Creating and publishing content without a clear strategy is like throwing away the map and venturing into the Bermuda Triangle. You are bound to get lost and probably never resurface.

We do not know if the Bermuda Triangle has a map that will prevent you from getting lost. But we do have a step-by-step guide on preventing your content from getting lost.

The first step is to have a content marketing strategy!

In the next five minutes, we will give you a complete, concise, and actionable seven steps that will grow your business magnanimously by developing a marketing strategy that is unique and effective.

1) Set Targets

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Winston Churchill.

The process of setting targets and visualizing your goal simplifies the process of working towards it.

When you put down your goals in writing, it feels natural and boosts your confidence in your ability to achieve them.

Incase of creating a content marketing strategy, the goals would most probably be:

1. The target audience that you hope to attract.
2. Influence your audience and project yourself as the industry leader.
3. Reducing the marketing cost by reusing and repurposing content.
4. Acquiring more traffic and subsequently more revenue.

These targets are set in the form of Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

KPI are measurable metrics with numbers attached to them. It helps in tracking performance and boosting morale.

2) Market Research

Setting plans is just the first step in your content strategy. To hit those targets, you need to know the method that will bring those goals to reality.

There are no straightforward success methods in content marketing. What works for you might not work for another brand. Thus your brand requires a unique strategy that is customized to your audience needs.

Knowing is half the battle. Do the demographic analysis, surveys, get feedback, and create your ideal buyer persona.

Then tailor your content in a way that attracts and satisfies this kind of audience.

Google Analytics is an excellent way of analyzing your audience. It provides information about metrics that matter, such as click rate, bounce rate, and the average time spent on the blog.

If you promote your brand through social media, each social media has its analytics to get insight into your audience.

3) Content Audit

Once the type of content that attracts your audience is finalized, auditing existing content according to that type is a great way to start.

Assess the previously existing content for usefulness and identify gaps in your content. Once you know where you are lagging, work towards resolving that.

SEMRush is an excellent tool for conducting content audits. It analyzes your content titles, meta descriptions, social re-shares and so on. It helps you figure out if your content is shareable, and whether it has the necessary keywords that provide a high SER ranking.

4) Decide on Content Types and Channels

On further analysis of various social media analytics and Google Analytics, we can quickly pinpoint the channels that best receive your content and bring in more leads.

For example, you might see more leads generated via Instagram and Pinterest than Linkedin and Twitter if you own a thrift store business.

Thus, analytics help you locate channels on which you have to focus more on.

Identifying the ideal content type is as important as identifying the content channels. 

Once you bring your audience to your content, it is vital to provide engaging and valuable content to make them stay.

Analytics tools provide reports of shares by content type, length, and so on. 

What keeps the attention of your audience? Blogs, Visuals, Webinars, podcasts, or videos?

Zero in on the type of content that your audience loves, and produce them in abundance!

5) Develop a Content Workflow

Once the initial research is done, it is time to develop a workflow.

Establish a workflow that is easy to follow through. Creating an outline and getting it approved to produce the content, edit it, and publish it. Your workflow should also include audits to keep track of your performance.

Analyze your workflow and outsource work to ensure maximum efficiency and to save time.

Taking care of every step in your workflow on your own can be a daunting process and often lead to errors.

Hiring freelancers or a content marketing company can help take things off your plate while you can go and take care of your business.

6) Create and Distribute

Creating content does not just entail producing content and adding the necessary edits. It also includes verifying the content for authenticity.

The content you produce should provide value and also should be accurate. This will help build trust in your audience.

Cross-reference and verify every single piece of information you provide via your content. Also, add links to credible websites to support your claim.

Building trust and loyalty in your audience will ensure success in the long run.

7) Measure Results

Now that your carefully curated content is out for your audience to view, it is time to check the kind of results that it is providing.

Are you getting the kind of response that you hoped to get? 

Are you anywhere near the figures that you hoped to achieve, like lead generation and revenue increment?

Keep track of everything.

Various tools like Optinmonster, Buzzsumo, and Google Analytics help monitor content performance, conversion analytics, and social sharing activity.

Producing a fool-proof Content marketing strategy is a trial-and-error process. Perfecting it takes an extended amount of time. Patient efforts and diligent working towards your goal will slowly but surely bring tremendous results.