How to Create a Successful SEO Content Marketing Strategy?

How to Create a Successful SEO Content Marketing Strategy?

Want more relevant organic traffic? Put in place an SEO content strategy to help you achieve that!

Here is how:

What Is SEO Content Strategy?

SEO content strategy is the core part of a powerful content strategy and practically decides what topics to write about, how to write them, and how to optimize them in order to rank in search engine results pages and attract organic traffic.

It includes all the tactics applied from identifying the content pillar topics and target keywords to creating content briefs and procedures of on-page optimization. 

The main purpose of the SEO content strategy is to create content that will help the business reach its goals. And to offer guidelines for doing this in an efficient manner.

Having a documented SEO content marketing strategy in place has several consistent benefits:

  • Keeps content creation organized and inflow
  • Prioritizes tasks and allocates resources better
  • Supports attracting more qualified leads into your sales funnel and ultimately improves the chances of converting more leads to paying customers

Let’s Make Your SEO & Content Work Better for Your Business

How to Create an Effective Google SEO Content Strategy?

Since Google gathers more than 90% of the search requests, it is pertinent to say that businesses looking to rank organically have to optimize for Google search.

Creating an effective SEO content strategy may be a daunting task but it will ease the operations and execution of content down the line. Thus, it is preferable to craft it from the very beginning, then have to correct and clean up after that.

SEO content strategy is an extension of the content strategy and will be built on its canvas.

Here are the detailed steps of the SEO content strategy:

Consider Each Buyer Persona and Their Buyer Journey

Even if we are discussing the content strategy from an SEO point of view, one cannot discard the fact that first and foremost you create content for your buyer persona. You need to answer its pain points, questions, and interests concerning your offer.

Your buyer personas and their associated buyer journeys were already created and established by your content strategy. As such, now you just have to transfer them to the SEO content strategy and keep them in mind when completing the subsequent steps.

Primarily you should have a clear understanding of what’s your business offer, what its goals are, why would a potential client choose your company instead of the competition, and who’s your target audience. 

SEO Content Audit

Unless you are a brand new company or haven’t yet dug into content marketing, you have already published content. And you need to audit it from an SEO perspective and have a clear picture of its quality and performance in the general framework of your content strategy.

A content audit was most probably executed within your content strategy. So, now you have to take the list with the articles and pages of the site and review them taking into consideration the on-page SEO best practices.

You should verify at least the following:

  • Topic and its importance for the topical authority
  • Main keyword, LSIs, and PAA questions
  • Search intent for the main keyword
  • Content format and length
  • Content structure
  • Permalink
  • Keyword insertion
  • Images, graphics, and visuals

List all the improvements and updates that are needed and establish their priority in the function of the performance of the page and its importance for the topical authority.

The Output of the Competitor Analysis 

Keeping a close eye on the competition can offer your business an edge. It’s a task that should be executed at least quarterly. Hence, the reality is quite different. Research sustains that 40% of B2C content marketers only check out their competitors yearly, if ever. 

An SEO content strategy is incomplete without researching in detail what is your direct competition doing. Identify your direct competitors and check their content strategy, see what keywords they rank for, what are their most performant posts, etc.

Getting inspired by your competitors will offer some valuable insights into what is working in your niche in terms of content.

To research your competition you need an SEO and keyword research tool like Ahrefs, Moz, Semrush, or similar. Check for each competitor KPIs like:

  • Domain authority (DR)
  • Number of organic keywords
  • Number of organic keywords in the top 3
  • Monthly organic traffic
  • Linking domains
  • Organic traffic value

SEO content strategy check on competitors via Semrush

Source: Semrush

Competitors analysis can provide you with valuable content ideas, topics that you are missing, backlinks that you are missing, among others.

Metrics Setup

SEO and Marketing managers will be interested in calculating the ROI of SEO activities. And which specific activities bring the most revenue. To be able to determine that, you need to establish and monitor the key performance indicators that are relevant to your business in the next period.

The most used KPIs are:

  • Organic traffic
  • Dwelling time
  • Number of organic keywords
  • Content pieces published
  • Backlinks acquired 
  • Number of featured snippets
  • Subscribers
  • Leads 
  • Conversions

You should be tracking your metrics at least quarterly if not monthly.

Topical Authority Should Be the Foundation of Your SEO Content Strategy

In SEO, topical authority refers to how many topics and to what extent a site covers relative to a certain topic. 

For example, if you have dozens of articles published on the subject of “content strategy” and its subtopics, Google will consider you an authority on that topic. And the more semantically related keywords you cover, the more authority your site gains.

To identify all the subtopics that will help you build authority on a given topic, you have to use Google and/or a keyword research tool. And filter all the related keywords and all the semantically related ones pertinent to your topic and business.

Creating SEO content strategy based on topical authority is a laborious process, but it’s a useful methodology if you want to pop up in SERPs.

Based on Your Product/Services Identify the Key Content Pillars

Knowing what are your services/products, who’s your buyer persona, and what are your content marketing goals you can start searching for keywords and content topics.

Conduct a keyword research and identify keywords that have:

  • Business potential
  • Ranking perspective
  • Organic traffic potential

Start by searching in Google for the term you are most interested in ranking. Use a broad term. After that check the search suggestions, PAA (People Also Ask), and related searches for the first 10-15 pages. Filter just the topics that are relevant to your business. 

For example, if you offer content strategy services, you will search for “content strategy”. Additionally, you can do this in a keyword research tool like Ahrefs or SurferSEO. This will be the basis of your SEO content strategy. 

Once you have this list with keywords you have to group them into topics clusters. In a tool like SurferSEO, the topics will look like this:

Topic clusters via Surfer

You don’t necessarily need a tool to do this, you can do it manually, but it will save you time.

When you have these clusters defined, prioritize them in the order of their importance for your clients, for your business, and from an SEO KPIs point of view. You also have to consider the difficulty for each keyword, the search volume, and CPC. 

Your top priority is the money-generating pages, those need to be first created, fully optimized, and hopefully rank. 

Then choose the topics for which you want to be an authority in your niche. And second, those for which you can rank the easiest, meaning the so-called “low-hanging fruits”. Those who need the least resources and have the greatest chance of bringing traffic and leads.

Bear in mind that your expertise and your main purpose should be the core of your content creation strategy.

Next, for each cluster brainstorm a corresponding topic. Each topic should cover and solve a buyer persona’s problem, should have a unique angle if possible, or a different approach from your competition. 

Having a strong SEO content marketing strategy based on topical authority in place has a compounding effect. The more content you produce to build authority, you will rank for more keywords and your domain authority will increase and will be able to rank for keywords with higher difficulty.

Pay Attention to Search Intent

When using keywords to produce optimized content, you should also take into consideration the search intent behind that search. Meaning what the user is looking for. 

Google’s supreme purpose is to offer its users what they want, in the fastest possible manner. It knows what users expect to find when making a certain query. 

For example, when people are looking for “how to make pizza” Google knows they are looking for a recipe. Or when looking at “how to create a GIF”, users expect to find a how-to guide.

By figuring out the search intent you are in a better position to create more relevant content.

Thus, Google will guide you regarding the search intent behind each keyword from your list. Search each keyword on Google and identify

  • The type of content you need to create – blog post, product page, video, etc.
  • Content format – how-to, list, recipe, reviews, etc.

Write Search-Focused and Qualitative Content

The SEO content strategy has the purpose to equip your business with the best chances of attracting relevant organic traffic that will buy your services/products.

As a consequence, you have to produce high-quality content – meaning content that your audience finds useful, solves her problems, and drives her to consider your services. 

And also search-focused content – in other words, content that is created for the correct search intent and is optimized via current on-page SEO best practices. 

To create optimized and high-quality content you need first to draft content briefs and implement correct on-page SEO procedures.

Draft Content Briefs for Your Writers

If you want to create content smoothly, without many revisions and supplementary rewriting activities, creating detailed briefs is a must.

An SEO content brief includes the necessary instructions for the writer to write a correctly optimized article, with the right structure and keywords. Clear instructions and guidelines to follow. Thus offering the article the best possible chances to rank in SERPs. 

