Content strategy is important to mapping your social media presence. It is the overall vision that guides the voice of a brand in order to achieve a specific business goal while appealing to a certain target market. But does your social media marketing plan really need a content strategy to be effective? YES! Read on to find out why.
1. IF CONTENT IS KING, CONTENT STRATEGY IS QUEEN
Have you heard the term “content is king”? This statement could not more accurate when it comes to using social media. Content is what attracts and informs customers and motivates people to buy from your business. Developing a content strategy is one way to ensure the content you are pushing out is quality and on point. Without a clear vision, your company’s marketing message may be all over the place. If your branding, message, and target are inconsistent, your followers may be confused. If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, how can your audience know what the takeaway is?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 69% of B2C businesses are creating more content today than they did a year ago. However, only 27% of businesses surveyed have a documented content strategy.
2.TARGET, TEST, AND REPEAT
Part of creating a content strategy includes narrowing down who your target audience is. Without knowing your customers and competitors, and what your voice will be, you may not be able to craft compelling content to reach those most interested in your products or services. Having a solid content strategy can also help you narrow down which social media platforms to be on. For example, if you are a boutique or a restaurant and you’re not using Instagram, you may be missing out on opportunities to connect to your customers. Research what platforms your customers they are using and then find out what types of content they react to. If you are not sure what works with your audience it’s ok! With a documented content strategy, you can target, test, and repeat until you find out what works. Without knowing this information, you may be missing your audience completely.
3. STOP THE INSANITY! DETERMINE SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROI
Determining the ROI of social media is something that almost all businesses struggle with. Many business owners feel like if they post content to keep their pages “active” customers will just eventually come, or worse, just stop using social media to connect with customers altogether. If doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, then it’s no wonder why business owners are frustrated with the results of their social media marketing.
Creating and using a content strategy eliminates the need to ask “what am I getting out of this?”. Having a clearly defined content strategy will allow you to develop content and initiatives centered around your business goals and give you the ability to measure ROI and success through analytics tracking provided by social media channels.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. Content without a consistent theme or message may not reach your audience, hurt the credibility of your brand, and ultimately leave your goals unmet.
2. Document your content strategy and review it often
3.Target, test and repeat until you find out what works with your audience
