In the first installment of this series, I talked about the importance of an overall content marketing strategy. Today’s edition is about the first phase of your strategy: objectives.
No strategy is complete without clearly defined objectives. A carefully crafted objective ensures that your plan has a final destination, a target to aim toward. Your content goals should support your marketing goals, which in turn should support your business goals. In that end, content marketing should support the business.
Initially you should set some simple, but specific, one-year goals. Start creating your goals by defining exactly what you want to accomplish with your content strategy. Why are you offering content to your audience? What do you hope to gain from this adventure? Most people will instinctually answer, “More sales!” While that is our ultimate desire, we need to be clearer.
As I said, your content objectives should stem from your specific business objectives, but here are a few popular goals:
- Generate business leads and draw visitors into the website’s sales funnel.
- Close sales by providing answers to frequently asked questions.
- Keep customers by providing ongoing, post-purchase support.
- Lower sales and support costs by making information available all the time.
You need ways to determine if you are meeting your objectives, so it’s important that your goals be measurable. Create goals that offer you some way to track your progress. Record your starting data and make regular measurements, at least monthly.
If your objective is to generate leads, you will use your website analytics to learn how many unique visitors are coming in through your current content. (If you haven’t developed any content at this point, that starting number will be 0.) As you create your content, you’ll see what works.
If your objective is to lower support costs, you could examine the types of questions your customer service lines are receiving. Are there any patterns or regularities? When you create your content, you can turn those questions into posts and pages titled in the users’ own words, exactly as they ask the question.
After you have developed your one-year goals, look into broader, long-term goals to tackle over several years. Don’t be afraid to change these objectives over time as you learn more about your industry, your customers, and your business.
Your long-term content objectives may include:
- Enter a new market (become a leader/authority/expert on something new).
- Attract new users to grow your customer base.
- Increase user satisfaction (so they are more likely to tell their friends).
- Establish your brand within your industry.
Typically, your long-term goals aren’t so easily measured, but it can be done. Brand awareness can be tracked by the number of social conversation that mention you. Media exposure can be judged by the frequency and length (quick asides versus full features) of press mentions. Market authority can be determined by your inclusion in trade shows, networking opportunities, or professional correspondence.
The best businesses are always evolving, responding to new information and adapting to markets. Be sure to adjust your content objectives if your business goals change. If you believe you have satisfied an objective or it is no longer necessary, do not be afraid to abandon it and tackle a new challenge.
In the next installment of this series, I’ll be discussing your audience. We’ll learn how to judge who is experiencing your content and how we can speak to them.
Written by Dennis Hammer, Creative Content Director at Social Media 22
As a graduate of University of Connecticut, Dennis is an experienced web designer and talented copywriter. As a former owner of an eCommerce web site, Dennis has experience in online marketing, SEO, and bringing businesses to the next level. He develops creative content at Social Media 22, such as blogs, images, and newsletters. Dennis lives with his wife in Connecticut, plays the guitar, and is an avid writer/reader.
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