In a content brief, the following information should be included:

  • Title
  • Summary, search intent, and angle
  • Target keywords
  • Target buyer persona and stage of the buyer journey
  • Tone and voice
  • Structure of the article (H2 headings)
  • Resources
  • NLP words 
  • Lengths of the article in words
  • Deadline 

You can create the briefs manually (still the best way in my view) or use a brief generation tool. There are countless tools out there ready to generate your briefs, but all of them need manual reviewing and corrections.

You can view below a sample content brief generated via SurferSeo.

SEO content brief via Surfer

Define On-Page SEO Best Practices to Be Implemented in Each Piece of Content

On-Page SEO is the foundation of SEO, it’s compulsory if one wants his articles to rank and it’s an SEO task under your control. 

On-Page SEO is a must-have, as most businesses already implement it. Implementing current on-page best practices right from the writing phase will spare future efforts of rewriting and optimization. 

On-Page SEO best practices are a subject of their own and you can find here a list of the most important On-Page tactics.

When Creating Content Consider the E-E-A-T Principles

Google clearly stated that a core part of its metrics revolves around E-E-A-T (Experience – Expertise – Authoritativeness -Trustworthiness). In other words, they are emphasizing the quality of the content delivered to the user. 

The content produced should prove that the business has first-hand experience and expertise on the topic to be granted higher chances of ranking.

Each site will be evaluated for a certain topic based on the  E-E-A-T template. It is also done for each query and for each result. 

Consequently, you have to produce content for your target audience while positioning your business as an authority in your niche. And build trust.

Pay Close Attention to Your Internal Links Architecture 

Internal linking structure is important for your users and search engines alike. First, your users should be able to find their way and navigate with ease your site to get the information they need. And second, search engines should be able to crawl your site and find all the published content.

Plus, search engines should be able to identify which are the most important pages for your business, the ones that you want to rank for, and the supporting pages for the latter. In addition, a pertinent anchor text will indicate to Google what keywords you are looking to rank for. 

Your site’s internal linking structure is like a map with main roads and secondary streets. All connecting with each other in some way. This internal links architecture is important as the link juice is redirected from performant pages to those needing supplementary support.

Internal links play an important role in SERP ranking.

Perform SEO Content Audits Regularly

To continuously improve your site rankings you have to keep an eye on your most important keywords. Track them with a keyword research tool to help you identify ranking improvement opportunities. 

It’s not enough to write and publish qualitative content. You have to perform audits, update it and review it periodically. 

There are several reasons to do that. It might happen that your content doesn’t rank or it loses rankings. Or search intent changes. Or content gets outdated.

Search engine algorithm updates are frequent and SERPs are dynamic, they change continuously. 

When executing an SEO content audit you have to check on the following: 

  • What is the situation of your traffic? Is It growing, stalling, or decreasing?
  • Which are the most performing pages? Which drive the most traffic? How about conversions?
  • Which pages do you need to rank and they actually don’t rank for the right keyword?
  • What can you do to improve the rankings?

Based on this information you can adjust your future plans. Prioritize performing pages, update those that are less performant following the model of those that bring the most results, etc.

Keep an Eye on Google Algorithm Updates

There is no news that Google updates its algorithm several times a year (core updates). Even if minor updates might not impact your rankings, core updates may at times have a significant impact. 

Consequently, you have to keep updated about what future algorithm updates require to maintain the performance of your content and site.

Conclusion

A date-based and successful SEO content strategy is an absolute must if you want to attract organic traffic in a more complicated and crowded environment. Plus, the challenges brought by the newly developed AI technology. Following the above-mentioned steps and keeping yourself updated will help solve future challenges.

If you find creating an SEO content strategy a daunting task, ask for professional help.

What are the top 5 SEO strategies?

The top 5 SEO strategies may be considered the following:
High-Quality Content Creation 
Topical Authority
On-Page SEO
Off-Page SEO
Technical SEO

What is an SEO content plan?

An SEO content plan is a document that clearly defines what content will be created, what keywords will be targeted, guidelines for content creation, and on-page optimization. All these have the purpose of reaching the business goals.

Is SEO a content marketing strategy?

SEO is a core part of a content marketing strategy. SEO doesn’t exist on its own without a content strategy.

What is the key to SEO?

The key to successful SEO is clearly defining your business goals and defining and implementing an SEO content strategy to show you how to reach those goals. 

How to integrate SEO into your content?

To integrate SEO into your content, you should put in place an SEO content strategy to define the keywords to rank for, the topics to write about, and the guidelines for on-page SEO optimization.

Is SEO part of content strategy?

Yes, SEO is a core part of the content strategy.

What is the core of content strategy?

The core part of a content strategy is creating content that is considered useful by the buyer persona and is optimized to rank in search engines. Its mission is the help reach the business’s goals.

What are the 3 C’s of SEO?

The 3 C’s of SEO may be considered content, credibility, and conversion.

Can meta description be the same as content?

The meta description is not the same as the content. It is a brief summary of a page and is an HTML element.

How to Create a Successful SEO Content Marketing Strategy
How to Scale Your SaaS in 2025? Best B2B SaaS Lead Generation Strategies

How to Scale Your SaaS in 2025? Best B2B SaaS Lead Generation Strategies

Successful companies are always sustained by strong lead-generation strategies and tactics. A booming industry such as Software as a Service (SaaS), expected to reach over $716 billion by 2028, will need the best SaaS lead generation strategies to fuel its staggering growth.

In our informational era, customers have easy access to all the data they need to make informed decisions. Research from Forrester explains that the customer journey is self-directed in a proportion that may vary between 66% and 90%. 

Thus, the SaaS lead generation mission is to find the right customer, no matter where it is in its journey, and offer him the right content while educating and demonstrating how your software can help solve his problems. In other words, it has to find the ideal client and convince him to buy your software service/product. 

Before establishing which SaaS lead generation strategies are the best for your business, you have to decide on a few fundamental aspects:

Let’s Make Your SEO & Content Work Better for Your Business

Who’s your buyer persona?

For the success of your campaigns, it’s vital to correctly define your perfect market. Who is your ideal client, what’s his business, in which niche, which are his needs, which are his interests, which are his main pain points, which are his buying behavior, etc

SaaS companies usually have more than one buyer persona depending on their product/service offer. 

What criteria should a lead meet?

Set scoring parameters to be able to quickly identify the qualified leads and renounce the others that are less lucrative. Concentrating the efforts only on qualified leads saves time and streamlines your lead generation activity. 

Each company sets its own criteria considering its offer, goals, and strategies. For example, if your SaaS is dedicated to large companies with international operations, there is no point in contacting a national medium-level business.

Which are your lead generation goals?

Set clear, realistic, and measurable goals for your lead generation campaigns. Since SaaS is a data-driven industry by excellence, it’s obvious that SaaS marketing efforts should be heavily based on data. 

Consider KPIs like site traffic, click-through rates, traffic-to-lead ratio, conversion rates, marketing qualified leads (MQLs), sales qualified leads (SQLs), cost per lead, etc. Track your KPIs evolution to know if your strategy brings the desired results or if you need to adjust it. 

What tools do you need for lead generation?

B2B SaaS lead generation strategies and SaaS lead generation in general, need several tools for successful implementation and partially automate some tasks. Such tools might be:

  • Marketing planning system to manage all marketing campaigns, from content production to ads and promotion. 
  • Landing page builder to help create pages that elevate the user experience and maximize conversions.
  • Software to manage payments – most often subscriptions.
  • Email marketing app for lead nurturing.
  • Conversion rate optimization app for split test and optimization.
  • Live chat software that allows instant interaction with site visitors.

Online marketing lead generation ecosystem

Source: StraightNorth

Best SaaS lead generation strategies as of 2023

Obviously, different strategies will have different results for various businesses. You just have to pick those that bring the best results for your own business, in your particular market and context. 

Top Saas lead generation strategy: Put in place a site optimized for conversion and search engines (SEO)

Optimize for search all the pages of your site, landing pages included, for the keywords that you want to rank for in search engines. 

Consider optimizing for the keywords used by potential clients when searching for a SaaS company like the one you have. Also, take into consideration the keywords related to the problems that your app solves. Keep in mind that people are looking to solve their problems and are tirelessly looking for the right solutions.

Organic traffic, when the SEO strategy is executed correctly, can be a great source of leads and is by far more cost-effective than paid traffic. It’s an opportunity small SaaS companies still have at their disposal if they don’t have massive advertising budgets to generate traffic. 

