By Jasmine Henry, Published November 14, 2014
There’s nothing simple about creating a content strategy.
Maintaining and improving a content strategy over time? That’s even tougher. However, the odds are definitely in your favor. Only 44% of marketers have bothered to document their publishing strategy. Your efforts to refine and improve will give you a serious advantage! Here are 10 of the most common things marketers fail to include in their content strategy:
1. Audit & Maintenance
Your published content is assets. Far too many organizations publish – and quickly forget – their best blogs, landing pages, and whitepapers. Your process must include regular audit of your former content, and maintenance to keep your articles up-to-date and SEO-optimized.
2. A Defined Voice
How does your content sound? Is it written in a voice that’s familiar and appealing to your buyer personas? Your content needs its own unique voice to stand out online, or you’ll risk blending in with the rest.
3. Non-Digital Content
Non-digital content isn’t always the same as interruption marketing. In fact, depending on your industry, continuing to provide high-value articles and tutorials to your customers in print form may be a huge competitive advantage.
4. Workflows
It’s absolutely critical to document your process, especially if you’ll be using freelance writers or work on a large team. It keeps you organized and productive. Michael Cunningham recommends ensuring you build the following aspects into your content workflow:
- Review and Approval Processes
- Legal and Compliance, if Needed
- Project Accountability
5. A True North Statement
The idea of a “true north statement” originated in lean manufacturing. It’s the idea of a single sentence that describes the goals of your content strategy. Examples statements could include:
- Provide the highest-quality content marketing tips
- Assist customers in finding the right mortgage
- Unbiased advice on Non-Profit Marketing
6. Paid Promotion
Only 20% of your content’s success is quality. The remaining 80% is promotion. Paid promotion isn’t a silver bullet, and it’s no substitute for organic community-building efforts. However, it can provide a much-needed shot in the arm for some brands.
7. Lead Conversion Opportunities
The more landing pages and offers you create, the more leads you’ll generate. Building success into your content strategy is downright simple.
8. Visual Content
Your brand needs to branch out into visual content, period. Even if your infographics and videos are curated, you can still reap the benefits of variety.
9. Comprehensive Campaigns
Marketing campaigns are a time-proven concept, and your content strategy should include them. Pick thematic ideas that matter to your customers, and build multiple forms of content around it.
10. Measurement
Your content strategy should be based on the right marketing metrics. It should include a plan for responding to your metrics quickly, too. Monitoring is absolutely crucial. In fact, it’s just about the only improvement tactic that’s guaranteed to work for everyone!
What’s missing from your content marketing strategy? Share your tips and experiences in the comments!
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