Content marketing. It is a subject that people throw around in the marketing world. But to make it easy...it means that it is the stuff you use to showcase your brand identity to your target market and create engagement. It's like if your brand is a person, what would they talk about to their friends? Who are their friends? What kind of videos would they share? What hobbies interest them? These are all great questions to ask yourself, as your brand, to start developing a content marketing plan that will appeal to your target market. In this blog, we will discuss how to build a simple content marketing strategy by:
Defining Your Target Market
Creating Content Topics
The Type of Content to Create
What To Do With the Content Once You've Created It
How do I start a content marketing plan?
The first step is always to make sure you have your target market defined. Most people miss this step when they are starting the plan for their business. To determine your target market, you should ask yourself these questions:
Who is my customer? More specifically:
How old are they?
What is their gender identity?
Where do they live?
What do they do for a living?
How much money do they make?
What do they like to do after work or on weekends?
Do they have children?
Do they own or rent a home?
How much disposable income do they have?
Once you have answered these questions, you are a lot further along than many business owners. And remember, the more specific you get, the better.
Why Do I Have to Define My Customer?
Defining your customer by answering these questions allows you to develop the most relevant content marketing plan. For example, if you sell reusable cutlery and tumblers made with eco-friendly materials and you have determined that your target market is professional women, ages 35-50, with one child or more, an income of $65k-100k, homeowner, lives in the northeast United States, who enjoys hiking and gardening, and has a disposable income of about 15-20%. You can now start to create your content plan based on those answers. You have to think to yourself –
Who is this person? Please give them a name. It will create an identity for you that is unmistakable. For this example, we will call her Jennifer.
So, what does Jennifer like to do? What would grab her attention on social media or Google to get her to know your brand or products? What could she be searching as she is browsing the internet?
Here is a content topic sample for Jennifer:
Best National Parks in the Northeast for Hiking and Beautiful Views
BPA, Kid-friendly & Dishwasher Safe Materials to Know About Now
Recycle & Reuse: Top 5 Eco-Friendly Products on the Market Now
What to do With Your Content Topics:
Write a Blog
With these topic samples, first, start by writing a blog or article. Writing a blog will allow you to open up your mind to ways to incorporate your product into Jennifer's everyday life. To make it easier, you can hire a writer or marketing consultant to do this for you. Make sure you include at least one product or service highlight and how it relates to the topic. You want to be answering the question for your reader.
Create an e-book
E-books are a fun way to give your target market something for signing up for a newsletter or following you on Facebook. E-books can be image or infographic driven without having to rely too much on a lot of text. Keep it simple, well-designed, and on-brand to keep your customer wanting more.
Create Social Posts
From the blog, you will take "snippets" out and create your social media posts for the week or even the month. Use quotes or ideas from the blog that are witty or simple facts. Remember, social media is instant – you will only have a fraction of a second to catch someone's attention, so make it awesome!
Make a Video
Next, create a video. Plenty of free or low-cost stock video and image platforms are available like Shutterstock, Unsplash, and Pixabay to help you represent your brand the way you want. You can also use Canva, an excellent tool for anyone looking to handle their marketing.
Design an Email
After, design an email. Include a great subject line that creates urgency or curiosity. Email marketing platforms like MailChimp and Constant Contact make it easy to integrate pop-ups and ways to capture customer information right from your website.
I've Created the Content, Now What?
After you've created your content, don't forget to share it! And remember, you should always make sure to revisit and edit your content. You can reuse the content to promote on social more than just once. Create a new captivating post, run a social ad, or share it via email with a different design and subject.
It is essential to understand your customer's journey when they discover your brand and the trust the relationship develops. Keep the customer intrigued, offer them insight into your brand and what it represents. Brand identity and content development have never been more critical in the digital world. Think about what Jennifer wants, and everything will fall into place.
If you need help building content or a digital marketing plan, give us a call at 954.751.4461 or email info@easilyincllc.com for affordable, creative, and captivating marketing services. We would love to help you define your target market, create a content strategy, and grow your business.
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