Conceive your site pages with user experience and conversion in mind. Follow a logical flow, insert catchy call-to-actions, and lead magnets that attract the attention of your audience. And highlight the steps needed for the visitors to take action. 

Stay up to date with technical SEO and eliminate conversion barriers

The latest Google algorithm updates pay more attention to parameters like sites’ speed and mobile-friendliness. Thus, they have a heavier impact on search engine rankings. 

Ensure that your site has a good loading speed, that’s usually under five seconds on a slow connection (3G) upon Google’s recommendation. Nowadays, users have little patience (under three seconds) with sites that are slow and bounce. 

Research from Unbounce reveals that the conversion rate decreases by 12% for each supplementary second that your page needs for loading. Most landing pages do not have an acceptable loading speed. And even if marketers are aware of that, most of them do not treat it as a priority. 

SaaS Lead Generation Strategies: watch your pages speed

Source: Unbounce

With the proliferation of mobile phones and features that allow users to surf the web, having a mobile-friendly site is a must. Thus, your site’s content has to adapt to the dimension of the device used. You can either hire a developer to make your site mobile friendly or upgrade to a theme that adjusts automatically. 

Identify the elements that hurt your conversion funnel. Such barriers may be complicated forms, slow pages, onboarding problems, too many steps in the conversion process, UX issues, CTAs that don’t convert, etc.

Choose the right pricing model for your SaaS business

The pricing strategy is of paramount importance to attract leads and clients. Today, most SaaS companies work with monthly price subscription models and have elaborated pricing structures tailored for multiple buyer personas.

Some of the most used pricing strategies by software companies are:

  • Tiered pricing strategy – several pricing plans with different price levels considering factors like usage, features, etc.
  • Feature-based pricing strategy – usually three types of plans with different prices based on the features included.
  • Pricing strategy based on usage – a tiered system with price levels based on usage criteria – for example, number of subscribers, storage space, etc.
  • Pay-as-you-grow pricing strategy – a pricing system that considers the business size and provides upgrades as the business evolves.
  • Pay-per-user pricing strategy – a pricing model that takes into consideration the number of users needed.
  • Freemium pricing strategy – a free plan, usually providing a product/service with basic features and paid add-ons that can be added as needed.
  • One-time fee pricing strategy – a fixed fee is paid for the lifetime usage of a product as it is at the moment of purchase without future upgrades.

Each SaaS business will probably test several pricing strategies until identifying the one that works best for it. 

Here is an example of a pay-as-you-grow pricing strategy combined with usage. Convertkit proposes three plans, and the price grows with the number of subscribers the client has in his database.

Pricing model sample

Source: Convertkit

Attract organic traffic via optimized content 

For most marketers, content marketing and SEO are two of the most successful lead-generation strategies for software companies. Some may consider them as separate strategies, but the reality is that they deliver the best results when done together. 

According to a study made by mikesonders.com on a sample of the 50 most important SaaS businesses in the U.S., organic search is the major source of traffic and leads. It counts for up to 77% of their traffic. And on average it contributes 26.4%.

Average traffic contribution by source for the 50 largest SaaS companies

Source: mikesonders.com

Creating useful content that is relevant to your ideal client and simultaneously optimizing it for search engines, is a winning strategy and a powerhouse for SaaS lead generation. A sort of gold mine.

Content marketing is a long-term game, you have to publish quality content, in a consistent manner to obtain the desired results. Meaning organic traffic and qualified leads for your business. 

This is a long-term strategy, it takes time to bring results, but once your content ranks the results will be steady for a long period of time as long as you keep up with the search engine updates. 

SaaS content marketing tips

  • Create content catered to your customers’ needs and pain points, showing how your software application can work out their problems – they will take the time to research, inform themselves and make informed decisions.
  • Valuable and relevant content gains the trust of your audience and the status of an expert in your industry.
  • Create videos that present your SaaS product/service and its features.
  • Write specific content focused on user intent – what does your visitor want to know? 
  • Match your buyer’s persona questions and needs in terms of knowledge and information with your business’s goals.
  • Craft content for each stage of the buyer journey, and offer each visitor the information he needs when he needs it.
  • Format your content for readability and insert visuals to support your text (images, screenshots, infographics).
  • Craft case studies to explain how your software helps your clients in a particular case.
  • Build lead magnets based on your best content and add interested visitors to your email list.
  • Insert clickable pop-ups to attract the visitors’ attention to an action you want them to take.
  • Repurpose content to make the most out of your content creation efforts and offer your clients the type of content they expect (i.e., merge a couple of blogs to create an ebook, take a blog and write a script for a video or a podcast).
  • Guest-post on prominent sites within your industry, that have similar audiences, to generate leads.

Email marketing is still a powerful tool for lead generation

There are many reasons why email remains a solid B2B SaaS lead generation strategy. For some SaaS businesses, it is even the main channel for gathering leads and moving them down the marketing funnel. 

First of all, the email list is a channel owned by the business, it is composed of persons that have shown some interest in your business, content, product/services, etc. 

Then, you have the possibility to segment and personalize your emails and enroll potential leads in personalized nurturing sequences. This approach will facilitate massively the sale process. 

Put in place lead nurturing sequences

The huge majority of your site visitors are not ready to buy when they end up on your site. They have a certain interest and if they manifest it, it’s your chance to develop the relationship further and demonstrate you are a reliable provider. 

Using lead nurturing sequences is a solid strategy to build credibility and convince potential customers about the benefits of your product/service. All this while increasing the conversion rate.

Engage your site visitors with chatbots

Answering instantly to your site’s visitors’ questions can be a great source of valuable leads. And chatbots can execute this task 24h a day. 

Installing a chatbot that responds right away can improve your conversion rate and increase the number of signs up to the newsletter, demo sessions, or free accounts.

Organize webinars for your target audience

Webinars offer a great opportunity to interact directly with your audience and answer their questions and concerns in real time. To build relationships and nurture leads that are in a “decision” phase of their journey and showed interest in your software services. 

60% of marketers consider webinars a reliable venue to obtain qualified leads. B2B marketing specialists may generate between 500 and 1000 leads per webinar

What makes webinars a great tool for SaaS lead generation is the possibility to showcase your expertise and gain the trust of your leads while channeling them to conversion. Plus, it can be a great source for content repurposing. 

Provide a free trial to prove the value of your software solution 

Your software solution is your business’s best ambassador and has the highest impact on attracting new customers. 

In the software world offering a free trial is a common SaaS lead generation strategy. And if your app is up to the challenge and delivers what it promises in a demo, it’s a sure way to win new leads.

Put in place a smooth onboarding process and showcase the full power of your soft during the free trial period. Include the premium features to convince your customer to buy. Conceive workflows generated by the user behavior to show how various functionalities work.

These days B2B journey is mostly self-service. Clients will read your content, the reviews of your software, your case studies, will check on your social media channels, and try a demo. And only after that will consider contacting your sales team. 

In case you have a high-ticket service that implies knowing more details about your client’s business, you have the option to propose a personalized demo. Walk the client through the app and present it from the point of view of his pain points.

Generate leads via free tools that present interest to your customers

As a SaaS company, you can choose to capture new leads by creating a small tool that you can offer for free and that your clients find useful. A tool that has some connection with your main product/service.

Such a lead generation tool example is HubSpot’s Website Grader. It is a free tool to evaluate the performance of your site, but you have to give your email address in exchange for the results.

SaaS lead generation strategy: generate leads via free tools, Hubspot example

Source: HubSpot

Customized outbound for B2B SaaS

Even if nowadays the inbound strategy prevails when referring to SaaS lead generation strategy, there are cases when outbound strategies still bring the most value. Plus, statistics reveal that 51% of business owners prefer to be contacted by phone by a sales representative, than by other communication venues. 

Outbound strategies, meaning reaching clients directly via various channels like LinkedIn, cold calling, and email, are the top lead generation strategies for B2B SaaS companies that have complex, personalized offers and long sales cycles. 

For this type of SaaS company, ads are not exactly effective, and inbound might not generate a sustainable flow of leads, as needed. In such cases, using customized outbound brings better results. 

Build or hire a SaaS lead generation company, specializing in SaaS, that has deep knowledge regarding the software offer and is able to present it in a personalized way, tailored to the client’s needs. A team able to do proper prospecting according to your buyer persona, identify the ideal potential leads, and set sales appointments. 

