A Simple Content Marketing Strategy for Any Business

This post was originally published on PixoLabo

A Content Marketing Strategy is a Must!

The main problem with content marketing is that most brands don't do it right! By now, businesses already recognize the benefits of content marketing. Still, especially small businesses, most often don't have a content marketing strategy. In a previous post, we outlined a step-by-step guide to content creation. Today we will show you some simple content marketing strategy ideas that any business can implement. 

Online content has become a mainstay of today's business marketing strategies. Still, few businesses have the tools they need for the job. As a result, many small to mid-size companies miss out on valuable opportunities for consumer and brand engagement.

The nature of your business will dictate the type of content you will need to create. Google requires you to have content that is appropriate to your audience. But regardless of what kind of content you need, you can adapt our simple content marketing strategy to your business. 

A Simple Content Marketing Strategy in 4 Steps

Step 1 - What Type of Content Is Right for You?

Determining the type of content needs to be the first step in your content marketing strategy! Regardless of who you are or what your business does, you have content to publish! We always hear from clients that they don't have anything to say, so here are some content ideas:

1. List Articles - From industry news to product reviews and advice columns, a numbered list's digestible format makes virtually any topic approachable and inviting.
2. Case Studies - How do your products and services impact the lives of your consumers? Has your brand been a positive impact? Tell your prospective clients how you helped your existing ones.
3. How-to's - Do you want to provide more in-depth content with high practical value? Publish instructive articles that let your audience know you are a reliable source of information.
4. Opinion Pieces - To establish thought leadership and expertise, find a hot topic or cutting-edge development in your industry, and weigh in.
5. White Papers - Take your thought leadership to the next level with longer-form reports on crucial industry problems, which also allow you to tie in your products or services.
6. Infographics - Great for making data, surveys, or other complex subjects easy to digest, graphic content helps establish your visual brand and generates shares on social media.

Step 2 - Planning and Researching Your Topic

The main reason any business creates and distributes content is to attract and engage website visitors and hopefully convert them into consumers of their products and services. In content marketing, we call this the buyer's journey of conversion. Take a look at how your online content can make or break your sales cycle. 

In step one of your simple content marketing strategy, we outlined some content ideas for you. Now that you have chosen a topic, you need to start planning and researching it. Here are some critical steps:

1. Use Google Keyword Planner to find relevant keyword phrases that people are searching for to use in your article or post.
2. Search Twitter for popular topics related to your keyword and pay attention to getting the most retweets and favorites.
3. Do a quick Google search to see other pages that are ranking for the keyword or phrase.
4. Create a list of significant points you want to get across in your post.

Step 3 - Writing Your Content

The next step in your simple content marketing strategy is the actual content creation. Unless you are an expert copywriter, you may want to enlist professional help. Regardless of who creates the content for your content marketing strategy, be sure to:

1. Don't let paragraphs get too long. They should break up every 2-3 lines or roughly every 75-100 words.
2. Try to include an image for every 300 words of text.
3. Use sub-headers to segment sections and break up your article for easy reading/scanning.
4. Create a compelling headline (ideal length: 65 characters)
5. Make use of bullets and lists where applicable
6. Link to other valuable resources in your article (web pages or your other blog posts) where relevant.
7. Spell check! (We can't stress this enough!)

Step 4 - Optimizing Your Content for Search

The best content in the world is not going to do any good if nobody reads it! Therefore your content marketing strategy needs to include making your content searchable. You may want to consult a search engine optimization (SEO) or search engine marketing (SEM) specialist. Here are a few basics to get you started:

1. Aim for 1,400-1,800 words for a blog post; that is the Google "sweet spot" for SEO.
2. Place your SEO keyword into your post or blog title.
3. Include your SEO keyword in at least one H2 header.
4. Place your SEO keyword at the very beginning of your title and H2 header for optimum results.

Step 5 - Make Your Content Sharable

Now that you have great content optimized for search, the next step in your content marketing strategy is to make it shareable. You want as many people as possible to read your post and share it with their social and professional networks. Here is how you can do that:

1. Create a custom graphic that attractively shows your blog's title to increase shares on Pinterest and other networks.
2. Use Click-to-Tweet to include tweetable quotes and stats throughout your blog.
3. Create or curate an infographic relevant to your chosen topic and include it in your post.
4. Include Slideshare presentations or a video.

Step 6 - Promoting Your Content

The next step in your simple content marketing strategy is to promote the content you so carefully created. Many businesses don't do this, which means their content does not reach the maximum audience. So here are some tips for shameless self-promotion:

1. Send an update to your email list with a link to your blog post.
2. Share your blog post on Facebook and make sure your image is optimized to look great in Facebook Link Preview for optimal click-through rates.
3. Share on Twitter and include your custom title graphic.
4. Share on Pinterest using your custom title graphic.
5. Pin to relevant shared Pinterest boards to increase exposure.
6. Share your blog post as a status update on LinkedIn on your personal LinkedIn profile and your LinkedIn Company Page.
7. Share in relevant LinkedIn Groups by creating a discussion around your topic and include the link as a reference.
8. Share your post to Google+ to both your personal and your company profiles.
9. Find nice Facebook Groups and Google+ Communities to share your post by creating a discussion about it.
10. Consider using Facebook Ads or LinkedIn Sponsored Updates to run targeted ads to promote your content.
11. Use a social sharing app like AddThis that allows for easy social sharing directly from your blog.
12. Consider more niche places to post, such as Reddit or Mix, but be aware of each site's community's etiquette before posting.

Creating Your Content Marketing Strategy

OK, now that you have studied our simple content marketing strategy for small businesses, it is time to start your content marketing. Maybe your content marketing strategy is already well underway. You may only need one or two of our content marketing tips. Good for you! But others may not have been pro-active, so feel free to use our small business content marketing tips as a starting point for your marketing strategy.

Implementing our content marketing strategy tips does take some effort, but we tried to keep them simple. And at least some of this should already be part of your strategy to grow your business online. You can plan and implement most of our content marketing tips ahead of time, but you should allow for unexpected opportunities. 

If you need help with your content marketing strategy or creating effective content, I am here to help. 

By Gregor Schmidt

Gregor is Co-Founder and CXO of PixoLabo, a multilingual WordPress web design studio based in Japan, and has over 25 years of experience in web, UX and information design. Gregor consults and mentors startups in Asia and the US, and is an adjunct professor of design and user experience, as well as a foreign language editor at the Tohoku University School of Medicine. He lives with his wife, an award-winning Japanese designer, and photographer, in Sendai, Japan. When he is not working, he enjoys writing, traveling, gardening, and sampling new street food. You can connect with Gregor on LinkedIn or Twitter