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Content marketing strategy isn’t a nice to have, it’s a requirement. Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it.

What is content marketing:

It a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

How to write a content marketing strategy step-by-step

Let’s walk though how you can write a content marketing strategy—one that pulls together all the pieces and gives you a clear plan for moving forward.

Start with an outline

Writing a strategy can sound like a daunting task. How detailed should it be? How high-level should it be? Starting with an outline can help you conceptualize all the ground you need to cover—and it may save you from expending your energy covering unnecessary ground!
And what is the right ground to cover anyway?

A good content marketing strategy will answer three basic questions:

1. Why are we making content in the first place?
2. What content do we need?
3. How do we get that content to accomplish our goals?

Your outline will help you structure your research and ideation so that you’re focused on answering these key questions.
For example, one way this could look is by splitting the remaining steps below (all 20 of ’em) into each of these buckets.

What’s Your One Thing?

What will you create in your content marketing strategy program that sets you apart? There is an enormous glut of content (and more on the way). Will you be disproportionately useful? Will you create Youtility (I say YES!). Will you be disproportionately motivational, inspirational, or otherwise? What is the heart and soul of your content program?

Research Audience Needs

What do your audiences need to know from you? Use search and social media, plus conversations with customers and your internal personnel (sales and customer service, especially) to better understand the information and persuasive requirements of your customers. Then, organize those needs by persona and funnel stage to create a map of necessary content.
Remember: don’t settle for data, get real insights (this requires customer conversations, not just spreadsheet mining)

Write down what you’re selling

I’ve found it helpful to write out what the product or service I’m trying to sell is. It helps me think through the features, the different product tiers, the sales cycle, etc. When you know what you’re selling, you can more easily frame the kind of content you will need to sell it. 

Of course, you may be the product creator, the marketer, the one-human show, and this might not be something you need to write down. If not, feel free to skip this part.

Decide on Overall Content Marketing Strategies

There are three different types of content marketing strategy: long-form, short-form and conversations (e.g. sharing).

Long-form includes blog posts, articles and press releases — basically, anything longer than a couple of sentences. Short-form includes tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn status updates and graphics. Conversations and sharing includes participating in and driving conversations through blog commenting, link sharing and comments on videos. This type helps to encourage discussions between other thought leaders within your industry.

You can stick to one of these forms of content marketing strategy, or you can use all three. They are each effective on their own, but they are also powerful when used together.

Content Ideas for Your Marketing Plan

Maintaining a steady stream of content that's unique and interesting to your target audience is a challenge. But with a big dose of creativity (and a little help from content idea generators), you can create content that's not only valuable to your market, but also stands out from the sea of information.

40 Fantastic Types of Content marketing strategy Ideas

If your Content marketing strategy includes publishing original content you might need some ideas. There are tons of options out there for content you can create. Forty four content types are outlined below, so look through the list and see which ones would make a perfect fit in your marketing plan.
List of Content Formats

How-to's
Content Curation
Case Studies
Charts/Graphs
Ebooks
Email Newsletter/ Autoresponders
Cartoons/ illustrations
Book Summaries
tool Reviews
Giveaways
FAQs
Q&A Session
Webinars
Dictionary
"Day in The life of" Post
Infographics
Interview
Lists
Mind Maps
Meme
Online game
helpful Application/ Tool
Opinion Post
White Papers
Vlog
Videos
Templates
Surveys
Slideshares
Resources
Quotes
Quizzes
Polls
Podcasts
Pinboards
Photo Collage
original Research
Predictions

Though the list of content types will help you determine what content pieces you want to create, coming up with topics for your content is another challenge you'll face. Content creation takes time, lots of brainstorming, and research.

Use different content formats.

Your audience varies in terms of how they consume information. This translates to the use of a variety of content formats.

1. Utilize text. This is the most common content format.
2. Add attention-getting photos. Show your products, employees and customers. Photos attract an audience.
3. Put your products in movies. Think 360° views as well as story telling.
4. Give your content a voice. Use audio.
5. Show your information. Create presentations whether in real life, at conferences or just for Slideshare.

Make your content attractive to prospective readers.

Useful content, while necessary, isn’t sufficient to convert prospects into customers.

1. Eliminate poor grammar and bad spelling.  It hurts your authority.
2. Use headlines that attract attention. Understand that only one out of five prospects will read further than your title. Spend time editing your titles.
3. Add eye candy. Include catchy images that attract people.
4. Chop your information into easy-to-consume chunks. Long pages of uninterrupted text appear difficult to read.
5. Employ design elements to guide readers into your content. Think in terms of outlining and bolding to help make your content more accessible.

Promote content

You can’t assume that distributing your content by itself is sufficient.

1. Support your content distribution with advertising where appropriate. Think in terms of social media and paid search.
2. Cross-promote your content on other owned media. Don’t underestimate the power of your retail establishment and other advertising.

Whether you're just starting out with content marketing or you've been using the same content marketing strategies for a while, your content marketing plan needs to be better than ever for 2016.
How have you incorporated a content marketing strategy into your overall marketing plans?