Customized outbound enables opportunities to build brand awareness, shorten the sales cycles and generate more leads in a cost-effective way. 

Profit on online communities to spread the word about your product/service

Another SaaS lead generation strategy that brings interesting results is posting on communities like LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit, etc. 

You have to identify the communities where your audience is present, and which are the most common questions and pain points your audience has. And answer them with a detailed response that addresses the respective problem. This way you can insert a link to an article you have on your blog on that topic, and redirect traffic and potential leads to your website. 

Pay attention and provide a pertinent answer that solves the issue. And avoid just copy-pasting a link to your website, as the moderators will not approve such answers.

Identify partnerships that can support your SaaS business growth

Build a network of partners to help you spread the word about your SaaS and attract new qualified prospects. You may consider influencer marketing campaigns, guest posting, joint marketing campaigns with complimentary offers, partnerships with review sites (like Capterra, Software Advice, G2, Product Hunt), working with affiliates, etc.

For example, if you have an app that helps build landing pages, you could partner with marketing agencies and marketing experts to recommend your app to their clients. Or you could put in place an affiliate program that rewards with commissions the persons willing to promote your software solution and generate sales.

Building partnerships with SaaS influencers could be a great source of leads. Take into consideration that SaaS influencers don’t look like the typical influencers in other industries. They most likely have large followings on professional avenues like LinkedIn, not on Instagram or TikTok. 

Having a recommendation or a feature from a SaaS influencer may generate a huge buzz for your SaaS accompanied by an important number of high-quality leads. A pipeline that will generate results in the long run. 

Exploit the power of referrals and make them work for your SaaS 

When speaking about generating leads their quality matters more than their quantity. You may gain a plethora of potential leads, but if they don’t buy or buy and renounce your software solution shortly after that, it won’t help. 

The best leads are those who generate constant business and became evangelists for your SaaS by recommending it to their connections. Happy clients are your SaaS’s best ambassadors. Thus, the word of mouth remains one of the strongest lead generation tools. 

Potential clients will trust more the opinion of their acquaintances or that of your existing clients than any other marketing approach from your business, be it content, ads, demo, etc. Not to mention referrals convert better and quicker because they already trust your business thanks to the recommendation they received. 

Establishing a referral program to reward loyal clients and the leads they referred is often a winning strategy. 

Leverage on testimonials and reviews

For SaaS companies, having good reviews on comparison or app aggregators like Capterra or AternativeTo can be extremely lucrative. And a great source of reliable B2B leads.

Today SaaS clients know very well what their needs are and what type of solution they want in terms of features and functionality. They do their research, they test various apps, or they already have a solution that they are not happy with. 

And they check these aggregator sites that compare features of various apps and allow clients to choose the best fit.

Even if having good reviews on such sites is a powerful source of leads, your marketing team can use them further to gain even more leads and awareness. Use ratings and reviews on other marketing channels like PPC ads, social media posts, case studies, email sequences, or other campaigns. 

Take away

There you have it, a condensed list of the best lead generation strategies proven to be successful today.

Though the SaaS industry experiences exponential growth, it is still a highly competitive arena. That’s why SaaS lead generation strategies implemented can be a game-changer for the future of any SaaS business. Choose wisely, test, keep only the strategies that bring you the best results, and reiterate.

What Is a Good Content Marketing Strategy? How to Create a Solid One? Core Pillars and Template

What Is a Good Content Marketing Strategy? How to Create a Solid One? Core Pillars and Template

The digital content marketing strategy is essentially a blueprint that includes processes, standards, and topics to help you plan, create and publish your content.

The content marketing strategy is the foundation of reaching your business

. It is a sort of magnetic compass that you have to craft on your own measure to show you the way to your objectives. And of course, we are all striving to find the best content strategy that works for our business.

 “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” Michael Porter

It’s a guiding line that organizes the marketing teams involved in producing content: writers, editors, SEO specialists, designers, producers, project managers, analysts, etc., identifies the needed tools and channels and provides procedures and workflows. And aligns all the stakeholders involved toward the same goal.

Remember your digital content marketing strategy line needs to be flexible and your team agile. In our ever-changing world, it happens quite often that the situation forecast in January has nothing to do with the reality of May.

Useless to reinforce why you need a content marketing strategy, it’s vital to have a path that leads you toward your goals.

If still in doubt, check on statistics. Less than 7% of B2B and B2C content marketers don’t plan to use a content strategy next year – HubSpot says, CoSchedule found out that a documented strategy is likely to improve your success with 414%. So, judge yourself!

Documented content strategy statistics

Organized marketers statistics
Source: CoSchedule

When you need to arrive from point A to point B, you establish in advance a route. This is similar to your business, to achieve the goals you need a route, and that’s the strategy.

A simplified content strategy template that will definitely help you in your endeavors of creating your strategy is to be found if you click the aforementioned link.

A successful content marketing strategy is the ultimate game-changer for your business. Because it’s one of the key things that will give you an edge over your competitors. Investing in it is therefore well worth all the effort.

Audiences have become smarter and more discerning today than ever, they’re looking for value and relevance. Most of them, as time goes by, are becoming media-savvy and can now tell the difference between the noise in traditional advertising and real content that serves their needs. And this is where content marketing is king, it’s what will help you create and deliver the information your audience needs.

What Do You Hope to Gain from Solid Content Marketing Strategy?

a.    It’ll Help Establish Trust with Your Audience

People tend to lean towards something that offers them relevance and value. This forms a good basis for trust. By connecting with your customers and giving the answers to their questions through the content you deliver them, you will be building a solid relationship that they can always come back to.

Consistently offer quality content to your audience and find yourself building a good reputation for your brand, which will consequentially attract the trust and loyalty that you need.

b.    It’ll Bring Them Back for More

When you offer your audience just the right content, they will get a positive experience. Whenever they visit your site or social pages they will get solutions and this will keep them coming back for more. The positive experience reinforces how they see and feel about your brand.

c. You Gain Authority

Churning out great quality content is your business’s way of flexing your muscles and proving your expertise in your field. When you publish content that solves your audience’s specific issues, your audience will look at you as an expert worth her attention. This will boost your authority and rank your content higher.

d.     It Generates Leads

Generating leads is one of the key goals of any marketing campaign and quality content is at its heart. The calls to action become very instrumental in generating leads to your landing page.

e.     Boosts Conversion

For most businesses, this is the ultimate goal. And this will be easier if you provide your audience with useful information that they can eventually trust over time. With trust established, and with the right calls to action, the purchasing decision will be in your favor.

Thus, this is a strong relationship between quality, relevance, and offering solutions.

Let’s Make Your SEO & Content Work Better for Your Business

Elements of a Strong Content Marketing Strategy

What is a content marketing strategy without the key elements? These are the building block of effective content marketing efforts.

a.      Positioning

This can be considered as the manner in which you get your brand out of obscurity by creating awareness about all the solutions you offer to your audience through the aptest platforms thereby amplifying your expertise to a higher position of great reputation.

When you set yourself as an expert in your niche, you’ll have the leeway to set higher rates for yourself and set yourself up for greater opportunities. This means being in each place where your audience looks for solutions to their problems. When you position yourself on multiple platforms sharing your expertise, you’ll build higher confidence with your audience.

b.     Value Proposition

When your audience’s needs meet your solutions in perfect positioning, magic happens. However, achieving this requires navigating through clear communication, true perception, and delivering on your brand promise.

And this is where a good value proposition comes to play. It’s the baseline promise to your audience. A clear expression of what they stand to gain by purchasing your product or service.  It’s about the thing that makes you unique and makes you stand out from your competitors to the advantage of your customers. Identify it and offer it.

c.      Business Case

The next important element in online content marketing strategy is about driving your brand forward.  This will require clearly defining your goals (read below) in order to see how creating an inbound content marketing strategy will get you closer to them.

Knowing your goals will lead you to pick the resources to invest in in order to achieve your desired results. It will also help you have a clearer picture of the costs, benefits as well as risks of implementing your content marketing efforts. 

d.     Your Strategic Plan

This final element is meant to help plan every step that will support you in reaching your overall goals and how you’re going to measure them. You have to insert in a strategy the platforms you want to use and also the methods you will use to promote the content.

