Why content strategy matters – and how to develop it

The days when ‘content strategy’ simply meant high-volume content production aimed at improving Google analytics scores, coupled with haphazard email marketing, are well and truly over. Search engines have become infinitely more sophisticated than they used to be – and so, more importantly, have consumers of online content.

Today, content marketers need to develop a robust content strategy that incorporates blog content, social media, digital marketing and much more, with the ultimate business goal at its heart. Such a strategy will not only catch the (multitudinous) eyes of the search engine spiders, but also appeal to potential customers, provide a positive user experience and build brand awareness.

At Wardour, content marketing has always been at the heart of what we do. Our team works with our clients to create high-quality digital content that goes hand-in-hand with each client’s brand and marketing strategy to reach potential customers, existing stakeholders or any other target audience. Coupled with effective social media and email marketing, a successful content strategy not only boosts search engine analytics and brand awareness, but results in great content that our clients’ audiences will value.

So how do we do it – and how should you go about formulating and implementing your own content strategy?

Analysis

According to best practice guidance from the Content Marketing Institute, formulating a content strategy begins with a ‘Why?’: “Organisations typically use content marketing to build an audience and to achieve at least one of these profitable results: increased revenue, lower costs, or better customers.”

Of course, identifying a target audience is a crucial first step. This might be colleagues, potential clients, existing clients, competitors – or possibly a mixture of all of these.

At Wardour, once our client’s underlying business goal has been identified, the next stage in the process is generally a thorough content analysis. We’ll delve into what our client has been doing, what their competitors do, what marketing resonates with their target audience, and what strategy will result in the most effective search engine optimisation. If necessary, we’ll carry out interviews with internal stakeholders from the brand, marketing and senior leadership teams to identify a strategy that will be most effective for the business.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here: with some clients, we’ll be starting from the ground up, building and creating a content programme from scratch. Others might already have a well-defined online presence and simply be seeking to add value through regular dissemination of compelling, well-researched and relevant content. Most fall somewhere in between. Our client services team have worked through this process with businesses of all sizes, from a wide range of sectors, and have decades of collective experience in identifying the appropriate scope for a proposed content marketing project.

Planning

The content marketing strategy process then moves on to concrete planning and the development of a content strategy framework. If content creation is to revolve around a specific campaign, a theme for this will be identified and campaign ideas developed with the content team and our creatives will get to work developing visual assets to support it. Our content team, meanwhile, might be developing tone-of-voice guidelines, getting to grips with wider industry trends and speaking to key people in the organisation to find out what burning issues they might be covering.

All these elements will come together in a framework for an initial tranche of content, which might span a few weeks, a quarter or even up to a year. The development of content ideas can be supported by the use of a content calendar, which links content scheduling to key global or industry events and supports the overall marketing strategy. Before the team begins to create content, Wardour will also analyse our client’s existing content and identify opportunities to repurpose this to support the new content marketing strategy.

We’ll also look at ways in which content ideas can be formatted to create a varied and engaging range of content types that will hold the interest of the target audience over time. This might include blog posts, podcasts, video, infographics, animation and even games, together with supporting social media posts and email marketing.

Activation

Once a content marketing strategy, plan and schedule have been developed and content creation is under way, it’s time to prepare for go-live. At Wardour, this is the stage in the process where our robust quality-control measures come into play. Each piece of content goes through multiple internal quality checks, as well as external signoffs with our client and the stakeholders in their marketing team. If you’re preparing to launch your own content programme, make sure quality-control and sign-off protocols have been agreed up-front to avoid any embarrassing mistakes at this exciting and crucial stage of the process.

Even when the first pieces of content are uploaded and the first social media assets posted, the journey is still by no means complete. Google and other search engine analytics must be monitored closely to gauge effectiveness, and social media engagement measured and maintained.

Continuity

Of course, a content strategy is not static. External events that could not have been anticipated will need to be responded to appropriately. Content that achieves high levels of engagement might be repurposed or expanded upon to make the most of its effectiveness. Most importantly, content production must be sustained to ensure the longevity of the programme, allowing it to continue with its functions of increasing brand visibility, establishing organisational credibility and connecting with audiences in a way they find useful and inspiring.

An organisation’s online presence can stand or fall on the basis of its content. Great content, originally produced and professionally executed, can transform a minor player into a thought leader. Poor content – or even good content that is left to languish in a forgotten corner of the web instead of being updated and optimised – is a reputation-killer at worst and a waste of money at best.

So, make your content work hard for you. It all begins with methodical, strategic planning.

To find out how Wardour can help with your content strategy, email hello@wardour.co.uk.