Content Strategy Gives Shape to Editorial Planning
Content marketing is now an indispensable arrow in the digital marketing quiver. Very few companies, however, have a clear idea of how content marketing can deliver real, measurable results. For content marketing to be effective in increasing in leads and conversions, organizations need to formulate a proper content marketing strategy. Working without a defined and documented strategy is like designing a website without consulting an information architect.
Editorial planning is often confused with content strategy. In reality, content strategy comes first, followed by editorial planning. Once you have your vision, goal and buyer personas in place, the next step is to execute that strategy with imagination and skill. Editorial planning involves choosing the suitable channels and formats for creating content, deciding the tone and voice of the writing, and frequency of publishing, among other things. The success or failure of editorial planning depends on the content strategy behind it.
The goal of content strategy is to
- Create the right content
- For the right audience
- For the right reasons
- At the right time
3 Key Aspects of Content Strategy
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Content Strategy Involves a Mission Statement:Editorial planning moves smoothly when your content marketing team fully understands what your company stands for, who your audience is, and what you aim to achieve through content marketing. For example, if your organization is in the field of IT infrastructure management, your company’s mission statement could read something like this: “To retain and grow our customer base by creating and marketing content that encourages CIOs, IT managers and technology decision makers to use our services.”
The above statement gives clarity about your company’s target audience and the kind of content you should produce. Mission statements provide vision and focus to editorial planning. -
Content Strategy Aligns Content with Business Goals:The content you produce must resonate with your business objectives and also prove meaningful to your target audience. If your content is too broad and generic, and does not align with your target audience or business goals, you are unlikely to have much success in attracting new leads and conversions. For example, if your company sells luxury condos, it wouldn’t make sense for you to carry generic blog posts about the real estate market. You will not draw the right traffic, and you risk displeasing visitors those who come with specific expectations, looking to find information that is relevant to the luxury condo market. The right content strategy would require you to filter ideas so that they speak to your specific target audience of luxury home buyers and fit in with your business goals. With a well-defined content strategy, you will find that your audience reacts positively to your calls-to-action.
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Content Strategy Is About Results:Most companies today have in place some kind of content marketing program. However, a high percentage of companies also struggle to garner significant ROI for their content marketing efforts. How can conversions be attributed to a certain piece of content? That is the question. Engagement alone is never a good reason for a company to invest in content marketing. Content strategy is a pathway towards focused, result-oriented marketing. A well-crafted content strategy involves the use of appropriate metrics to measure the impact of your content marketing efforts.
Effective copywriting is born out of a solid content marketing strategy. If you are looking for a leading content marketing agency with expertise and experience in SEO copywriting, call 1-888-646-8003 today or email us to learn about our range of copywriting services in Canada.