If you want to create traffic, generate leads, and close sales, you can use content marketing to meet this end. Since 88% of business-to-business marketers are using content marketing strategies, businesses have to create a strategy to generate these results. To help you reach your audience, follow the five-stage plan described below:
Be clear on your market
The best way to come up with a content marketing strategy is to understand your target market and know the pains that the groups are having. Your objective is to come up with content that is relevant to your audience; it should engage with them, solve their issues and make them get into action. To bring this to fruition, you have to be clear about your target market.
Form buyer personas to achieve target marketing since you are creating a picture of your ideal customer based on the types of ideas that your customer desires. This will allow you to build a deeper connection with your audience because you will speak to them directly, and this will make your content engaging and impactful.
Create content that matches your sales process
Your market is divided into different stages. There are those who are ready to purchase, especially if they are familiar with the brand, others want to know more about you and how you can meet their needs. So, it is essential to create content that communicates with the market at each stage.
Let us look at each state and the content ideas that will fit each stage:
Awareness stage
Since the prospects are in your business’ discovery process, you want to come up with content that promotes your brand and creates awareness. Blog posts, webinars, white papers, and infographics are the ideal contents for this stage.
Consideration stage
At this stage, your prospect is familiar with your brand and ready to make a purchase. They respect you as a credible source. Your objective is to get a hold of qualified leads. The content that is ideal for this goal is guides, video series, product webinars, and case studies.
Decision stage
Your prospects are ready to purchase. They like your tactics, and they are ready to make a purchase. To close the deal, the best content you can offer is live demos, implementation guides, and free trials.
Create your content
Once you identify your buyer personas, and you come up with the right content for them, you are ready to produce the content. There are many ideas on how to create content. Your objective is to come up with diverse content that appeals to the different learning styles and later evaluates what is responsive to your market.
Some of the content formats you should consider include: case studies, video, blog articles, research reports, white papers, surveys, lists, podcasts, eNewsletters, Webinars, Slideshares, In-person events, interviews, how-to guides, in-person events, print magazines.
With measuring and testing, you will find out the types of content that resonate best with your audience. This will give you a better roadmap on where you will focus your energy.
Promote and distribute content
Get the word out through different channels once your content goes live. Creating content does not mean that you will have an automatic flow of traffic. Come up with a syndication strategy that will be your distribution channel.
Use the following strategies to promote your content, social media, email marketing, and Google AdWord.
Track, measure and adjust your results
Most content marketers fail because they do not track their performance on content marketing. With analysis, you can know the content that the market is most receptive to and create that type of content. This step will help you to drive traffic, boost engagement, create leads, and convert sales.
Conclusion
This five-step guide will help you create a successful content marketing strategy that will build engagement. The key is to implement this quickly and know the content that will work best for your audience and grow from it.
