You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again, because it’s a tried and true reality: Content is King!
When creating a content strategy for your business, you’ll find that the process of determining what you should be prioritizing is not always a black and white. For the most part, a majority of the content ideas that come to your mind will probably feel relevant or worth putting out there. You can read more about ways to come up with content ideas in this blog post.
The questions to answer, however, are whether your ideas are relevant to your target audience or your marketing strategy? Do your ideas align with your social media efforts or have a chance of ranking high on search engines like Google? Is the type of content you’re thinking of well suited for your brand?
In this blog post, we will walk you through some important aspects to consider when learning how to prioritize content creation for your business. Let’s discuss the critical elements that will play a role in shaping your content creation strategy the most.
1) First and foremost, determine the goals you’re trying to achieve with the content you’re seeking to create.
Are you trying to build brand awareness? Do you want to produce more video content? Are you trying to meet specific key performance indicators? Clearly define what you’re looking to gain from a content strategy and what types of content will help you best reach your business goals. The actions you need to take from there will vary based on the types of goals you choose. The best practices and distribution channels for building credibility might be different from those of a summer sales campaign.
2) Then, look at the content you do have.
Is there anything from your existing content marketing or content strategy that you can repurpose for something else? Are there topics or areas of conversation that you haven’t yet covered, but would like to explore? Maybe you have a myriad of blog posts that were used to increase search engine optimization and engage potential customers who had high purchase intent for specific things. You can take tidbits from your blog posts to share blurbs and hyperlinks on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. This way, you can still appeal to new audiences without having to sway from your content marketing strategy or creating loads of new content.
3) Is the content you’re creating for anyone and everyone?
Many brands or businesses focus on creating content to capture the initial attention of potential customers. While this is a great way to build new relationships with qualified leads, you also want to make sure that you’re creating content for those who may be farther down the marketing or sales funnels. Creating high-quality content for people who may be at any level of the buyer’s journey is important so that you don’t miss anyone within your target market. Sometimes, the most relevant or catchy content does not always make for a good content strategy. Prioritize content that can reach many people at different levels, in different ways.
4) Look at how it fits on your content calendar.
A content calendar is one of the most helpful tools that businesses and content marketers could use to execute a good content marketing plan. A content or editorial calendar can create structure for all your ideas to flow in a way that appeals to your audience while also following a logical content strategy.
Besides — It’s called strategy for a reason! Your content should not be randomly thrown out without any rhyme or reason. Aligning your content marketing and content creation to fulfill the goals and purposes your business is trying to achieve will also help you build consistency, credibility, and make your content seem more trustworthy. If it’s off topic or doesn’t make sense with the flows you have on your calendar, it’s probably best to consider other ideas.
5) Evaluate how you fare next to your competitors.
It’s no secret that people often have many options to choose from for the solutions, products, or services they seek. For example, someone looking for digital marketing services can hop online, quickly type “digital marketing services” in Google, and have access to hundreds of agencies and independent providers at their fingertips. Because of this, you should dedicate focus to filling gaps that your competitors may have missed or have not provided much information on. This way, you can add value to your potential customers by positioning your content marketing efforts to exhibit how your products and services stand out amongst the crowd.
6) Can it be promoted on social media?
In this day and age, social media is quickly becoming one of the most efficient ways to reach specific audience groups with your content. From Instagram stories to LinkedIn posts, there are a myriad of clever ways to capture the attention of the people you want to reach. This is why it’s important to examine the content you want to create in the midst of your overall social media strategy and content strategy plan. Sometimes, great content that is often unassuming can garner the most attention on social media platforms. Choose to post content that is organic and authentic so that you can also engage with your audience in a way that’s consistent with your business.
7) Utilize content management systems (CMS).
Creating and prioritizing good content is already tricky enough — You don’t want to add more chaos to the mix with the disorganization of all the different elements involved. Make your business processes easier by keeping all of your content marketing and content creation in one place. Platforms like HubSpot allow businesses to manage their website, blog post, email marketing, and a number of other aspects of content within the same system. As a HubSpot agency provider, Lift Digital Marketing can assist you in setting up and operating your CMS system.
The steps listed above should give you a better idea of practical steps to take to enhance your content creation. By evaluating each of these elements, you’ll be better equipped to determine which types of content can help you achieve your goals better, faster, stronger, and more efficiently.
Interested in building your content strategy but not sure where to start? Our experts at Lift Digital Marketing offer targeted and cost efficient content creation services that will help you achieve your business goals. Our content creation services include blog posts, website pages, email marketing, and other marketing assets. Contact us to get the conversation started on how to best optimize and prioritize your content.