 It’s a top priority to also consider the most appealing content type for your target audience. Often times a mixture of videos, blog posts or infographics would be a great approach.

To facilitate your task check the digital content marketing strategy template below, which I created especially to help businesses streamline their strategy creation efforts.

Now, let’s start and identify the core pillars that are sustaining your website content strategy:

Effectively How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy? A Content Strategy Outline

Pillar 1: Results of Content Audit

If you are not starting from scratch, before committing to the creation of your digital content strategy for the next year, an audit and revision of the content you produced last year are compulsory.

·       Inventorize your content. First, you need a quantitative evaluation of the content you already have. Where is it published? How many pieces are published? In which format? Which of them show up on the first page of search engines? Collect in an inventory list with data like link, author, publishing date, last update, keywords, etc.

·       Content audit. This is a qualitative evaluation of the content you listed in the content inventory list. Which is the quality level of this content? Does it meet your actual quality standards? Is it in line with your brand? Does it answer properly to your audience’s pain points? Which pieces of content generated the most traffic and why? Which is the bounce rate? But the dwelling time?  How are the social shares? Is the actual content converting according to targets? Search for explanations and answers to these questions.

·       Competitor analysis. By examining competitors’ well-performing pages, you can understand which valuable pieces may be missing on your website. Use the SE Ranking SEO competition tool to investigate your rivals’ organic performance, find out which keywords work best for product or landing pages, and which are perfect for audience educational purposes. Also, make sure to check if there are any SERP features for queries you are going to target (like the “people also ask” section, featured snippets, or site links) and optimize your content for them as well.

·       Identify the content gap. Search for topics that are not covered by your content and they should be.

Pillar 2: Establish Your Core Content Marketing Goals

The fundament of your own content marketing strategy is the goals that you want to achieve through your marketing efforts. These business goals are general high-level statements that your marketing efforts will focus on and are established by the top management for the whole organization. Such goals could be:

* Create brand awareness. If your company/business is new, your primary goal will be to create brand awareness, to reach as much as possible of your target audience  

* Boost traffic for your site by x%. This could be accomplished through search engine optimization, via organic traffic, but it will take time to rank and till the results will be visible in search engines. Or via paid traffic, which will bring results quicker but will require a higher budget.

* Increase conversions for your products or services by x%. You need to influence and convince a larger number of visitors to your site to become customers and buy your products/services.

* Build a reputation as an influencer/leader for your company. Your brand is much more than the effective products/services you sell. If you create high-quality content, and deliver great products/services that help your audience and exceed her expectations, in time you could build a solid reputation and confirm the status of a leader/influencer in your industry.

From these overarching goals, the content marketing goals will be derived.

Business goals in general, content marketing goals included, need to have the following S.M.A.R.T.  characteristics:

*       Specific: Provide exact details of what you need to achieve.

*       Measurable: Try to define a number or level that defines exactly your goal.

*       Attainable: Your goal should be feasible and realistic

*       Relevant: Choose a goal that is significant for your activity

*       Timely: Always define a deadline for your goal

How to create a Content Strategy - Establish SMART-Goals

 Source: House of Hunt

SMART goals, could look like this:

Till [Date] the [company]’s team in charge of content marketing will achieve [number]/ [metric] [interval].

Till March 30, 2022, Eagle Advertising’s team in charge of content marketing will reach 10.000 monthly new visitors for our blog.

Establish KPIs

The best approach on how to create a content marketing strategy that works is by using the right KPIs and contextualizing them with your brand. They must be aligned with your business goals, your strengths as a brand, and the life stage of your business.

They must also be tied to your company size because different businesses require different needs to meet the needs of a certain stage. For instance, if your business is fairly new, your content will be on creating awareness, so you should use KPIs that address this aspect and so on.

KPIs are important metrics that help you reveal the strong or weak points of your content marketing efforts (use a professionally executed content strategy template) that you should address in order to achieve your overall goals.

Such metrics show actionable insights such as:

Sales impact – B2B content marketing strategies zero down to which is the impact the content has on revenues. For this reason, you should develop effective systems for measuring sales impact across all your platforms.

Return on Ad Cost – Instead of doing a general calculation of revenue of the whole campaign over the ad spend, it’s best to take into consideration all the detailed cost factors e.g. the value of leads generated. Return on ad cost (ROAC) is the metric between return on investment (ROI) and return on ad spend (ROAS). The above-mentioned indicator offers you more insights into the effectiveness of the greater marketing budget and you will plan based on clear information and data.

Rate of voice in the market – how well do you connect with your audience? Do they consider you a voice that represents their views? This may be a difficult KPI to measure, but it can be pointed out in happy customers or audiences. Plus, if you have happy employees, then you’re winning at this.

Social impact – this is one of the content marketing strategy metrics that will contribute to your brand’s sustainable growth. This is because today people are all about better health and a better world. And what better way than meaningful content that adds so much value to social wellness? When your content adds to a positive social impact, then you’re on the right track.

Assess Current Position

The audit carried out should also show you your current market position. This is meant to answer the question of whether you’re achieving the goals you set for your brand. Some of the indicators of your market position include considering your content’s shelf life.

Is your content evergreen or has it been overtaken by time? It would be a good acid test for your efforts. You can also consider looking at cross-channel measurements. This means looking beyond impressions, organic traffic, or bounce rates. It means looking at whether your content feeds social platforms or whether it serves satisfactory customer service and so on. Does it offer more?

All these details will help you know your current state and where you need to tweak to get improved results.

Let’s Make Your SEO & Content Work Better for Your Business

Pillar 3: Audience Research and Persona Development

Who are you trying to reach?

Your content is only as good as the leads and audience it attracts. You can draw thousands of views, but if only five of them are the right people who would use your product or services, it’s a waste of your team’s time.

Identifying who your content should be targeting will help your strategists to determine what types of topics, ideas, and keywords you should cover. What are the pain points of your audience and what is she interested in reading?

What characteristics should you identify about your audience?

Demographics: Age, gender, ethnicity, income, location, job title, etc.

Psychographics: Hobbies, interests, beliefs, habits, and more.

Challenges they face: What are they dealing with that would cause them to begin to search for your product or service?

Pain points: What in their life is causing a disruption or what problem does your product solve?

Where are they getting their information: If your audience is searching for a solution to their problems where are they turning to search for information?

What type of content do they prefer: What content format does your audience prefer to get the information they are looking for from?

How can we help: How can the content you create help, give your target audience the information they need?

Buyer Personas Example. Source:  HubSpot
Buyer Personas Example. Source: HubSpot

You may have several buyer personas profiles, so adjust the template accordingly.

Your ideal – primary buyer persona/primary audience – the persons you should focus on foremost because they have the highest probability to buy your products or services. The content you create should be targeted mainly at the primary buyer persona.  

Your secondary buyer personas. These are people that accomplish most of the characteristics of the ideal audience but are not quite ready to buy. You need to convince them, attract them to a sales funnel and convert them into customers. For these secondary buyer personas, your content should be more strategic.

To find out this information about your buyer persona you may:

·       Check your Google Analytics in the Audience section if you already have an established audience.

·       Make a survey to find out. Tools like Survey Monkey or Google Forms can help you in your efforts.

Map the Customer Journey

Identifying your buyer persona is only the first step. The next critical step is mapping your customer journey. Your customer or audience journey map is just the chance for your business to stand out through the creation of the right content that responds to them in a way that they really need. The thing that most content marketing strategy templates miss by a huge distance is that your customers are at different stages of buying your products or services.

Customers don’t just zoom in from discovering to buying. They move from awareness to consideration, to the new customer stage (acquisition), and possibly all the way to the loyal customer stage. And all these stages require different content for your content marketing efforts to be effective. Feel free to check my marketing content strategy template to organize your content creation efforts around the buyer’s journey stages.

How can you achieve this? Here are a few key factors to consider:

i.                 Your Content Needs to Be Customer-Centric

Your content marketing strategies should be about offering your audience a great experience. And any improvement you create must be geared towards enhancing this experience.

This means you do not start designing your ideas about the product, but rather around what your customers need and how you can meet their needs. It’s about looking at your business from the customer’s lens. Don’t assume what they need. Find out while understanding their personas.

ii.                Your Content Will Require Data

Mapping your customer journey will require data such as geographic locations, user downloads, or even cancellations. This will not only show you the customer stage, but it will also show you the products or content that is doing well and the ones that need improvement.  It’s this data that you will use to create personalized content that helps your customers go the whole 9 yards of purchasing your products or services.  

