Inbound marketing(inbound and outbound marketing) promises a lot, but many companies underestimate the effort required to implement a successful content marketing strategy. Many try it, but give up after a few blog posts and claim it didn’t work for them.
It seems simple, with ChatGPT I can create a blog on a topic within minutes. But without a strategy and concrete knowledge, the contribution will still not be successful.
Since I have already brought various blogs into the top 5 on Google, I know that it works if you do it right. But from identifying the target group to executing the perfect content marketing strategy, there are many things you can get right or wrong.
Challenges in content marketing
The main problem is that many have misunderstood the true meaning of content marketing and have therefore failed in the past. You often find empty, self-congratulatory or copied content on company blogs that does not stand out from the crowd.
The results then correspond to the use. If your business has been underperforming with content marketing, it may be due to your content, your understanding of how to use different social media, or your expectations.
11 points for a successful content marketing strategy
Define target group/persona
Who lists the contribution? What questions are they dealing with and what goals are they pursuing? As with everything in marketing, we should put the recipients at the center and think from there. Find out more in my LinkedIn Learning course.
Relevant content
Each piece of content should lead directly to one of your products. I also include free products that lead to you receiving leads. For example, collecting e-mail addresses.
Establish brand
However, it is not primarily about generating short-term sales. It’s about establishing your brand as a thought leader in your industry or topic.
Include sales
Inbound is both marketing and sales. Without the involvement of the sales team, you tend to create content that doesn’t convert visitors into customers.
Building trustSelling
However, content marketing is not always about selling. Here you can also skip the sales pitch, address difficult topics and answer tough questions.
Success Fairs
There is also often a misunderstanding about what it means when content marketing “doesn’t work”. Every marketing activity needs to be measured in order to be evaluated, and these measurements need context to be meaningful.
Measuring success correctly
More visitors do not necessarily mean more sales. And no sales does not necessarily mean no success. A content marketing strategy provides context for assessing success at each stage.
Quality before quantity
Focus on creating high-quality, valuable content instead of generating as much content as possible. Google and your visitors will thank you for it. Did you know that Google won’t index your pages if it considers them irrelevant?
Create content plan
Without a plan, it’s unlikely that your content strategy will get very far. A good framework provides goals, structure and benchmarks.
Keyword mix: short-term vs long-term
Content that is geared towards long-lasting search terms generates a steady stream of leads. Short-term keywords can tap into seasonal traffic.
Realistic expectations
Even if you do everything right, it can take a long time to achieve the desired results. And make no mistake, the effort involved is enormous. Even with ChatGPT, a good blog takes a few hours. Especially at the beginning.
Invest in your content marketing strategy
Define your target audience, choose your marketing channels, start posting content, measure progress, review analytics, focus on what gets results, and keep creating the most compelling content you can.
Content Marketing Workshop
A quick and easy strategy
How do I create a successful content marketing strategy with blogs?
In this half-day online co-creation workshop, we’ll cover the basics of how to use content marketing and blogging to grow your business.
Be successful thanks to a content marketing strategy
The promise of content marketing is to increase brand awareness, reach more potential customers and maximize your content marketing efforts. To get content marketing right, we need to reacquaint ourselves with the real goals, train our people for excellence and be ready for a long-term investment.
