How to Build a Content Strategy that Drives More Sales Effectively

Are you looking to get more out of your digital marketing efforts? A content strategy is critical to ensuring that all the pieces of your online strategy work together towards a common goal.

Content can be used to engage and educate your target audience, build relationships with customers, and ultimately drive sales.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to build a content strategy tailored specifically for businesses hoping to drive sales growth, engage with users, and turn them into brand promoters.

Content is the fuel of any digital marketing strategy. Nowadays, users look more than ever for valuable content that assists them in their buyer’s journey. Studies indicate that 72% of marketers say that content marketing helps educate the audience, and 63% say it helps build loyalty with existing clients.

Your content marketing efforts should focus on attracting new customers, providing your audience with relevant information that helps them make a decision, and finally, helping close more sales.

Even though it might sound easy, creating content has always been challenging. With lots of competition in the market, it isn’t easy to make your business stand out. It might be easy to create content, but creating content that catches customers’ attention is the challenge.

To build a successful content marketing strategy, you will need a lot of patience, attention to detail, and a process to follow. Below we mention how to create a strategy that helps you streamline your content creation process.

The first thing you should define to create a successful content strategy is the goals you want to pursue. The objectives your business wants to achieve will have a direct impact on your content strategy.

For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, recognition, and exposure, your content efforts can be directed toward creating informative content about specific topics in your industry. This will help you portray your business as an expert in your field, increasing authority and credibility.

On the other hand, if your objective is to increase conversions, lead generation, and sales, you will likely create content to persuade users to purchase your products or services, such as service pages.

Once having your content goals in mind, it will be easier to identify the type of content you need to create, platforms, and tools to use.

If your content strategy targets the incorrect audience, you’ll produce content that does not drive results. Make sure you understand what type of content your target market wants to see. Building a buyer persona will help you better understand the current needs of your ideal client, what he likes, and what he doesn’t like.

Based on those facts, you can ensure your content production focuses on helping solve users’ needs and not simply creating content without a purpose. You can also ask yourself the following questions to define your audience clearly.

Who will read your content?

What are the characteristics of your readers? Are they business owners or consumers? What is their age? Do they have any hobbies? How do their frustrations look like? What do they do for living? Where do they spend most of their time? The more questions you ask yourself, the more accurate your target audience will be.

What problem are you trying to solve with your products or services?

Do the research and identify which needs users are trying to satisfy by purchasing your products or services. Is it a physical need? Psychological need? Business needs? How serious is it? What characteristics or traits of your product will help solve those needs? With all of this in mind, you will be able to create content to raise awareness of users’ needs and how you can be the solution.

What makes your business different from the competition?

Identify the specific characteristics that make your company unique. Why should customers choose you over your competitors? What is your unique value proposition? How can your products or services help users?

Define your Channels to distribute content

Now that you’ve defined your content goals and target audience, let’s define what channels you can use to distribute your content.

If your business does not count with a blog forum, consider starting one. A blog will allow you to share valuable content on your website about specific topics that impact your target audience. To create successful blog posts, follow the following structure:

• Catch users’ attention with a hook
• Identify and explain the problem they might have: try telling a story to ensure users engage with your content.
• Offer your business as a solution to that problem. Highlight benefits, not product descriptions.
• Include a call-to-action to ensure you generate contacts, leads, or sales.

By following the steps mentioned above, you will create blog posts users want to read.

Social Media Platforms

Another channel you should be using to distribute content is social media platforms. Social media allows you to target a wider audience. There are currently 4.9 billion social media users in the world. Ensure that your social media content matches the platforms mainly used by your audience. For example, if your target audience is business owners, you should highly focus on LinkedIn content.

Email Content

Email content will help you nurture relationships with your current customers through valuable content. Make sure your emails are concise and engaging. The less, the better. You can invite users to read your content, offer benefits and promotions, and any other piece that might bring value to them.

Video Content

Video content has been proven to be one of the most effective content formats. 92.7% of users preferred video over any other type of content back in the 2nd quarter of 2022. By investing in video marketing, you will better engage with your audience while providing valuable insights on a specific topic.

Audit Your Existing Content

Performing a content audit will help you identify which pieces of content performed better in the past and which didn’t. Make sure you produce more content based on the demands of users. For example, if one of your top-performing content formats is video, invest in creating more. Also, try to optimize content formats that haven’t worked that well in the past. If they don’t work, discard them from your content strategy.

Conducting keyword research will help you find trending and hot topics users are searching for. Create content based on the topics in your industry that are bringing more search volume, interactions, and demand. You can use a keyword research tool to make the job easier. Also, try typing the keyword in Google to see what content formats come up. Those are usually the ones that are performing better.

To formulate an effective content plan, ensure you are as detailed as possible. You can create a content calendar to help you track your content posting. Make sure to include the following sections to ensure maximum performance.

Content formats

Specify what type of content you will be producing. Some of them might include the following:

• Blog post
• Social media copy
• Landing page
• Email newsletter
• Infographic
• Video
• Podcasts

Posting Frequency

Determine the best posting frequency for your content. This will depend on your goals, the channels you will be using, and how much content you can produce. For example, you can start by setting a goal to publish three social media posts, two blog posts, 1 video, and one email per week.

Channels

Specify to which channels you will be posting your content. Is it to Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram? Or to your blog forum or YouTube channel? The trick is to be as organized as possible to avoid any confusion.

Content writer or responsible

To promote accountability and responsibility in your team, make sure to specify who will be in charge of creating the pieces of content. Doing this will ensure an understanding of who was supposed to deliver each piece of content.

Date to be posted

Specify on which date is the content piece supposed to be delivered and published. This will help you ensure the content is ready on time while allowing you to make corrections if needed.

Feedback section

Add a feedback section so you can add comments for the content writers if they must correct anything.
Approved section

Finally, include an approved section to identify which content pieces are ready to be published.

Produce Quality Content

Once your content plan is in place, it’s time to start producing relevant and quality content. Try using different formats and analyze the top-performing ones. The key to successful content strategies is finding what works best for your company and sticking to it. Never forget about creativity. If you don’t add that personal touch to your content, no user will read it. Remember that you are writing for users, not search engines. Also, select a content management system that helps you distribute post content efficiently and attractively on your website.

Once your content is published, it’s time to promote it so that users become aware of it. Share your content through social media platforms to increase its visibility and reach. You can also implement some SEO efforts to optimize your content and increase its organic reach. If your content is focused on getting more sales, you can also promote it through paid advertising, such as PPC. Lastly, you can also email your contacts about your latest content piece.

The last tip we want to share with you to build a content strategy is paying attention to the content users demand. You can use social media listening tools to ensure you get the most accurate results possible. Remember, you should create content that users want to read. It’s only possible to write relevant and valuable content if it’s something users will be interested in reading. Check what’s trending on social media platforms. You will find different content formats that work well for other businesses.

So there you have it. You now know how to build a content strategy and take advantage of its rewards. Improve your business by creating and posting quality content regularly, thus increasing your reach and attracting new customers.

It might feel overwhelming if it’s your first time building a content strategy. Depending on the size of your business and goals, you may need professional help to ensure your success. Don’t worry. RealTop is here to help! We have over 15 years of experience helping business owners thrive online with targeted marketing campaigns. Contact us today and get a free marketing plan. We’ll surely help build the perfect content marketing strategy for your business!

Best regards, Nik Tsoukales, CEO

Direct Line: 617-315-1138

Main Line: 617.741.9972

Skype: nikitastsoukales

Email: nik@realtop.com 

REALTOP’S Website