It’s not enough to push content out to your audience. There needs to be a rhyme and reason behind what you’re doing.
Do you know why you’re publishing the blogs you’re publishing?
Do you know what to write in your nurturing emails?
How often do you connect with your audience online? Why?
Where does social media (and, heck, video) fit into your content strategy?
So yeah, content is great. But unless you know why you’re creating it and what your goals are, you’re really wasting your time.
[bctt tweet=”Unless you know why you’re creating content (and your goals), you’re wasting your time.” username=””]
A content strategy forms a plan for delivering the right content to the right people, in the right place and at the right time. It can help you meet your financial goals and drive conversions because its roots are your business goals and its branches are all the pieces of your business.
What is a content strategy not? It’s not an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar is just one piece of the content strategy. A content strategy is the whole plan of action—from what content you’re creating to how and where you’re sharing it to what your desired outcome is.
Creating a content strategy isn’t a one-and-done process either. It’s something you create and nurture, just like you nurture relationships with your clients. It requires thought and research. And you need to be able to look at its effectiveness to see what needs to be tweaked to bring you closer to your goals.
[bctt tweet=”Truth Bomb: Your editorial calendar is NOT a content strategy.” username=””]
Is your editorial calendar doing that for you? The answer is no. Here’s what a quality content strategy does for you and your business:
Shows you what works (so you can keep producing that kind of content)
If no one ever interacts with you on Instagram, you need to know why. If your emails lack for opens and clicks, there’s no point in continuing to send them. You need to figure out why, then fix it. A content strategy analyzes what you’ve done and haven’t done with your content so you can grow your audience—meeting them where they are and providing them what they need and want.
That said, there are a lot of reasons why your content may or may not be working for you. Are you educating your audience, or simply trying to sell to them? Is your content well-written? Are you interacting with your audience online and offline? Are you creating the content your audience wants to consume?
Establishes a WHY for creating content
It’s not just about putting content out into the world; it’s about doing it for a reason. In other words, don’t just blog to say you’ve blogged. Have a reason behind each blog post and nurturing email and go into each piece with the right mindset. Again, content marketing is not selling. But selling is usually the byproduct of a good content strategy.
Creates a clear path from cold lead to customer
A content strategy helps you outline the journey your audience goes on, from first learning about you to becoming a paid customer. Unless you’re ready to invest in big bucks on metrics, you won’t know the journey that every possible lead is on. But you can build a nearly custom pathway through funnels, nurturing emails and connecting complementary content together.
[bctt tweet=”A good content strategy draws a clear path for your audience—from brand awareness to paid customer.” username=””]
Enables you to be consistent because you know what needs to be published and when
When I’m training for a race, I need a training plan to tell me what to do. Otherwise, I’ll run a few miles here, a few miles there and then throw in a speed workout or long run for good measure. And while I’ll keep running, I’m not going to hit my goal time because I haven’t trained for it properly. I need a true plan to tell me exactly what I need to do. It keeps me consistent and makes every training run that much more effective. Your content strategy works the same way—giving each piece of content purpose as you publish consistently.
Ensures all your content is targeted at one specific goal
It’s a whole lot easier to get to a new destination when you have a map to tell you where to go. That’s exactly how a content strategy works—showing you the way as you go. Think of each piece of content as a little pit stop, to fill up with gas, grab a bite to eat, catch some Z’s. You have a clear picture of how to get to where you want to be, all in one place.
Streamlines your content production
Blogs, emails, Facebook posts, opt-ins, video, ebooks… We’re pumping so much content out to the world these days that it’s hard to keep track of them all. And when you’re trying to create each piece in isolation, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. A content strategy will help you streamline production so you’re producing your blog and nurturing email at the same time you’re outlining a video on a complementary topic. It’s a win-win if you want to save some time in your business.
So if your content strategy has revolved around your editorial calendar, it’s time to take it a step further. You need a true strategy that targets your specific business goals. Not sure how to get there? Let’s chat! Or, find out the first steps you need to take in the video below!
