5 Content Planning Tips to Boost Your Content Marketing Strategy

Content is one of the main driving forces of SEO and digital marketing—and great content doesn’t just happen. Whether you’re creating written, visual, audio, or video content, a well-strategized content plan is essential.

Here are 5 tips to help you create a content plan that’s both engaging and efficient in getting the results you want to achieve:

1. Identify your audience segments

Although you have a specific target audience for your business, customers can belong to different stages in the sales funnel. A good way to refine your content strategy is to identify your audience segments. Ask yourself:

• At what stage in the sales funnel does this reader belong to? For example, it would make sense to create an overview video to someone who’s not yet familiar with your brand, while it would make better sense to write a guide on how to use your product for someone who’s nearer to the stage of making a purchase.
• What is my reader’s knowledge level? Would they need more detailed information or would a high-level overview suffice?
• What other information about my audience is important to consider? For example, their demographics, their personal background (gender, civil status, educational attainment, etc.), the challenges they face, and more. Be as specific as you can.

2. Define your goal

What do you aim to achieve from your content? Defining your goal is crucial because it sets the direction of your content. The ultimate aim of content marketing, after all, is to compel your audience to take a desired action.

By defining your specific goal for each content, you make it easier for readers to respond to your call to action. Here are a few common goals to give you an idea:

• Subscribe to your newsletter/sign up to your mailing list
• Set an appointment
• Book a free trial/demo
• Purchase your product
• Share your content

3. Be updated on industry news

One of the keys to content marketing is to stay relevant, not just with your audience’s needs but also with your respective industry. That’s why it’s important to keep abreast of the latest industry trends and news.

The effect of this is two-fold: First, as mentioned, you provide relevant content to your audience, and second, you can empathize with your audience much more effectively—by knowing what’s going on in the community, you’ll be more sensitive to the sentiments and current challenges of your audience.

4. Listen to your audience

There’s so much value in letting your audience guide you in selecting your topics. Listen in to conversations about your brand on social media, forums, the comments section of your blog, and other avenues.

You can also prompt readers to tell you what they like and would want. Ask questions, consider their answers, and from there, refine your content strategy to work around that prompt.

In a way, creating a topic based on their responses and comments addresses their concerns and makes your content all the more relevant and interesting.

5. Audit your existing content

Your existing content can still be valuable for your content marketing strategy; the key here is to audit your old content and see how you can update or repurpose it.

On a related note to point number 3, it’s important to revise outdated content so as not to confuse readers. If old content cannot be improved, it may be better to just remove it altogether, as old content could affect the “authority” of your website.

A content audit can also help you identify certain content that can be repurposed for other media or channels—for example, your podcast can have an accompanying blog post, or you can create social media carousel posts based on your videos.

Improve your content marketing strategy with the help of experts

Planning regular engaging content is but one of the many tasks involved in content marketing, and it may be tedious if your resources and manpower are limited. If you need help with your content marketing and content creation, or digital marketing as a whole, Ilfusion is here to help.

Just give us a call at 888-420-5115, or send us an email at [email protected].

Categorized in: Articles