Strategy & planning

The importance of a content strategy should never be underestimated – write content simply for the sake of ‘getting something out there’ and you’ll quickly regret it.

Your brand’s content strategy sets out a clearly defined path for your content creation and explains the ‘why’ – its purpose. There’s an infinite amount of content out there – how is your brand going to make itself heard in such a crowded space?

A content strategy shouldn’t only cater for existing customers. We need to think in a broader sense than this – pre- and post-purchase. Content isn’t always created to simply cinch a sale. Lead generation might be the long goal but genuinely useful content that serves to educate, inform or inspire is extremely valuable to your audience and can give you the edge over your competitors. A content plan takes all the goals and insights outlined in your strategy (the groundwork) and translates them into a plan to produce engaging content pieces with objectives and purpose of their own. Among other content types, a content plan takes into consideration content optimised to meet customer queries (SEO), on-site and off-site content, blog content, thought leadership (whitepapers, for example).

A clear content marketing strategy and content plan won’t bring overnight success – this is a long-term plan. Your content output requires consistent nurturing and adjusting to keep in line with audience needs and achieve high levels of engagement. In the meantime, brand awareness, credibility and trust are all at play so it’s win-win.