The 3 Main Stages of the Customer Journey

a.      Awareness Stage

A potential buyer would gain from accessing content that would offer them solutions to issues they’ve been grappling with. They may not be ready to purchase yet, but your well-crafted quality relevant content is what will build awareness and guide them to the next stage.

 The content for this stage should be about making their lives easier. Focus on topics that offer them the change they didn’t even know would be possible.

b.     Consideration Stage

 This content answers the question “why now”. It’s about retaining your customers’ interest in your products or services. To achieve this, your content must be able to win their trust and confidence. They must see that you get them. So, this means even the tone of your content must be reassuring for them to deeply consider what you’re offering and move on to the next stage.

c.      Purchase Stage

This final stage is about creating content that removes all doubt about you. It answers the question “why you”. Why is your offer the best for this buyer? Create content that shines, and shows your uniqueness. Are you eco-friendly? Are you pro-health? What makes you superior? Create content that perfectly balances their very specific problems with your very specific solutions, and you will win hands down.

Pillar 4: Define the Content Pillars and the Subsequent Topics. Create the Content Calendar

The pillars of content or clusters of content are the skeleton of your content generation. The content pillars you create have to be related to the products and services you sell and respond to the questions, needs, pain points, and struggles of your audience related to them. Usually, by pillars of content, we understand the main topics or cornerstone topics that relate to your business. And they include a collection of subtopics that compose the pillar.

Let’s assume you have an SEO agency that provides SEO services for small and medium enterprises. Your main services are SEO-optimized content development, Link building, Local SEO, and Technical SEO.

Your content pillars might include:

–        On-Page SEO

–        Off-Page SEO

  • Technical SEO

–        Increasing traffic from organic sources

–        Ranking Algorithms for major search engines

Each content pillar will have topics and types of content assigned.

Here is a content pillar example. A pillar of content like “Off-Page SEO” might include subtopics like:

–       Top backlinking strategies

–        How to successfully guest post

–        Best practices to create an infographic

–        Everything you need to know about Skyscraper strategy

Collaborate with your team to discover which of your client’s questions need to be answered. Speak directly with your clients, survey them or visit forums and questions and answers sites to find out.

My content marketing strategy template listed above includes a content pillar template to help you organize the topics in content clusters.

Content pillar template

Identify the type of content you will produce

Nowadays, you can choose from a variety of types of content to attract your audience.

The content marketing world is a vast industry and goes far beyond the classical blog post, even if it is its foundation.

Among the types of content available you can pick:

Articles and Blog Posts

Videos

Webinars

eBooks

*  Social Media Content

Guides

Reports

*  White Papers

*  Infographics

*  Newsletters

*  Case Studies

Pay attention to your audience preferences and align the types of content you produce with their interests and needs. If your audience is teenagers between 15 and 21, you should choose the video, if you target business professionals who prefer reading, ebooks might be the best choice for case studies.

Pillar 5: Create Design and Visual Content Standards

You need to create some design principles and standards to guide your designers while creating visuals for your brand. And your digital content marketing strategy is the place where you define it. Check the content strategy template to see. They are needed to grasp the message of your brand and translate it into coherent visuals and imagery.

Include the basic design elements like:

*  Selection of fonts to use.

*  Brand color combination.

* Logo-related requirements.

List here all the elements related to visual content that the marketing team should be aware of. Like dimensions of headings, quality of images to use, dimensions, and type of videos. Compulsory elements that should be present on each page, elements to totally exclude.

Consider using custom photos instead of stock to define your style. It will take effort and time, but in the end, it will be worth it.

Pillar 6: Identify the Channels to Promote Your Content

Deciding which channels you are going to use to promote your content is a task of major importance and you need to include them in your content calendar.

Always take into consideration being present when and where your audience hangs out.

The number one channel to consider is of course your own site, this is your main vehicle and one of the few that you own.

The second one is your mailing list. It’s overly stated that the mailing list is the most valuable asset of a business in our ever-changing digital era. You own your mailing list and on it, you have the most engaged persons with your business. If you decide to use your mailing list to promote your newly published content decide how many emails you are going to send and when.

Social Media is a sum of channels where you have to be present and promote your content. Choose and focus only on those social media platforms where your ideal client is present. You will not be able to present on all social networks, or you can but that will require huge efforts and resources are almost never enough. You have to pick among Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, Medium, Snapchat, and more. So, pick wisely and based on analytics. I would suggest focusing on 2-3 maximum channels and on those to have a bold presence.

For instance, if you target B2B established professionals, LinkedIn is the best option, if your buyer persona is young people under 30, Snapchat or Instagram are better options to consider. Consider using analytics for each social media network to find the insights that you need. Test each potential platform to see which brings in the best results. Most probably you will face a trial and error process till you find the right channels for your business.

Once the social media channels are decided, the following step is to create a schedule to promote your content.

Each piece of content will religiously respect this schedule.  

A promotion schedule on social media channels might look like this.

Day of publication:

One Pin on Pinterest

One Facebook post

One Instagram post

Three Twitter posts

One week after publishing:

One LinkedIn repost

Two Tweets three times a week

One Medium repost

One Pin daily on group boards

Following weeks till one month after publishing:

One LinkedIn repost after one month of publishing

Two Tweets three times a week, four weeks after publishing

One repost weekly on Facebook

One Pin daily for one month in group boards and own relevant boards

Another option for your social media promotion is to use paid advertising. These ads help ensure your content gets seen and setting them up is incredibly easy.

Other channels where you want to guest post. Create a list of influencers in your niche or complementary niches that are to be contacted in order to guest post on their sites.

If you want to be featured in major publications like Forbes, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Inc, Business Insider, or Entrepreneur include that here. Your best bet for contacting these influencers is with a personalized cold email.

To organize yourself better look for a content calendar template that can guide you with promotion channel selection.

Content Distribution Trifecta.
Content Distribution Trifecta. Source Instapage

Pillar 7: Content Production Flow

After deciding what type of content you need to create, long form, short form, the next phase is the execution phase, literally creating that content. The preparatory element of creating content is designing the process of content creation: the steps that are to be covered, their order, and their length of time.

The content production process comprises all the phases till the piece of content passes to editors and designers.

The content generation process includes the creation and the editorial processes and explicitly indicates who does what, in which order, and when. The persons included in this activity are the content manager, the writers, the editors, the designers, and the SEO specialists.

The flow of the execution process includes all the tasks in chronological order.

In general, the content creation process includes:

·       Brainstorming the topic for blog posts – 2-3 days, eventually establish a meeting with the team at the beginning of each trimester and decide on the topics for the period

·       Assigning the publishing date and filling the publishing calendar – 1 day

·       Researching other resources on the topic – 1 day

·       Organizing interviews (if the case) or gathering data – 3-7 days depending on the type of piece of content

·       Researching and establishing the keywords to be used for this topic – 1 day

·       Creating the structure of the piece of content – outline – 2 days

·       Revising and approving the outline – 1 day

·       Crafting the first draft of the piece of content – 2-3 days depending on the length, for 1000 words article 1-2 days, for 20000-word ebooks 3-4 weeks

·       Revising the draft – 1-4 days depending on the type of piece

·       Sending to the editor – 1 day

Take into consideration the length of this process when deciding the date to start the writing process for each piece of content, in the function of the publishing date.

After the content is created it passes through the editorial process. The editorial process organizes the steps of preparing your content for publishing, the publishing itself, and the analysis of the result.

Here is an editorial process flow example:

Editing content – 1 – 4 days

Requesting revisions to be done by writers if the case – 1 – 2 days

Creating the design for the piece of content – 1 – 5 days

Approving the design – 1 day

Send the piece of content to the SEO specialist – in 2 – 4 days

Publishing content – 1 day

Set promotion campaign – 2 – 4 days

Approve and execute the promotion campaign – according to the calendar and promotion strategy

Post-publication analysis of results

Pick a Content Management System

An excellent content marketing strategy example must have a content management system because content marketing is most effective when the process can be repeated, optimized, and tracked. A CMS acts as a repository where your content lives, thereby helping you streamline and manage all your campaigns in one place. It also enables you to update your content across multiple channels, lets you repurpose the best content and so much more to facilitate your content production process.