Happy Marketing,

Blogging is considered a potent tool of dissemination content. Online content writers have blogs of their own. Most brands have a designated blog that they use to update news and other content material. Blogging is very effective, only if you do it the right away. And because it is such a popular medium online, the sheer number of people blogging all over the world has brought in some misconceptions and wrong ideas. In this post we look at the top 4 blogging mistakes that you do, without really putting much thought into it.

Blogging Mistake 1

Write many posts. Most bloggers and online marketers still follow the traditional method of using more content to generate greater interest about the brand’s products and services. That scenario has thankfully changed! When you are writing more posts, it does not necessarily turn into greater influx of online visitors. Every blog has its own optimum number of blog posts-to-visitors ratio. If you are dealing in a field that requires real time updates, your frequency of blog posts should be high. In other cases, you need not update your blog every hour, or every day!

Blogging Mistake 2

Write original posts. We have dealt with this topic in our last couple of posts. It is not necessary anymore that you always write 100% original posts in your blog. You can borrow ideas, templates and formats from your own successful blog posts and replicate the success story in other blog posts that you publish. In using material sourced from other websites, give due credit and web links. Having such a transparent approach will earn you brownie points and you will not regret using content gleaned from other sources.

Blogging Mistake 3

Write your own posts. This is a typical wish fulfillment that most online brands have. They feel that they are best suited to write about their products and services. So, they find it better suited to write the blog posts by themselves. This kind of operation works only if the person drafting these posts is a good, competent writer. Otherwise, this will not work for your brand. An online reader is not interested in badly-written post, even if you are the CEO of the company! Instead of getting overwhelmed, hire a professional ghost writer. That will get you quality content without compromising on your idea that customers want to hear you and only you!

Blogging Mistake 4 – no Relation with other Bloggers

Write Copy with Your Customer in Mind

“We should have a page with all our products, but let’s not put too many details or prices because we want visitors to have to contact us,” says a third.

Someone from the sales department adds, “On the Contact Us page, let’s use a form with lots of questions that will help us make a sale. Have visitors tell us their budget and how soon they intend to make a purchase. And let’s be sure to get their full name, mailing address and phone number so we can have a salesperson pursue them.”

The Secret to Getting Great Sales Leads from Online Marketing

The Visitor’s Needs Must Come First

While all these ideas have merit for the company, they don’t make much sense for visitors. And that’s a big mistake. If you don’t put your visitors first, your website won’t be effective. Bottom line, it’s not about you!

The best websites are customer-centric. They’re designed to provide the information visitors seek and to present it in an interesting, organized fashion. They let the customer see the real you, which then builds trust.

Finally, they make it easy for visitors to complete whatever action they have in mind, whether it’s to buy a product, subscribe to a newsletter, or contact you for more details.
Your visitors don’t want cute or clever. They simply want to know what you’re selling and whether it’s right for them NOW!

How to Curate Content for Your Blog

Here are 15 tried and proven tips to help make your website successful:

1. Start with a clear navigation.
   Organize your pages into logically-named categories and use standard terms on your menu. Visitors don’t want to guess where to go. They don’t want to analyze what you mean. And they don’t have the patience to embark on a scavenger hunt for facts.
2. Use conversational English.
   Despite what your high school English teacher may have thought, nobody wants to read text that sounds like a term paper. Yawn. Write copy as though you’re speaking directly to the visitor. Use second person like “you” and “we.” Contractions are fine. And a friendly, informal tone is better than stiff, corporate-speak.
3. Avoid industry jargon.
   Don’t use words or phrases that your visitors may not recognize. Use familiar terminology.
4. Provide all the relevant information.
   When people search the web, they’re seeking answers. If your site doesn’t provide the facts, the visitor will move on to the next one in the search results. Don’t be afraid of sharing too much, and that includes prices. Studies show information-rich websites are the most effective in converting visitors into serious prospects.
5. Leave out the hype.
   Visitors don’t want spin. They expect honesty and transparency. So proudly place all your cards on the table and let visitors draw their own conclusions.
6. Make your home page a to-the-point summary.
   Since your home page is the most common entrance to your website, it should describe how customers will benefit from your content, products, or services. If visitors can’t quickly figure out what’s in it for them, they’ll click that back button. Poof, gone!
7. Create unique landing pages for specific topics.
   While you might want everyone to come through the front door, the home page of your website, that might not be the best strategy. A more targeted approach is to create landing pages that speak to specific subjects. If someone is looking for information on say your product’s military application, he should land on your page that is dedicated to that subject. Landing pages convert at a higher rate than do home pages.
   

