Content marketing exists ever since the modes of communication were invented. If used wisely it is the most impactful weapon a marketer can make use of. When we talk about the content in the era of digital marketing, it shouldn’t be usual as it is on the other platform. There comes a matter of keywords, its density, tags and many more things that should not be ignored. Those days are gone when posting a 400-words article with a 2% keyword density could boost a page’s search rankings. Now, quality plays an important role. poor quality content makes a negative impact on a site, causing it to drown in an ocean of content that was created just for SEO purposes.

The way content is written is definitely on Google’s radar. So, when you create a sound content marketing strategy which is necessary to attract and engage users, it also improves a site’s Google search rankings. Therefore, focus on producing quality content, and you will reap a boost in SERP rankings as a secondary benefit. sounds cool right? 

So let’s understand where content strategy is important

The content strategy differs with different platforms as every platform has certain parameters that have to be followed. Example, SEO content should be written around keywords and it must be engaging similarly the social media content must have the ability to engage, aware and educate the audience. Let dig down these terms in details 

1) SEO

It is known to the world that content plays an important role in SEO. Although some marketers consider SEO and content marketing to be completely different strategies. But, besides the clashing to this belief, SEO and content marketing are interconnected with each other. Without high-quality content, one can not take the full advantages of SEO. Relevant and useful content on your website makes your website visitors stay for longer, and this can positively impact your search engine rankings. That’s why seo content strategy is Important. 

2)Social Media Marketing

Not only Graphics but text and infographics or even just a quote on a plain canvas can make a social media marketing post. The social media marketing content needs the different strategy which is not similar to the other content marketing. The content writer needs to analyze the user’s persona and make a content accordingly.   

3) Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing is the process to drive potential customers through quality content. In inbound marketing, the content strategy for web  that needs to focus is to make the educational content. The focus is to drive the customer to take the action by educating them.  

On the off chance that you can make educational content that tends to customers’ needs and issues for each phase of their excursion cycle, You will always have the option to build their commitment. For each phase of the inbound approach, there are successful methods and instruments to assist you with making content that tends to match the business need. Now that you know how content is important in various part of online marketing, Let’s look at the content strategy 

Creating an online Content Strategy

In my total years of experience as a content creator, I have learned that strategizing before producing any content makes an impact. Don’t just simply write out content for  sake of increasing the word count. Once you start writing great content, users will start getting engaged with it and boost rankings at the same time, you’ll understand why this is far more than just writing it down. It seems hard but it isn’t, trust me. The tips in this article will help you. Now, let’s get started on the first step, which is to define your goals. 

1) Define Your Goals

Remember the great content is created for a specific purpose, and your job as a content creator is to define this purpose. Know in the first place if you are creating content to boost brand awareness, generate leads, convert users, attract past customers, improve search ranking results, or something else altogether.

Once you have clearly defined your goals, you need to determine if a content strategy is, in fact, the best way to achieve them. HubSpot provides some useful information with respect to different parts of the sales funnel. Your content must be writer w.r.t  sales funnel divided into three key areas, and then lists the appropriate content asset types for each in the graphic below. And that brings us to second point that is to focus on niche. 

2) Focus on Your Niche

It is sad to see that the Internet is full of content that shouldn’t even exist online. This content either repeats and is simply reposted or doesn’t provide any real value. Most people ignore the fact that 99% of this useless content doesn’t appear anywhere near the top of SERPs(Search engine result page).

To avoid having your content lost somewhere in the internet jungle, a creator must create content that stands out, that is unique, has a well-defined voice, and, most important, offers genuine value to readers.

The more specific you are and the more you focus on your niche, the greater your chances of establishing yourself as an authority in your field, whether your readers are looking for information or entertainment. The more explicit you are and the more you centre around your speciality, the more noteworthy your odds of building up yourself as an expert in your field, regardless of whether your pursuers are searching for data or entertainment.

3) Research Your Audience

You can make the content strategy effective when you know who your audience is, So “KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE FIRST” . You can generate valuable information by checking what types of sites your visitors are already visiting, which content they are getting engaged with, and which social media platforms they use to share content. This can be done by enabling Google Demographics and Interests for the types of sites prospects engage with and Google Analytics for the content they engage with. You can also review by which social platforms are more popular for sharing on content pages like yours. 

4) Measure Your Results

Don’t just write because you have to, measure the results of your content marketing efforts as it is one of the most important aspects of developing an effective content strategy. Writing out content without examining your user feedback is similar to having a phone conversation on mute. You need to keep track of what your audience liked as well as what they didn’t like, and why. Here are some of the most important metrics to understand.

Consumption Metrics

With this data, you can find answers to questions like these: Did you craft a blog post that brought on a huge spike in traffic? Did your users spend more time on a particular piece or genre of content? Did a piece of content collect a large number of comments or shares on social media?

Lead Generation metrics

If you are following the sales funnel then you might know creating content for for primary stage is more crucial than other stages as it is arrow in the dark without properly knowing your targeted audience, once you are done with this stage, remarketing them with similar thought process is easier  creating content as per the sales funnel, Always know what stage of the funnel you are targeting on.  And always have a check on the lead generation metrics as per the following graphics  

Conversions

This shows you the total number and amount of conversions. They are from every traffic source, not only social

Your take away

You can take a lot from this article. Let’s summarize this article in brief

1. Make sure you apply proper content strategy according to different purposes that is writing content for SEO, social media, inbound marketing, etc.
2.  Before writing content make sure you have done enough research to set your goals for writing.
3. The content is not worth it if it is not focused on your niche. Because the niche audience are your possible customers.
4. Use the proper parameters to measure content quality and metrics to track the content such as lead generation, conversions, and related things.