In order to create awareness for your business, attract and educate your potential customers you need to have a well thought-out content strategy. Depending on your business goals, a content strategy typically aims to increase the volume of incoming leads, generate awareness for your company and educate the market on ways to solve the challenges that your potential customers are facing.
According to Content Marketing Institute, 76% of B2B marketers say that they will produce more content in 2016, citing the development of engaging content as their top priority in the next 12 months.
What is a Content Strategy?
When we talk about a company's content strategy we refer to the planning, creation, publication and management of useful and purposeful content. A solid content strategy can help your company build credibility and trust with your potential customers.
Your content strategy should support your business goals while in the same time, address the needs of your potential customers. At the core of your content strategy lies your ability to describe in detail who your ideal buyers are, their purchasing behavior, challenges and motivations, what topics interest them, and where and how to find them. Creating a Buyer Persona helps focus your marketing efforts on the right people, the right marketing channels, and with the right content that addresses their needs.
When crafting your content strategy, it's also helpful to have an editorial mission statement which defines what purpose your content will fulfill and a content calendar to organize and manage the development and distribution of your content.
What is a Content Strategy?
When we talk about a company's content strategy we refer to the planning, creation, publication and management of useful and purposeful content. A solid content strategy can help your company build credibility and trust with your potential customers.
Your content strategy should support your business goals while in the same time, address the needs of your potential customers. At the core of your content strategy lies your ability to describe in detail who your ideal buyers are, their purchasing behavior, challenges and motivations, what topics interest them, and where and how to find them. Creating a Buyer Persona helps focus your marketing efforts on the right people, the right marketing channels, and with the right content that addresses their needs.
When crafting your content strategy, it's also helpful to have an editorial mission statement which defines what purpose your content will fulfill and a content calendar to organize and manage the development and distribution of your content.
How different types of content can help you achieve your business goals
Before we determine which types of content are best suited to help each company achieve its goals, we need to understand the "5 Stages of a Buyer's Journey", in other words, the stages that potential customers could be in at any given time. This is important because not every potential buyer is aware of your company and products and also not everyone is ready to buy that moment. Therefore, different types of content may need to be created depending on the stage a prospective buyer is in.
Before we determine which types of content are best suited to help each company achieve its goals, we need to understand the "5 Stages of a Buyer's Journey", in other words, the stages that potential customers could be in at any given time. This is important because not every potential buyer is aware of your company and products and also not everyone is ready to buy that moment. Therefore, different types of content may need to be created depending on the stage a prospective buyer is in.
To address potential buyers who are at the early stages of the buying cycle, the content that you publish should be mostly focused on discussing and addressing the challenges that your potential buyers are facing. During this "building awareness" phase, examples of content that you could produce include blog posts, white papers, eBooks, social media, infographics and webinars that speak to your customer needs.
During the later stages of the buying cycle, a buyer will likely be more engaged diligently researching your company and product, comparing it to your competitors, speaking to community of users and getting feedback from customers. Case studies, product demonstrations, free trials, product datasheets, customer testimonials are examples of the types of content that a company could produce.
While in the early stages of the buyer's journey your content mix is focused on educating the market, in the later stages of the buying cycle, your strategy is to prove to your prospective buyer that your product meets their needs.
Need help with your content strategy? Contact Us.
During the later stages of the buying cycle, a buyer will likely be more engaged diligently researching your company and product, comparing it to your competitors, speaking to community of users and getting feedback from customers. Case studies, product demonstrations, free trials, product datasheets, customer testimonials are examples of the types of content that a company could produce.
While in the early stages of the buyer's journey your content mix is focused on educating the market, in the later stages of the buying cycle, your strategy is to prove to your prospective buyer that your product meets their needs.
Need help with your content strategy? Contact Us.