Being a content strategist isn’t exactly an easy job, especially if you’re only at the beginning. However, the internet’s packed with resourceful information on what you should know, on what measures you need to apply and on what mistakes you should, at all cost, avoid.
This article on content strategy tips will help you understand some things about content strategy in general by also offering you a number of tips and tricks you can use, whenever you run out of ideas.
A fluffed up blog is not always an efficient blog
- Our first recommendation is to not throw words into an empty space. Starting out either as a marketer or as a business owner that’s decided to handle their own content is tough. Which is why we all have the tendency to write about anything, just to get friends with Google, actually have content and fluff up the blog. You should be interested in letting your potential customers know about your business, instead of filling up empty space on the site.
- The next thing you should do is choose terms wisely. There is only one person in the world who knows what type of audience you’re addressing to. And that is you. Although it is prefered that the writing style that’s on the site is user-friendly and approachable, you have to speak to your potential customers. Should you choose to provide technical data? Or should you publish posts that are just engaging, that leave out the scientific information?
- Before actually writing about something, always do a lot of research and compare all the data. Don’t publish false information based on a sole article you’ve read on some unknown site. If you’re slightly unsure about the topic you’d like to address, make sure you read at least 30 articles before making up your mind.
- Make a list of ideas for future posts and put them together in the form of an editorial calendar. At the same time, though, don’t forget to keep up with the industry’s events and launches. This provides future topics and it makes you look like an expert.
Build a relationship with your site visitors
- Publish content that is unique. If you want to emphasize an idea, you can always rerun it in a post. Don’t use the same words, though, because search engines will believe you own duplicate content on the site.
- Keep your readers engaged. Don’t hesitate to use headlines, bullets, beautiful pictures and pretty much anything that can click with your site visitors. Create content that is inspiring, quotable and sharable.
- Try to interact with your readers as much as you can, using all means that are possible. You can’t know for sure when a regular site visitor turns into a client. Which is why you should try to resolve queries. Answer comments and questions, because customers need to know their curiosities can be solved.
- Attract the attention of a potential public with promotions, sales and giveaway. Think of it this way: if someone tries the product, they can express an opinion. If we’re talking about 100s of people testing something, we’re talking about statistics. Numbers show you if your efforts are going somewhere.
Keep it real
- Always create realistic content. Don’t make promises that can’t be kept. Thoroughly explain what the business is all about. Don’t provide information that can be incorrectly interpreted. We all know that when you’re just starting, you may inherently have the tendency to comply to clients’ requests. But once you’ve gathered a number of clients, successfully resolved a number of projects and attracted a reasonable audience, you don’t want to let people believe you’ll do anything for prestige. You will end up failing.
- Try to create content that is varied instead of holding onto the same idea. Boring text is one of the reasons site visitors fail to come back. Use the tools we’ve mentioned above: headings, bullets, engaging images and useful pieces of advice.
- Re-evaluate your articles. Make short audits where you keep track of your links, keywords and other SEO-friendly characteristics. Setting goals is also an idea, and auditing content can actually tell you if the path you’ve chosen is the right one. When you have some spare time at the office, try re-reading some of your older posts. It helps when the enthusiasm has passed.
- Increase the quality of the information you’ll be writing about, with the help of your customers. What are their desires, expectations or endeavours? How do they end up on your site? Using which keywords exactly? Keep close to analytics and keywords research to discover the exact way people end up on your website. Track some social data and decide what your clients are interested in, and write about these subjects, to attract a new and fresh audience.
Who are you talking to?
- Discover your audience and learn from it. Split it up into categories – potential clients, potential colleagues, people from your industry and people you can learn from.
- Create buyer personas. Speak to people who may actually be interested in purchasing your product. How do they read text? How do they judge it? How specific should the content be?
- Find out who your influencers are and try to make contact with them. Offer them free support or products, especially in the beginning. Once you’ve convinced them you’re worthy of their attention, present them a value proposition.
What have we learned?
- Content isn’t useful if it’s not useful. We’re all writing to generate traffic on our sites. But what sets some of us aside from the rest is the fact that we publish content that is both readable and enlightening. Think of content as a way to enhance your public image. What would be the point of publishing articles that fail to impress anyone?
- Remember your goals at all times. Know your endeavours, but don’t make compromises when it comes to clients. Don’t let yourself get exploited, because it will only make you bitter and you will forget why you became the owner of a startup in the first place.
- Measure your impact on the world wide web. Audit your site and your articles. Make use of online tools, such as bit.ly or scraperwiki.com.
- Being different isn’t a bad thing. Try to learn from competition but don’t try to copy it. Use your own ideas and the strategies you think will work best for you. Remember, if that doesn’t work, you can always change directions. Moreover, if something fails miserably, you can always write about it.
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