Resource Allocation

What is a content marketing strategy without sufficient resource allocation? Having established a content calendar that includes important factors such as content type, platform to use, and the right audience, the next important thing is ensuring you have the necessary resources to help you deliver on your goals. This involves identifying the digital tools that you will need to produce your content, knowing who will be in charge of creating content items, and so on.

Depending on the size of the team you’re working with, you can identify the individual that will be in charge overall. If you outsource these services, then you will have to factor in these costs as well. You may for instance outsource a video specialist, freelancer, or graphic designer if you don’t have them in-house or if you are a start-up that doesn’t have a team yet.

Pillar 8: Editorial Calendar

Your content production process ends with the publication of the content your team created. These calendars are valuable tools as they allow your team to organize their tasks accordingly.

Calendars should include all the content types you plan to create and the following details:

·       title of the article

·       scheduled date of publication

·       content pillar it belongs to

·       funnel stage of the buyer journey – awareness stage or decision stage

·       format of the piece of content – blog, infographic, ebook, long-form content, short-form, etc.

·       channels of distribution – where the piece of content will be promoted – social media channels, other sites, etc

Having a defined editorial calendar, you’ll always have ideas of content ready to be created and in progress. The editorial calendar is one of the major parts of your website content marketing strategy. And will be of major help to be consistent with your publishing schedule and respect it. Publishing content consistently and regularly helps you gain authority and return visitors to your site.

Website content strategy -Editorial Calendar sample

 Source: Meistertask

Pillar 9: Measuring Results of Your Content Strategy

One of the major challenges of content marketers is to measure the success and results of the content created. Of course, lately, the situation has improved dramatically, we have now analytics, but has bounce rate an impact on your content’s success, are page views a huge indicator of success? Well, arguably.

Here are some metrics that you want to consider:

·       pageviews. Many page views translate that you managed to attract the right audience interested in your content and products or that visitors were searching for more information on a certain subject

·       time-on-page. The longer the better. High dwelling time means the content was considered useful by the readers if it was long enough, for a short text might mean that it is difficult to consume, and readers spend much time depicting it.

·       social shares. The more the better, as usual. Even if that will not necessarily translate into more business for you, it is certainly an indicator of success.  

·       bounce rate. A small bounce rate, well that’s another discussion: what do we consider a “small bounce rate”, means that the audience is interested in your content. And reverse a high bounce rate, which means that the audience was not interested. Though, it is not necessarily an indicator of the quality of your content. If your content ended up in front of the wrong audience, that’s just to be expected. If I end up on a blog about food for cats and I am not a cat lover, my visit will be a bounce rate.

KPIs to measure content strategy results.
KPIs to measure content marketing strategy results. Source: SmartInsights

Experience with your own content will learn you and your team how to identify problems and how to solve them.

After deciding what your measurement process will look like and which indicators will be used, you should also decide how often you will create the reports and establish some templates for these reports. It will be easier to conclude if you use a uniform template for the reports that will ease the comparison of metrics.

Pillar 10: Define Your Content Strategy Budget

All marketing activities involve a budget. When creating your content strategy, you need to have at least an approximate idea of how much it will cost to implement it. If you have the internal resources to execute it, or you need to hire help in-house or external consultant experts.

Determine how much it will cost to produce the content that you established in the strategy, how much it will cost to promote it, and if you are going to use paid channels how much budget you want to spend for this purpose.

There you have it, the 10 major pillars that sustain a successful content marketing strategy able to support your future growth and expansion.

How to create a content marketing strategy?

  • Do a content audit.

    Inventorize your existing content, do an audit for all your articles, a competitor analysis, and identify the content gap for your semantic keywords.

  • Define your content goals.

    Pay attention to setting some S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) goals. Assess the current situation and establish KPIs.

  • Audience research, persona development, and buyer journey definition.

    Define your buyer persona (ideal customer) and her characteristics. Identify which are the steps that a potential client takes to become a customer.

  • Define the Content Pillars and the Subsequent Topics. Create the Content Calendar.

    Identify the main content clusters and information that your client needs to solve his problems with your products/services. Or what subject to write about to attract your audience.

  • Create Design and Visual Content Standards.

    Establish what principles and conditions are to be accomplished to create a cohesive brand.

  • Identify the Channels to Promote Your Content.

    Where will you publish your content on your own site, on your social media channels, on tier channels, etc?

  • Content Production Flow.

    Put in place a procedure to be followed when creating content.

  • Editorial Calendar.

    Organize the identified topics in an editorial calendar with all the details, date of publication, format, stage of the journey, content pillar, and distribution channels.

  • Measure the results of your content strategy

    Measure the established KPIs and see which are the results obtained and what is needed to improve them.

  • Determine your content strategy budget

    Estimate a price for each activity included in the strategy and determine the budget needed to implement your strategy.

How to Create a Content Strategy Content Pillars and Content strategy template #contentstrategy social media instagram framework blog digital content strategy brand ideas
Get Results Like Never Before – Content Strategy Example

Get Results Like Never Before – Content Strategy Example

When trying to put in place a content strategy, even if you have a pretty good idea of what you need to do, an already completed content strategy example would be very helpful.

To give you a hand, I have created such an example using my simplified content strategy template.

By the end of this article, you will be able to create the content strategy for your business with little or no help.

The foundation for the content strategy exemplified will be my content strategy framework which includes all the details for a results-driven strategy.

Click here to download the strategy template or complete the form below.

Now that you already have the skeleton – the strategy template, let’s put some “clothes” on.

The content strategy is practically a framework that comprises processes, topics, and standards to support your business in planning, executing, and publishing your content.

It’s a blueprint that organizes and manages the teams involved in content marketing activities: content managers, SEO specialists, writers, designers, editors, video producers, analysts, project managers, etc.

Content strategy’s main purpose is to have all the stakeholders on the same page and working toward the same goal.

Your strategy has to be adaptable and your team flexible and agile. In our laser speed era,  changes appear in a cascade and it happens often that the situation foretold this month will have very little connection with reality within a couple of months.

No need to reinstate why you need a strategy content. It’s vital if you want to reach your goals in an efficient manner.

When looking to arrive from place A to place B, you use a GPS app. The same situation applies to your business. To reach your goals a clear path is needed, and that’s the strategy.

If still in doubt, check on statistics, organized marketers have higher chances to reach success – by far – like 674% more chances. 

Let’s build an example of content strategy for the following business – you are a content marketing agency and you want to create a content strategy for your business. You provide your clients with content strategy services, SEO services, and social media services.

Let’s Make Your SEO & Content Work Better for Your Business

Content Strategy Example: Create Your Mission Statement 

The template starts with the basics: the mission of your company, tailored for the content needs.

The mission is the engagement your company assumes in front of its audience and clients. 

From this statement, you can establish the starting point of your content strategy.

The statement might look like this:

[Company] has the principal mission to deliver for our clients [service/product 1] and [service/product 2] via [task one] and [task two].

Example:

Caribbean Experiences exists to provide its customers, passionate travelers, with stellar accommodations and Caribbean-flavored experiences through a network of great beach properties and organized tours.

Mission Statement Content Strategy Example

Define the Components of Your Content Marketing Team and the Associated Tasks 

The starting point in the content strategy process is to create a team that will work to define, implement and accomplish it. Who will work and what exactly will execute?

In general, each team accomplishes more or less similar roles, and these are:

  • Content Manager/Strategist: brainstorms, plans, and decides the content to be created.
  • Writers: using their writing abilities they create the content.
  • Proofreaders/Editors: verify and copyedit content to ensure accuracy.
  • Designers: design visuals (photos, graphics, infographics) according to standards required by the brand.
  • Distribution Manager: promotes content on established channels.
  • SEO Specialists: optimize content to rank higher in SERPs and attract more readers and leads.
  • Content Analysts: analyze content performance and identify which content brings expected results and which does not.

Take into consideration that a person may have multiple roles, or a team member may perform tasks that do not match exactly with their title.

I don’t want to see you running quicker than Usain Bolt from this task, so see below the task completed.

Team members

Content Strategy Example: Content Marketing Toolbox

Content marketing is a complex process that needs a handful of tools to keep things organized.

What kind of tools do you need?

