A business that embraces its role as a publisher positions to be successful in the digital era. This is especially true for B2B enterprises, who have the unique opportunity – and responsibility! – to positively impact prospects with helpful, informative content. Still, it’s not always easy to architect a complete content marketing strategy. There are many moving parts to align.
6 Key Components of Successful Content Marketing Strategy
Buyer Personas
A buyer persona, sometimes called a customer avatar, is your insight about your customers in crystallized form. It answers “Who will read our content?” taking into account factors like industry, job title, company size, and as much detail as you can muster. Clear buyer personas ensure your content addresses the intended audience with the right voice, focus, and detail level.
Buyer Journeys
The buyer journey answers “When and why will the buyer read our content?” Content should be precisely tailored to address one of the steps in the buyer journey: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. The combination of persona and journey step informs all content production efforts.
Clear Goals
Well-formed goals are the North Star of any complex team effort. Although content can deliver many benefits, it’s best to start with one focus. In B2B, this is usually lead generation, but goals like brand awareness, customer retention, and website traffic may be emphasized at different times.
Performance Metrics
All content should be associated with the right metrics. For example, content for the Awareness stage may be intended to inspire new email list sign-ups. Content in the Consideration phase might focus on getting prospects to contact your sales team. Naturally, the right metrics will depend on your goals. Don’t forget: Analytics tools must be in place to measure these metrics.
Defined Workflows
In many smaller marketing teams, a solo contributor will research, design, write, and post each piece of content. This works fine for blogs, the basic building blocks of content strategy. Sophisticated case studies, whitepapers, and videos often call for more. There should be a clear workflow for producing each type of content so everyone involved is always on the same page.
Production Calendar
Without deadlines and accountabilities, you might have content, but you don’t have a strategy just yet. A production calendar is a defining aspect of any content strategy since it clarifies and unifies team efforts. You can compare your calendar to actual deadline adherence to see if you’re meeting your objectives. Consistency is key to achieving business results with content.
It’s quality Web content that builds relationships, and it’s the strength of those relationships that allow companies to remain in consideration throughout long B2B sales cycles. With these six elements as your framework, a cohesive long-term strategy is within your reach.