fine tune your offerings to better meet consumer needs.

3. How Is My Audience Looking for Me?

In order to attract and connect with your customers, you have to learn to think like they do. This is especially important when determining how it is that your audience actually goes about finding you. Perhaps new consumers are being introduced to your content via social media, a blog, or a pay-per-click ad. Knowing how your customers are reaching your website will help you continue to create content that will draw them in and keep them interested in what you have to offer. You can also apply this way of thinking to web searches. Consider the questions that your prospective customers would ask when searching for the types of products and services you offer. Creating content that specifically addresses these questions will bring them to your doorstep.

4. How Should I Release My Content into the World?

It can be tempting to pour everything you have out onto the web all at once, but it’s in your best interest to pace yourself in order to really determine which types of content your audience is best responding to. Play around with different schedules and varieties of content, and analyze the results to determine where your efforts are more successful and how frequently you need to post.