Here's how you can ensure success by defining your marketing goals before executing a content strategy.

Your goal should be clear, measurable, and realistic. You can aim for the stars, but only if you possess a rocket. If you notice you set your bar too unattainably high, do not be afraid to adjust it to a more realistic height.

Focus on the creator's funnel to set your goals (general and specific ones). It's the best way to represent the steps a user takes when interacting with you, from discovering you to paying for your product or service. 1. Discovery: awareness generation and user acquisition is by creating high valued and tangible content 2. Trust: how to generate trust with someone who barely knows you? Think about this, possibly the most volatile part to differentiate yourself from the competition. 3. Relationship: they must feel that you can help them thanks to your experience. 4. Monetisation: users willing to pay for what you do will only reach this final stage if the previous three conditions are met.

Different goals require different types of content, making it essential to create targeted strategies that meet audience needs and maximize impact. This approach allows for efficient resource allocation, precise measurement of success, and continuous optimization. Tailored content also engages the target audience more effectively, addressing their specific interests and needs, which leads to higher satisfaction and better results.

Start by defining clear, specific marketing goals. These should align with your overall business objectives, whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads. For example, I once set a goal to increase email newsletter sign-ups by 20% in six months. This clear target provided a focused direction for all my content efforts, ensuring every piece contributed toward achieving this specific outcome.

Los objetivos SMART (específicos, medibles, alcanzables, relevantes, temporales) son fundamentales. No se pueden tener mil objetivos/mensajes diferentes, hay que enfocar en uno o dos. Deben ser medibles, lo cual es casi todo SI se mide con las herramientas correctas. Y ser alcanzables, pero no pensarlo como solo la meta final, sino hacer testing, learning y las correcciones necesarias en el proceso para alcanzarlo.

Who buys our product or service forces us to choose the most appropriate messages. Master the channels we are going to use and, above all, the codes used within each one. In the B2B business sphere, the target audience is usually more specific and segmented, consisting of highly qualified professionals or status profiles, decision-makers, department heads, and even members of the executive team. In contrast, in the consumer market, the audience can be broader and more diverse, encompassing a variety of demographics, interests, and purchasing behaviours. So, the content must be more accessible and appealing to a more general audience, focusing on topics that resonate emotionally and add immediate value to the consumer's daily life.

Understand who your target audience is and what they need. Conduct surveys, analyze demographic data, and create detailed buyer personas. I discovered through audience research that my target demographic preferred in-depth blog posts over short social media updates. This insight helped me tailor my content strategy to better meet their preferences and needs.

Conocer tu audiencia, pero también conocer el tono y la personalidad de tu marca. No todo lo que resuena con tu audiencia es una oportunidad para insertarse, tiene que sentirse auténtico y orgánico. Es casi como un diagrama de Venn de audiencia y marca, ahí en el medio es tu arena.

Each stage of sales funnel responds to a specific objective, expects the user to take a particular action, and sets a series of criteria to move from one stage to another. In B2B contexts, it is common to use AIDA funnels, including 4 main stages: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Content is adapted to each stage of the buying process, from generating awareness with more informative content to presenting case studies, demonstrations, or audits to help close the sale. In the consumer market, the funnel stages are slightly different. Funnels tend to be more comprehensive and consider additional stages, as metrics like LTV or CAC make a lot of sense for calculating profitability.

Ensure your content directly supports your defined goals. If your goal is to increase lead generation, create content that guides your audience through the sales funnel, like eBooks and webinars. Personally, when my goal was to boost lead generation, I developed a series of gated content offers that significantly increased the number of qualified leads in our database.

Content Alignment 1) Know Your Goals: Understand what you aim to achieve. 2) Understand Your Audience: Know who you are targeting. 3) Align Content: Ensure every piece of content has a purpose tied to your goals. 4) Showcase Expertise: If your goal is thought leadership, provide unique insights and showcase expertise. 5) Attract and Engage: Aligning content ensures you attract the right audience and move them closer to your desired outcome.

Para lograr esto es importante que tengas tus objetivos específicos claros y emparejarlos con el journey de tu audiencia. Para que cada contenido acompañe las diferentes instancias del funnel.

Establish a plan to measure the success of your content strategy. Use KPIs such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and traffic metrics. I set up Google Analytics and social media dashboards to track these KPIs. For instance, when I aimed to improve website traffic, I closely monitored page views and bounce rates, adjusting my content based on what the data revealed.

Set KPIs: Establish key performance indicators that align with your goals. Align with Goals: Ensure KPIs reflect what you aim to achieve (e.g., lead generation). Track Metrics: Monitor metrics like new sign-ups or downloads. Evaluate Effectiveness: Use these metrics to judge the effectiveness of your content. Optimize Strategy: Make informed decisions to improve your content strategy based on the data.

1. Conduct Market Research: Conduct thorough market research to understand your target audience, their preferences, behaviors, pain points, and where they are in the buyer's journey. 2. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Determine which metrics will indicate the success of your content marketing efforts. 3. Create a Content Calendar: Develop a content calendar to schedule and organize your content creation and distribution efforts. 4. Iterate and Optimize: Based on performance data and insights gathered, iterate on your content strategy and optimize future efforts.

As Justin Welsh says, we should follow these 9 steps: 1. Ideate: find ideas through any source and on any channel. 2. Research: use platforms like Twitter, Reddit or Google to do it. 3. Define and create a central content. 4. Edit: develop the content by answering 4, 5, or 6 questions that allow us to extract the essence of each topic. 5. Pre-Hub CTA: promote the central content well in advance. 6. Post-Hub CTA: promote the central content after it has been published. 7. Twitter thread: try to create it from all those sections we have included in the main content. 8. Adapted content: create different adapted content is the plus. Recycling each piece of content has countless new forms. 9. Publication: the distribution of the content.

Develop a detailed content calendar outlining what content to create, when to publish it, and on which platforms. Consistency is key. I used a project management tool to plan and schedule content, ensuring a steady flow that kept the audience engaged. This systematic approach helped maintain momentum and prevented last-minute scrambles.

Regularly review your content’s performance and make necessary adjustments. Analyze what’s working and what isn’t, then refine your strategy accordingly. I held monthly review sessions where I assessed the performance of my content. For example, I noticed that blog posts with infographics received more shares, so I incorporated more visual elements into future posts.

Continuous Optimization 1) Monitor Performance: Track how your content is performing using data. 2) Analyze Results: Identify which types of content are underperforming. 3) Make Adjustments: Don't hesitate to tweak or overhaul content that isn't working. 4) Test and Learn: Continuously test new approaches and learn from the results. 5) Improve Constantly: Regular optimization ensures your strategy evolves with your audience's needs.

Always stay adaptable and open to new trends and feedback. Sometimes, unexpected insights can lead to significant improvements. For instance, after receiving feedback from my audience, I started including more case studies and success stories in my content, which greatly enhanced engagement and credibility. Additionally, aligning your content strategy with broader marketing campaigns ensures a cohesive and powerful impact.