What Is A Content Strategy?

Content is short-hand for text, photography, videos and illustrations that fill the pages of your website, blog and social media, and the development of content is an important part of a modern digital marketing plan. A good content strategist supports your company by developing plans for your websites, search engine results and social media. As these platforms continue to evolve, informative words and descriptive images will continue to be a requirement.

One of the major goals of digital marketing is to be found online. Generally, when people begin an online search for information about products or services, they are looking for just that: information with which to make an informed decision. They are not looking for a particular website on which to make a purchase.

This page – the one that you are reading – represents a significant part of a content strategy, in that we offer information to people who wish to educate themselves about content marketing and strategy. You may not need our services, but we are happy to offer this information on our website for anyone to find online, free of charge. Fortunately, many people who are looking for information about content marketing do need our services, and we give them the opportunity to contact us below.

Content marketing requires offering high-quality information. Many businesses are scared to share what they know because the competition might use it. You don’t need to share your trade secrets, but for your page to rise above the competition, you must provide more than generic information.

What if your competition does use some of the information that you provide? Congratulations. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and, as an added bonus, you now are an industry expert. The more that people who appreciate your leadership, the more your business is recognized in conversation, news articles and blog posts. You become a resource for your industry, and for those who wish to be associated with it. As another added bonus, people will link to your website, and, as a result, it will rise in the search engine rankings, thus making it easier for the people who need you, to find you. This leads to more business.

TYPES OF  CONTENT

Content doesn’t mean just text. Content also includes video, photography, infographics, gif’s, games, and illustrations.

Text is important for search engines. Although they are getting better at deciphering what is what, search engines such as Google still can not read the thousand words your photos, videos and illustrations represent. Quality writing with good information is needed, so that search engines can understand what your webpage is about. When this is clear, search engines are more apt to rank your pages well. The more quality information you provide, the better. A range of 250 to 500 words is good for the average webpage. On the other hand, if you really want to earn the attention of search engines, consider a site that contains up to 2,000 words. To accomplish these lengthier pages, you might find it easier to write a series of headlines first, and then fill in the supporting information.

Photography is important, because humans are visual creatures.  Good photography helps to tell the story of your page or article. It draws people in, like a good headline does. Use photographs at the top of your page, and scatter them throughout your blog posts and website pages. Photographs of people are best. We recommend that you hire a professional photographer for website images. Portraits of your team and product shots should look professionally taken, because people judge your company by the quality of the images. Shots hindered by soft focus, poor lighting, and bad composition does not garner trust in your company.

Social media photography, on the other hand, can be a little more casual. Behind-the-scenes images add personality and dimension to your company. Photograph company parties and events, and share the images with your community. When someone in your company speaks at an event, be sure to photograph her, and with some of the audience in view. Photograph products that you are about to be launch. Create a visual how-to page, as these are great for customer service. Develop memes to share in social media.

Video is more popular, and becomes more important every year. Websites such as YouTube and Vimeo make it easy to share your product and service information. Like photography, good how-to videos promote your company’s expertise,  and are an excellent public relations outlet.

The most important part of video is audio. Make sure people can hear your video clearly. Viewers will let some issues slide, but they will turn your video off quickly if they can’t make out what is being said. When creating company videos, it’s important to hire professionals.

Illustration and infographics tend to be very sharable in social media. Consider using them to distill statistics, and simplify complicated information and complex ideas.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION AND CONTENT

SEO is one of the best ways to attract new business online. Search engines rank websites based on an algorithm, which is a step-by-step set of operations that perform calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning. Each search engine’s algorithm is different from the others’, and the most relevant of these is Google’s. This is because Google handles nearly 90% of search traffic in the United States. As a result of this domination, most digital marketing companies base their efforts on what they think will be best rewarded by Google. Google wants its users to enjoy a satisfying experience. This means that they receive relevant and accurate information.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT

This type of content should be shareable. You can earn SEO traction with educational content on your website. Although people might link to it, chances are they will not share corporate informational web pages in the social media. Company blog posts can, at times, be the exception to this rule if your social media community finds value in your writing. To gain attention and momentum, social media content strategies generally need to involve entertainment. Education can be entertaining and funny. It takes planning and a creative team to come up with ideas that spread.

There are many creative resources online to distribute your content. Everything doesn’t need to be placed on Facebook or Twitter. Websites such as slideshare.net offer solutions to distribute your information after a presentation. Below is an example of a presentation created by American Society of Civil Engineers about content strategy on a budget.

Below are examples of brand content videos that went viral and generated sales for the company. One theme easy to spot is that most viral branding content is generally humorous.

The first two videos were Internet only. The Orabrush reportedly cost about $500 to make and earned the company a large increase in awareness and sales. Will it blend? worked so well for Blendtec that they built a studio to create more episodes – if it’s cool, they blend it. The Old Spice commercial originated on traditional television and became a viral hit online. Old Spice and the old spice guy continue to innovate and make online-only content that helps increase awareness and sales of the product.

DEVELOP A CALENDAR

Create a year calendar for your social media and content strategy. Think about what you or your company do at different times of the year. Can you take advantage of upcoming events? Holidays are a valuable source of content development ideas.

Assign members of your company to be responsible for specific tasks. If you are not using the services of social media, SEO or digital marketing company, you don’t want to burn your team out. Social media and content development takes time. Often, valuable time is diverted from important job tasks, so don’t overload anyone person.

Make sure everyone is aware of the calendar and offer rewards for good ideas. Keep your calendar active and updated. A media calendar created in January is just a starting point for the rest of the year.

WHAT ARE THE REAL BENEFITS?

Creating one blog post and waiting for the leads to come in is not a strategy that will work. Posting random stuff to your social media once a day does not make your company an industry leader.

You need to create.

It doesn’t matter if you create content in-house or hire an outside agency.  A content strategy requires planning. Advance planning and the ability to react quickly to opportunities.

The three main benefits of a quality content strategy is the development of more awareness for your company, driving more traffic to your website and becoming a recognized leader in your industry. All these things lead to the most important benefit. More sales.

Need more information about content marketing?

Hiring a content strategist helps your team and company stay on target with quality content that supports your company goals.

Rosh Media is a Detroit Michigan based digital marketing company.