   5 Most Profitable Niche to Start Blogging

8. Let pictures help tell your story.
   Stock photos are pretty, but do they tell visitors about the real you? No, they’re too generic. You can use them in some places on your site to help break up what would otherwise be a copy-heavy page, but when it comes to products, real photos work best. Visitors want to see what they’re buying and who they’re buying it from.
9. Include trust-building content.
   Explain why your company is uniquely qualified to provide its products or services. Provide some details about your company’s history and achievements. Include a photo of the founder if it’s relevant. Consider dedicating a page to testimonials or case studies. Customers buy from companies they trust.
10. Keep your website up to date.
    If visitors notice that your content isn’t current, then your site loses all credibility. Continually update your site, add to it and remove any information that is obsolete.
11. Use a straightforward layout.
    Nobody likes clutter, and that includes visitors to your website. Clean, simple and organized works best.
12. Make it easy for visitors to contact you.
    Put your contact information in multiple places so it’s easy to find. It should always be just one click away. Don’t make visitors work too hard to reach you. They might not bother, and you’ll lose them.
13. Keep forms simple.
    If your website includes a form, such as on your Contact or Quote page, ask the fewest questions possible. Visitors hate completing all those fields, and they likely don’t trust you enough to provide all the information you’re requesting. Yes, you’d love to obtain their detailed information, but it’s what they prefer, not you!
14. Include a call to action on nearly every page.
    Tell visitors what you would like them to do next. Lead them down the path to a sale or to contacting you.
15. Make it perfect or as close to it as you can get.
    Spelling and grammar mistakes make you look like an amateur. So does poor wording. Review your work closely, or better yet, consider hiring a professional copywriter to craft your content.

In today’s information-saturated world, visitors to your website are likely to be impatient. If they can’t quickly find what they want, they’ll move on. They’re skeptical of anything that sounds “salesy.” If they could speak to you, they’d say, “Just the facts, please.”

Defining What Success Means to You

To be effective, your website must deliver true value. Put your visitors’ needs and wants first as you create its content and watch your conversion rate soar!

We’ve all experienced ‘bloggers block’ and there’s nothing worse than when you’re all blogged out and you just can’t think of anything to write. But if you leave your followers empty handed, they could look elsewhere for their content fix.




This is where curated content (which essentially means gathering content from around the web, on a specific theme, and presenting it to your audience) becomes your best friend. Not only does it make it easy to create an engaging and useful post for your readers, but it also allows you to build a relationship with other bloggers or experts in your niche (after all, being featured in a post is always flattering!)
Here’s how to curate content for your blog.

How to find content to create

Great content curation is, of course, all about finding the right content to share with your readers. But in today’s crowded online world it can be difficult to find the ‘gems in the rough’.

Luckily, there are lot of tools out there to help.
Bookmarks

Chances are that you spend a lot of time wandering the web, reading the type of content that your audience is interested in. Make a habit of bookmarking any great articles you come across – it’ll make it easier to find them later!

Buzzsumo
An incredibly useful tool, Buzzsumo shows you the most popular (shared) content for any given topic, for example ‘gardening’. This makes it easy to find high-quality posts that already have your niche’s stamp of approval. You can also filter by date to see the most recent content.

Feedly
Another handy tool, Feedly curates content from your favourite sites and presents them in easy-to-read collections – helping you to keep track of all of the latest articles on-the-go. You can also save posts you’d like to read later.

YouTube
Video content is perfect for curation posts. From tutorials to expert tips, it’s easy to find content your audience will love on YouTube.

Pinterest
If you’re writing an image based post, Pinterest is a great place to find relevant images. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the Pin to find a link to where the picture originally came from.

What makes a good curated post?

It’s important to remember that curated content isn’t just about regurgitating other people’s hard work. You need to offer some kind of fresh perspective or commentary to make your post worth reading. After all, if you can’t think of anything to say about a piece of content, it’s probably not that interesting!

You also need to make sure that the content you feature is relevant to your blog and will interest your readers. Always remember to ask ‘what’s in it for them?’ Will it inspire them? Make them laugh? Help them to do something? Address an issue they’re interested in?  If you can’t answer this question, you shouldn’t include the content.
Some other good tips include:

• Choose a specific type of content to curate – for example, videos, infographics, quotes, images, eBooks or webinars
• Pick a specific theme – for example, ’40 pretty 50s outfits’ rather than just ’40 pretty outfits’
• Include as many pieces of content as possible – to make the post as valuable as possible to readers and a one-stop-shop for all of the best content on your chosen theme
• Make sure to ask for permission from the content creators– to avoid any copyright violations and to build relationships (most people will be delighted to be featured!)

Ultimately though, quality is the key. No one’s going to be interested in a post featuring average content – they want to see the best.

How to promote your post

Once you’ve created your amazing curated post, you need to make sure that people see it. One of the best ways to achieve this is to reach out to the content creators you’ve featured and let them know that the article has been published. If they’ve got large social followings, just a couple of retweets can get your post in front a huge and relevant audience.

Tagging them on Twitter when you share the post is a good tactic, as it makes it more likely that they’ll share it. However, it also doesn’t hurt to send them an email with a link to the post, thanking them for letting you feature their great content.

If you’re suffering from ‘bloggers block’ and struggling to come up with ideas, a curated post is a simple way to ensure that you’re still offering your readers great content – as well as helping you to build relationships with bloggers or experts in your niche.
Have you got any more tips for curating content? Let us know in the comments!