Benefits of a Content Strategy For Your Blog & Marketing Content
Earlier this week, I talked about the importance of an editorial calendar. Today, I wanted to take it a step further and talk about content strategy and why it's so important.
When writing for our blog or marketing materials, it's tempting to take a wing-it approach. We'll write about whatever strikes our fancy or whatever interests us long enough to be able to sit down and write about it.
But as a result, our messages turn out jumbled. They lack cohesion. We'll talk about one topic on Monday and then a completely different topic on Thursday.
It's understandable that we want variety so we're not talking about the same thing day after day, but we need to make sure that our content accomplishes one main goal: to provide valuable content based on our audience's real needs.
What is it that they are really looking for? What urgent, pressing problems do they need help with? How can you deliver valuable, usable content in a cohesive, logical manner?
The worst thing that can happen with our materials is that we fail to provide valuable, usable content that our readers actually care about.
A content strategy can help us focus on those needs.
It helps us define themes and messages, recommended topics, and search engine optimization keywords. It can also help us identify missing pieces in our content, allowing us to produce content that fills in those gaps.
Neglecting to take these things into consideration when producing our marketing materials can make them ineffective and a waste of time.
Mapping out a content strategy and getting at the heart of what our readers are looking for takes some time. It requires that we do our research, figure out what our customers' wants and needs are, and execute the strategy in a way that will get our readers to take notice. What do they need to hear? How do they feel about their problems? What are they saying about them?
Those are the things to pay attention to. When we start to figure out what our customers want and how they are talking about it, that's when things start falling into place.
Do you have a content strategy for your business?
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