How to create a content marketing strategy

Discover how to create your content marketing strategy in 10 simple steps.

Content marketing has not only become an essential tool, but also become a prevailing necessity for companies and brands seeking to establish solid connections with their audience and stand out in an increasingly competitive and saturated market.

This marketing strategy, which has experienced surprising growth in recent years, is here to stay. There is no public relations and digital marketing agency that does not use content marketing as a fundamental strategy to engage the audience, build solid relationships and generate positive results. So much so, that 84% of companies already have a content marketing strategy.

As consumers become more selective and demanding, the ability to offer valuable and relevant content has emerged and consolidated as a determining factor in capturing attention, generating trust and promoting customer loyalty. Therefore, in this article we will walk you through how to create a content marketing strategy in 10 simple steps. 

Content marketing is a digital strategy that focuses on the creation and distribution of relevant, valuable and attractive content with the aim of attracting, engaging and retaining a specific audience. This content can take various forms, such as blogs, videos, infographics, podcasts, ebooks, social media posts and many more.

This strategy is based on the premise that by providing useful, entertaining or educational information to your audience you can build strong relationships with both existing, as well as potential customers, which in turn can lead to an increase in brand visibility, trust of customers and conversions.  

What are the benefits of content marketing?

Content marketing is a powerful strategy that can have a positive impact on visibility, brand awareness and long-term business results. This marketing strategy also offers a series of significant benefits, including:

• Increase web traffic
• Lead Generation
• Greater brand visibility
• Confidence building
• Improved user engagement
• Social networks amplification
• Generation of authority in the industry
• Customer loyalty
• Improvement in SEO

Lastly, content marketing seeks to create a significant connection between the audience through content in order to achieve business objectives.

Now that you know what content marketing is and what its main advantages are, we will walk through a simple 10-step guide to creating an effective content marketing strategy. As we will see below, this process requires a well-planned and detailed approach.

Step 1: Define your objectives.

Set clear and measurable objectives. Do you want to increase your brand visibility, generate leads, improve customer retention or increase conversions? This stage is essential because it establishes the direction and purpose of your strategy.

• Make your goals specific and measurable. It is important that your objectives are clear and quantifiable.
• Set deadlines. Define a time frame to achieve your goals. 
• Keep it real. Make sure that your goals are achievable with the resources available. 

Step 2: Determine and understand your audience.

Research and understand your target audience. Who are they? What are their needs, problems and desires? This will allow you to create content that is relevant and valuable to your audience.

• Create buyer profiles (buyer personas) including demographic information, goals, challenges, content preferences and purchasing behaviors.
• Map the customer journey. This will help you create relevant content for each stage of the customer journey.
• Align your goals with your audience. Consider how your goals relate to the needs and desires of your audience.

Step 3: investigate the competition.

Analyze your competition to identify what type of content they are creating and how they are promoting it. This will help you differentiate yourself and identify opportunities in your market niche.

• Identify gaps and opportunities. Look for areas where your competitors may be leaving gaps unfilled or not fully meeting audience needs.
• Be different. Use the information you have collected to develop a unique content strategy that allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Step 4: Define your value approach.

Determine what makes you unique and why users should consume your content instead of the competition. Your value proposition must be clear and attractive.

• Identify your strength. Consider what the main advantages or unique characteristics of your products or services are.
• Be authentic. The value approach should reflect the authenticity of your brand. Do not try to be something you are not; focus on what you can really deliver consistently.

Step 5: Select channels and formats. Plan content distribution. 

Decide which channels and content formats best suit your audience and goals.

• Adapt content for each channel. Make sure the content is adapted to the channel it is shared on.
• Plan your posting frequency. Define how often to publish content on each channel.

Step 6: Create an editorial plan and calendar.

Develop an editorial calendar that plans what content was created and when it will be published. 

• Define the objectives of the editorial calendar, ensuring they are aligned with the objectives of your content marketing strategy. The editorial calendar must serve to achieve these objectives.
• Assign clear responsibilities to your team members for content creation, editing and promoting. 

Step 7: Design your content funnel. Create quality content. 

Design a content funnel that reflects the different stages of your customers’ buying cycle, and create specific content for each stage. Produce relevant, informative and high-quality content that responds to the needs of your audience and provides value. Content should have a clear purpose, be original and reflect the authenticity of your brand.

• Conduct an audit of your current content to ensure that your existing content meets quality and relevance standards.
• Diversify content formats to maintain the interest of your audience.

Step 8: Optimize for Seo. 

Optimize your content for search engines (SEO) to increase the visibility of your content and attract more organic traffic to your website.

• Research and select keywords relevant to your industry, business and audience.
• Incorporate internal links that direct users to other relevant pages on your website. Also include external links to reliable and relevant sources to support the information in your content.

Step 9: Promote your content. 

Use promotion strategies to increase the visibility of your content. It is essential to spread content strategically to reach your audience.

• Share on social networks relevant to your audience. Use engaging, visual messaging to increase engagement.
• Make collaborations and partnerships with other relevant companies, influencers or websites in your industry so that they share your content with their followers or audience, thus expanding your reach.

Step 10: Measure and analyze results. Adjust and improve.

Use analytics tools to measure the performance of your content, analyzing metrics such as traffic, engagement, conversions and ROI. Based on this data, adjust your strategy as necessary. This step is essential to understand how your content marketing strategy is working and to be able to continually optimize it.

• Maintain consistency. Continue to create and promote quality content on a regular basis to keep your audience engaged.
• Document your learnings. Keep a track for your discoveries and lessons learned as you adjust and improve your strategy. This will help you avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Keep in mind that content marketing is an ongoing process and takes time to see significant results. With patience and perseverance, you can develop an effective content marketing strategy to achieve your business goals.

Content marketing has established itself as a powerful tool in the arsenal of modern marketing strategies, and its relevance only continues to grow. In an increasingly information-saturated digital world, well-planned and executed content has become the key means of effectively connecting with current and potential customers. 

Content marketing is a strategic investment that not only drives brand growth but also cultivates authentic relationships with customers. Companies that adopt and plan this marketing strategy position themselves to excel in the competitive digital world, effectively connecting with their audience and ensuring a path to long-term success.