6 Stages of Content that Marketer Should Know About

Human interests keep on evolving in a definite course of time. Change is the need of every sector. Hence marketing strategies also need a makeover and throughout the last decade, marketing has evolved significantly. When people start spending more time online than offline it is understood that the old marketing techniques like print and electronic advertisements, cold calling, billboards, etc. are not going to give the expected results. Thus people have now shifted to content marketing. Content marketing is an imperative part of digital marketing. Content marketing has gained momentum after Google unveiled Penguin and Panda and today, “Content is King” in every marketer’s battle-cry. But being said that content marketing should not be taken for granted as it is not as simple as a, b, c. Content marketing has been around for quite some time now which means that most brands are already adopting it. It simply indicates that there is a lot of competition and the content is overflowing thus chances are that your content may go unnoticed in this clutter of content.

To ensure the success of your content marketing you must follow a process. Yes, you read it right, like everything else content marketing also has a process and by understanding each stage of this process you can surely become a master in building content marketing strategies. So, here are the 6 core stages of creating a content marketing plan that every marketer should know about:

1.       Set your goal:-

The first and prior thing you need to do is document your goals. Here you need to address the curiosities of What? How? Why? When? Where? Questions could be like why do you want to achieve with your content marketing campaign? Is it to build customers? Is it to create leads? Do you want to increase your brand awareness? Be specific and realistic when it comes to determining goals. No matter what your content marketing goals are, just make sure they’re sustainable for the long-term and they connect to your organization’s overarching goals, mission and vision. Thus be smart and focused while setting up the goals.

2.       Create a content strategy:-

Done with documenting the goals? Now it is time to frame a strategy for achieving those goals. Create a roadmap and outline steps that will help you achieve the goals. Here you need to review past content marketing efforts to make your campaign go from good to great. Focus on target audiences, their needs and how your products help to cater to those needs. Apart from that keep yourself informed about the market standing and your competitors in the market. All this will help you to design an impeccable content strategy.

3.       Do your research:-

Research in any sector plays a very vital role and so it does in content marketing. Once you are done creating a content marketing strategy, start researching the content you are going to deliver. Cover every aspect of that content like competitor analysis, studies and data to support your claims, trending topics in your niche, expert writing and frequently covered topics. Try to determine that one unique thing that no one is writing about and give inertia to it to make it go viral or covers the same topic from a unique perspective and try to mold it differently and uniquely. If you are clueless where to start, it’s advisable to hire content writing services to get your strategy going

4.       Create and curate content:-

Once done with research, you are all set to create content. Put everything you have from research and create content that could answer all the questions of your customers. Use all the data, facts, studies, etc. you have collected. Try to use them in a way that highlights the significance of your product. Try to take readers into your horizon of trust and make them believe that you understand their problems and your product can solve their problems. If you run out of ideas or are stuck somewhere, then don’t worry content curation will rescue you. Content curation is a process of gathering information related to your topic or area of interest to add value to your own content. Content curation can save a lot of your time and energy associated with content creation. Always use short paragraphs and simple language.

5.       Distribute Content:-

After content is ready all you need to do is to deliver it to the right set of target audiences. Content promotion is very important and equally important is the balance between content creation and content promotion. Make sure your content is reaching the audience and not just getting lost in the sea of content. Studies show that you should spend 40% of your time on content promotion and 60% of time on content creation. Based on your target audience choose the correct platform to promote your content.

6.       Encourage engagement:-

Try to engage your readers to make them active. Even if your reader is passive do make him active by asking the questions in your content. Make sure your readers not only read the content but get engaged in it. Give them the call to action like ask them to leave a comment or share your content.

With a dedicated focus and smart work on the above-mentioned stages of content marketing brands can surely become the face of the crowd rather than being a face in the crowd.

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