How a business appears online is a critical factor for its success, especially during the age of social media. That means that if you’re running a startup or building a brand into a household name, you’ll need to publish a steady stream of content to keep your audience engaged and satisfied.
Of course, fillers won’t do you any good. You should have a good amount of content of exceptional quality.
When planning a content marketing strategy, you need more than just knowledge of copywriting costs to succeed. Below are six content planning tips you can use to boost your online presence:
1. Dive into your goals first.
Content marketing’s primary goal is to compel the audience to act on something. Without inspiring action, the “marketing” part of the endeavor won’t be considered effective.
For this reason, you need to start with what you want your audience to do instead of what you want to tell them when planning your content strategy. This desired action can be:
- Signing up for a newsletter.
- Downloading an exclusive asset.
- Joining a webinar.
- Signing up for a demo.
- Sharing content on social platforms.
Whatever action you choose will serve as the key metric point that will let you know whether a piece of content helped you reach your goals.
Remember that there’s no content strategy without a way to measure the results. In other words, you should know what you want to achieve before you start embarking on any content planning project.
2. Determine what your audience wants.
You must tailor your content to a specific audience. And to do that, you’ll have to understand who you’re creating the content for before you begin the creation process.
Take note that, unlike traditional marketing strategies, content marketing requires a deeper understanding of your target audience. This means you should go beyond the demographics.
Since you’ll be writing blogs and creating graphics to engage your audience, you have to understand your audience’s wants.
What do they find interesting? What are the things they need help with? What questions do they ask or phrases they use to find answers online?
When you have a good grasp of your audience’s inclinations, preferences, and needs, your content strategies will bear sweeter fruit.
3. Dig deep into customer problems.
When planning content, you shouldn’t waste any time telling customers why they should choose you. Instead, focus on addressing their problems by asking, “How can we help?”
Problem-solving content helps prevent wasted efforts on top-of-the-funnel traffic that comes with no conversions or product revisions and new features that don’t have sufficient context.
Listen to your audience. Research the questions they’re asking through online search queries, customer service emails, and even online tools like BuzzSumo or Bloomberry or forums in Reddit and Quora.
From there, craft case studies on how your brand can help deliver solutions in the form of testimonials or product or service demonstrations. This way, you can bridge the gap between your offering and the real-world problems your customers are facing.
4. Design your content plan using social media trends.
One of the biggest challenges even expert copywriting service providers in Dubai face is coming up with engaging content. Since the primary goal is to attract as much of your target audience as possible, you can use trending content ideas that your customers interact with on social platforms as a guide for your content strategy.
For example, audiences that belong to the millennial generation are more active on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. To see what will engage them the most, look at the type of content they often share or recreate through these platforms. Then, join in the fun.
Create your own content based on what’s trending and toss your product or service into the mix. These can be videos or blogs that show how customers can take part in the trend with the help of what your company is offering.
Once you have created the content, distribute them across the social media platforms where your customers will find them. This will also encourage your target audience to create branded content for you.
Remember: Not all the content in your marketing strategy should come from you. You can ignite user-generated content and use that as a powerful tool to promote your brand.
In fact, engaging users in content creation is considered a more effective strategy for several reasons:
- It generates social proof. People who find the content created by someone in their network think that others could be interested in what you offer. In some cases, they tend to compare experiences and review outcomes from others who are engaged with your content, creating a ripple effect that benefits your brand.
- People like to share it more. Users who generate content around your offerings are more likely to advertise the content that features their creations. Once they show it to their online network, the post is more likely to get more reactions, comments, and reposts – sometimes even more than something originally from your content team.
- Perception of user-generated content revolves around honesty, relatability, and trust, making it much better than any other kind of advertising or promotion. Though it lacks professional polish, it certainly makes up for it with authenticity.
5. Diversify the type of content you use.
People easily get tired of eating the same food over and over again; the same can be said about consuming content.
So instead of sticking to what worked before, make sure you keep your content fresh and diverse.
Leave room for shareable and easy-to-write listicles, but make sure you always offer differently “flavored” content, like leadership pieces to establish your brand as an authority and share your unique point of view. Toss in a couple of 100 percent helpful how-to articles, and round up useful content with long-form skyscraper articles and infographics.
6. Ensure Content Quality and Originality.
When planning a content marketing strategy, quality is non-negotiable. Your content must not only be engaging and informative but also original. This is where plagiarism free writing services come in. These services help ensure that your content stands out while maintaining authenticity and credibility. Using original content strengthens your brand’s image and builds trust with your audience, making your marketing efforts even more effective.
7. Don’t forget to have fun.
Once you’ve created a diverse set of leadership, practical, and inspiring content, the next step is to let loose and have fun.
Most people want to be entertained and have a good laugh every once in a while. Even if you’re in the most serious niche, you can experiment with a little bit of comedy while staying consistent with your brand voice and identity.
A good way to ease into the idea is to post something humorous on April Fool’s Day.
Lighthearted content can get a great response when executed right and in moderation (unless constant laughter is the theme of your brand).
Direct Content Planning with Ease
Planning content won’t seem as daunting as you initially thought, provided that you plan it well ahead. Start with your goals, but make sure you focus on what your audience really wants to read. From there, come up with more types of content until you’re at a point when it’s okay to have a little fun.
About the Author: Hisham Wyne is an award-winning copywriter, brand consultant and content creator based in Dubai. He has over a decade's experience in helping brands get their messages right. From crisp web copy and zippy brochures to in-depth company profiles and analytical annual reports, Hisham makes words work for you - so you can sell better, gain visibility, and give your brand a unique voice.