Developing a content strategy may have seemed so easy but it is truly challenging.
We all want our planning to be as smooth as a well-oiled machine, but we can’t just sit down all-day planning for that content since we have other businesses to deal with.
Content marketing has been proven to generate three times more leads than traditional marketing has, and it proves to be cheaper than traditional marketing itself. That’s why nowadays, 93% of B2B marketers use content marketing to move their brand higher. You can use this content workflow.
On the other hand, you might be able to come up with a plan while your current content strategy is doing well since everyone is quite pleased with it and its yielded results, but it can be a difficult challenge for you when they ask you to finally make a documentation of it.
Successful Brands with Awesome Content Marketing
The success of a brand depends on its marketing team and what type of marketing tactic they used into amplifying a brand’s image on the Internet.
For example, Virgin Mobile took its time in creating leads through various marketing techniques, but the content and social media marketing has helped them generate leads faster than ever. Engaging content has built the bridge necessary to reach out with their fanbase.
There was a time where LinkedIn has been struggling with their own competitors such as Facebook and Twitter.
It was hard to build up a social networking site that focuses on career development and relies heavily on B2B interactions. Soon, they developed Sales Navigator and TeamLink that defined them among their competitors. Through this, they have seen a 50% increase in leads to meeting conversion rates.
There are a lot of different challenges that would come up during the process of planning out your content strategy and it is hence a very crucial part.
But to be successful with your content plan, you need to weigh all the factors and establish all your needs first. And to help you out, below are some ideas that you must know:
What is a Content Workflow?
Content workflow is also known as the Content Governance Model, and as its name implies, it is the definition of all the things an employee must know to make sure that they are fully equipped and capable to do the job in the best way they can. To further elaborate, a content workflow includes all the roles, documentation, workflow, responsibilities and ownership, and training of employees to make them suitable for their respective positions.
To further elaborate, a content workflow includes all the roles, documentation, workflow, responsibilities and ownership, and training of employees to make them suitable for their respective positions.
Curata has tallied that 56% of marketers use content marketing-specific software to manage their content workflow and distribution. If you’re not using a software to manage your content marketing workflow, you should concentrate on creating a better process for your team.
An editorial calendar can help you manage the workflow of your team. As defined by Unbounce, “An editorial calendar is essentially a virtual “To Do” list. It’s a tool of accountability. It’s a forum for brainstorming. It’s a micromanager’s dream come true.”
A workflow is essential in producing content because it can remove all the potential pitfalls that one can encounter since you get to foresee things while planning. It is an advantage to make it a habit no matter how big or small a task is.
And since it ensures that the content is timely, accurate, and consistent; it is easy to achieve the desired outcomes and all the deadlines. It can also give you a helping hand in sorting out your employees on the best position they best fit.
Hire a Good Writer Who Understands Your Niche
It is important that you have a good writer working with you, whether it is an in-house writer or you contracted one from an outside agency, they can help you by giving the advice to make things easier for you.
Always remember in getting a good writer, make sure that both of you have a strong bond and clear communication. It is also essential that your writer understands your nature and industry, your objectives and the goals you set, and all the necessary things that you need.
Keep in mind that a good writer that can express all the things you want to say while emphasizing the visibility of your brand — that’s the main key in a successful content plan!
Kissmetrics has laid out the nine key ingredients that make great content here:
- Write original content for your website. Duplicate content is a big no-no not just for humans, but for search engines too.
- Create strong headlines for your articles to attract attention
- Write actionable content, something that will help your readers to do something or resolve a problem.
- Provide answers to questions, solutions to major problems that you discussed in the article.
- Cite your sources properly on your article. Similar to this article, we’ve properly cited where we got the ideas from, where we got each statistic. It doesn’t just improve your article, but it also helps in improving its authority by citing credible sources that can amplify your content.
- Create content that will engage your readers and make them think. Thought-provoking articles need not be deep or questions your existence; this may be an opinion article, a how-to that helps people configure their materials and tools, etc.
Content shouldn’t be a wall of text; it will make your readers bored of whatever information you have. Add images, videos, and even audios for your text. This will help supplement the information that you have in your text.
That being said, unless it’s necessary, content shouldn’t be too long. If it’s possible to divide the content into parts, the better. Skyscraper content is text-rich in data and solutions to problems, so a simple topic wouldn’t cut it.
Develop Your Content Ahead of time
The early bird catches the first worm. It is important that you do things earlier, and avoid doing things at the edge of deadlines.
Develop your content ahead of time and enjoy the luxury of being calm and relax in doing your content plan. It is beneficial to have a great amount of time ahead of you since you’ll get a lot of chance to study the timely trends in order for you to know whether you need to change your topic or not.
There are numerous tools in creating an editorial calendar; the editorial calendar above is Trello’s calendar using Trello in managing their tasks.
Know Your Business
If you are able to find a good writer and you are able to finish it ahead of time but you are not able to elaborate and state the real essence of the business, it might not work out.
From BuzzSumo’s Content Research Tool
Always choose the topic that is on trend and timely. Remember that people are always looking for the unique one that suits them and make this as one of the criteria for your chosen topic.
These factors are essential especially if the main goal is to become the authority and standard of your field.
It is also necessary to make random but timely posts to let your audience hear the things you wanted to express and add value to your business. If you’re having a difficult time to find a trending topic online, BuzzSumo’s content research tool can help!
Automate Your Task
Once everything was perfectly in place, you have a good writer, a definite content that was done ahead of time, the last thing, and probably the most important, is to automate the task. Its automation can make a huge impact to the business and to you as well.
There are few programs that are available to help you out in keeping the flow of your content and it can also decrease your workload. It is also advantageous if you assign at least one person to be in charge and responsible for the distribution of the content and assuring that the metrics were followed to know how it is doing.
It is also advantageous if you assign at least one person to be in charge and responsible for the distribution of the content and assuring that the metrics were followed to know how it is doing.
Author – Kenneth Sytian is the CEO of Sytian Productions, Web Design Philippines. Kenneth has been designing websites and developing web apps for more than a decade.