Last updated on 13th June 2023 at 21:22 by Alex Nicholas
Your digital content plan is crucial to achieving some of your most important success metrics, such as organic web traffic, brand recognition, lead creation, and sales. The problem is that there's a lot to consider when it comes to putting one together. From what type of content you'll create to how often you'll publish it and where you'll share it, there are many moving parts to a successful digital content strategy.
So, how do you create a digital content strategy you ask? Here's a quick tip on what will give you an edge when it comes to digital content creation, so you'll know how to create a content strategy more effectively.
Take it one step at a time. When creating a content strategy, begin with the most essential thing and progress to the next until you're ready to create an intentional, strategic plan that will produce ROI for your business.
What Exactly is a Digital Content Strategy?
Your digital content strategy is the plan you put together to determine what type of content you'll create, how often you'll publish it, and where you'll share it. There are many factors to consider when putting one together, but if you take it one step at a time, it'll be much less daunting.
Creating a Digital Content Strategy
There are three main elements you need to consider when creating your digital content strategy:
Your Business Goals: What Do You Want For Your Business
Before you can determine what kind of content you should be creating, you need to know what your business goals are. What are you trying to achieve? More web traffic? Brand awareness? More conversions? Once you know your goals, you can start to think about what kind of content will help you achieve them.
Frequency: How Often Will You publish?
This will be determined by the type of content you've chosen to create. For example, if you've decided to create blog posts, you might publish them once a week. If you've decided to create an eBook, you might publish one twice a year. The key is to be consistent so your audience knows when to expect new content from you.
Platforms: Where Will You Share Your Content?
You'll also need to decide which platforms you want to use to share your content. This will be determined by the type of content you create and your audience's needs. For example, if you're creating blog posts, you might share them on your website, social media, and email list. If you're creating an eBook, you might share it on your website and social media.
Now that you know the three main elements of a digital content strategy, it's time to start putting one together.
To assist with this, we've set up a step-by-step guide that will help you develop and execute your web content strategy right away.
5 Key Elements to Skyrocketing Your Digital Content Strategy
1. Create the Appropriate Kind of Content
When it comes to digital content strategies, many individuals immediately think of blogs that will bring potential customers to your business. And they're correct: blogs are an essential component of successful content marketing.
For example, if your goal is to increase web traffic, blog posts are a great option because they provide an opportunity for you to include keywords that people are searching for. But blogs aren't the only type of digital content out there. There is a world of other types of digital content you can create.
You may utilise text content to your advantage by adding pictures, videos, polls, exercises, and more. Images, films, and forums are all excellent ways of engaging with your target audience, as well as driving traffic to your site.
The most essential thing to recognize is that different material is successful, and you have alternatives. Decide what works best for your brand, and incorporate each digital content type into your digital strategy.
2. Have a Customer-First Mindset
Who will you write your material for? The first question that any digital content strategist should ask themselves when developing a digital content strategy is who they're writing for.
Your content should be interesting, useful, and valuable to your target audience. It shouldn't be all about you and your company. Instead, it should be about solving your customer's problems. It's why they need you!
It's simple to create content that praises all of your firm's finest features, but you have a sales staff for a reason.
When done correctly, over-selling the brand is avoided in content marketing. Instead, strategic content emphasises continual high-quality material that is relevant to your sector and interesting to your target reader.
There are a variety of approaches to figuring out what your target audience would want. It's critical to do extensive research into your customer base before you submit a single word.
When you conduct your research to figure out your target audience, you'll be much better prepared to implement a successful digital content strategy.
3. Implement a Content Audit
It's all too easy to get so caught up in the fresh material you'll be producing that you neglect what you already have. However, auditing your content is critical to developing an effective digital content strategy.
It allows you to see what's effective and what isn't. You may use it to keep track of material that is performing well and eliminate anything that isn't living up to your standards.
Additionally, a content audit is an excellent way of seeing what topics you haven't covered yet. You can then use this information to help you come up with new and innovative content ideas.
To do a current content review, first, figure out what you want to accomplish with the exercise. Are you looking to restructure your material to better achieve your goals? Or are you trying to improve specific sections of your website, such as your blog or product descriptions?
Once you know what you want to accomplish, make a list of the content you'll include. Are you checking your website? Your YouTube channel? Your blog? Any other platforms you utilise?
Then consider how you'll evaluate the content you're examining. Decide how you'll measure the material you audit and set consistent rating scales and expectations.
Once you have all of this information, you can begin your audit!
4. Create New Ideas For Your Content
So you've decided on your market, established your objectives, and reviewed your content. You know what sort of material you want to develop and have a general idea of the topics you want to cover within your content and website as a whole.
Now it's time to start brainstorming some new ideas!
When it comes to generating new ideas, don't be afraid to think outside the box. If you feel like you're stuck in a rut, consider looking at your competitors' content for inspiration.
You can also use online resources, such as Google Trends, to see what topics are popular in your industry. This is an excellent way to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and develop content that will resonate with your target audience.
Try not to be overwhelmed by the prospect of coming up with things to write about for your content development strategy. First and foremost, keep in mind the above keyword research tools are available to help you determine what topics people are searching for online and then focus on creating content around those topics.
Finally, you may inquire about your team's and consumers' ideas. What are the individuals in your company focusing on? What do your clients want to know? Asking questions is an excellent way to start a conversation that can lead to new content ideas.
5. Develop a Distribution Plan
After you've brainstormed some new ideas and have begun creating your content, it's time to start thinking about how you'll get that content in front of your target audience and start landing backlinks to boost your rankings beyond your competitors.
This is where a distribution plan comes into play. A distribution plan is simply a strategy for getting your content seen by as many people as possible.
There are several ways you can distribute your content, such as:
- Social media
- Your website or blog
- Email newsletters
- Paid advertising
- Third-party websites
When developing your distribution plan, it's important to consider where your target audience is most active online. If you're targeting a younger demographic, for example, you'll want to focus on social media platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram.
On the other hand, if you're targeting a more mature audience, you may want to focus on email newsletters or paid advertising.
No matter where you choose to distribute your content, always make sure you're providing value. Don't bombard your audience with a constant stream of sales pitches and self-promotion. Instead, focus on creating quality content that will resonate with your target audience and help you achieve your business goals.
Summing up
Now that you understand the basics of how to create a digital content strategy, it's time to start putting your new knowledge into practice! By following the steps outlined in this article, you can finally create a content strategy that will help you improve your website's ranking on search engines and attract more visitors.