Application for Analytics

Using an analytics platform is a must, as you need to measure your content performance and promotion efforts and adjust accordingly.  

Some popular options are:

  • Google Analytics
  • Matomo
  • Open Web Analytics.

Editorial Calendar for Content Marketing

Having a reliable editorial calendar to help you plan, schedule for publishing in advance, and publish according to deadlines can make a difference.

There are multiple options to choose from, some of the most popular:

  • CoSchedule
  • Google Calendar
  • Trello
  • Basecamp

Social Media Management Solutions

Social media is a significant part of any marketing strategy and, as such, of a content strategy. And is also a very time-consuming activity, that’s why using tools that help you automate part of the process is very convenient.

There are many options for social media schedulers, so you have to choose one that best suits your needs. Prominent solutions are:

  • SproutSocial
  • Hootsuite
  • Buffer
  • Tailwind

SEO Apps

To help your content rank in search engines and be found, you also need some SEO tools to identify the most reliable keywords, audit your site, measure performance, research competition, etc.  

Some of the best tools for SEO today are:

  • Ahrefs
  • Semrush
  • Moz

Marketing Project Management Tools

Managing a content marketing team can be an overwhelming task. And project management tools help to put the order in “chaos”.  

Relevant options are:

• Asana  • Trello • Wrike  • Slack

List of tools -content strategy framework

Content Strategy Example: Content Audit

If your business is not new and has some content marketing activities done, before creating a content strategy for the following period, a content audit is needed.

Make an inventory of the existing content. What content is already published, where, and what is its format? Create a list with data like the permalink of the article, author, date of publication, number of words, last update, main keyword, page, views, impressions, authority, place in SERPs, etc.

Audit your content from a qualitative point of view. Answer questions like What articles are the most performant as traffic generators? What is their bounce rate? How about dwell time?  Is the published content converting as per the established targets?  Investigate and find the answers to such questions.

Identify content gaps and topics not yet covered.

Competitors analysis. Check on what content marketing activities develops your competition and what results it gets.

Content audit results

Content Marketing Goals 

The guiding line of your content strategy is the goals that your business needs to achieve via its marketing activities. Such business goals are established by the business owners, shareholders, or top management of the organization. 

Examples of such goals are:

• Create/increase brand awareness. 

• Raise the traffic of your website by x%. Either via SEO – organic traffic and results will take a bit longer to appear. Or via ads – paid traffic, results appear quicker but need a higher budget.

• Boost conversions by x% for your offers. 

• Establish your business as a leader/expert in your niche. 

Based on these general business goals, the goals for content marketing will be established. 

Be aware to define S.M.A.R.T.  goals:

  • Specific: Indicate exactly and clearly what you need to accomplish.
  • Measurable: an exact level, number, or milestone to define them
  • Attainable: realistic and approachable
  • Relevant: goals to be meaningful for your business
  • Timely: exact deadline in time

Example of SMART goals:

The [company]’s team responsible for X activity will attain [metric] by [interval].

Eagle Advertising’s team responsible for content marketing will attain 6.000 monthly visitors to our website by April 30, 2023

Content marketing goals - Content strategy example

Audience Research and Buyer Persona Creation

Who do you want to reach? Who’s your ideal customer?

Your content marketing efficiency is expressed by the audience, leads, and sales it attracts. If your content generates thousands of views, but only a very small fraction are potential leads who buy your product/services, your content’s efficiency needs heavy improvements.

Identifying your target audience will enable your content strategists to nail what topics, subtopics, and keywords should be covered by your strategy. What your audience wants to know and what are her challenges/problems?

Correctly identify the characteristics of your target audience:

  • Demographics: gender, age, income, job title, geolocation, etc.
  • Psychographics: interests, hobbies,  beliefs, habits, etc.
  • Problems: What is the issue that would determine them to look for a product/service like yours?
  • Pain points: What issues are resolved by your product/services? What is the cause of your audience’s problems?
  • Where are they scouring for data and information?
  • What’s their favorite type of content?
  • In what ways can your content be beneficial to them?

You might have multiple buyer persona profiles, therefore, modify the template as per your needs.

To obtain these details regarding your buyer persona, you can: 

• Refer to your Audience section in Google Analytics if you have an existing audience. 

• Conduct a survey using tools such as Survey Monkey or Google Forms to gather relevant data.

Buyer persona example

Content Strategy Example: Identify the Content Pillars and the Associated Topics

This is the foundation of your content creation efforts. The content that you produce must pertain to the products or services you offer and address the inquiries, requirements, challenges, and difficulties of your audience in relation to them.

For our content marketing agency example, for its SEO services, the content pillars may be:

– SEO audit

– Off-Page SEO

– On-Page SEO

– Increasing traffic

– Technical audit

– Ranking Algorithms 

Each pillar will have topics and types of content assigned.

For example, a pillar called “Off-Page SEO” may include topics like:

– Outreach strategies to get backlinks

– How to guest post with maximum success

– Skyscraper strategy

– How to create infographics

What Type of Content to Create? 

There are numerous forms of content that you can utilize to captivate your audience.

 Content marketing is a vast field that extends beyond conventional blog posts, despite being its cornerstone.

What are the most common types of content? 

  • Articles/Blog Posts
  • Case Studies
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • eBooks
  • Reports
  • Webinars
  • Guides
  • Social Media Content
  • White Papers
  • Newsletters

Identify your audience’s preferences and choose the right types of content to create accordingly. 

Key Content Pillars Example and topics

Choose Which Will Be the Voice and Tone of Your Brand

Defining the voice and tone that will be used throughout all your content marketing is important for consistency and coherence.  

The voice of your brand is an expression of the personality outlined by your brand. Your brand’s tone represents the manner that you use to express things, to speak. 

To profile your voice, choose a couple of adjectives to outline your brand personality. 

You could choose: humorous, laid back, original or intelligent, influential, respectable. It’s up to you to decide according to your preferences and purposes. 

For clarity, show some examples. 

Check Skype’s brand guidelines to see an example.  

 Also, include writing guidelines. Your online content should be formatted for readability, skimmable, with short paragraphs, headings, bullet points, and visuals.

Create Design Standards

It is essential to establish design principles and standards to provide guidance to your designers when developing visual content for your brand.

Listed below are the fundamental visual design elements that the marketing team should take note of:

  •  Choice of typography 
  • Brand color palette 
  • Logo specifications 
  • Image styles and guidelines 
  • Layout and composition rules 
  • Iconography and graphics standards

Brand tone and voice - content marketing strategy example
Design and visuals

Key Pillars of Content 

The pillars of content indicated above are to be organized and scheduled based on the corresponding campaigns that are scheduled for that period.

Content creation flow example

Generally, the content creation process encompasses all stages until the content is handed over to editors and designers.

The content execution process involves the creation and editorial processes, with a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities, order of tasks, and deadlines. The people involved in this phase may include content managers, writers, editors, designers, and SEO specialists.

Example of content creation flow:

  • Topic brainstorming – 2-3 days 
  • Setting the publication date and populating the publishing calendar – 1 day 
  • Researching resources on the topic – 1 day 
  • Conducting interviews or gathering data – 3-7 days 
  • Researching and determining the Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords to be used for the topic – 1 day 
  • Creating the content structure – outline – 2 days 
  • Reviewing and approving the outline – 1 day 
  • Producing the initial draft of the content – 2-3 days, depending on the length 
  • Revising, editing, and proofreading the draft – 1-4 days, depending on the type of content

Consider the duration of this process when setting the start date for writing each piece of content based on the publication date.

After the content is created, it proceeds through the editorial process.

The editorial process involves organizing the steps involved in preparing the content for publication, the publishing itself, and analyzing the results.

Content execution flow

Editorial process flow example

  • Content editing: 1-4 days
  • Requesting revisions from writers (if necessary): 1-2 days
  • Content design and graphics: 1-5 days
  • Approving the design: 1 day
  • SEO optimizing the content: 2-4 days
  • Publishing the content: 1 day
  • Setting up the promotion campaign: 2-4 days
  • Approving and executing the promotion campaign according to the strategy
  • Analyzing the post-publication results.

Make sure to factor in the length of this process when scheduling the writing process for each piece of content based on the publication date.

Publishing Cadence

Now that you have the content execution process established, the next obvious step is to organize the publishing cadence and schedule. Meaning what type of content gets published, when, and how often.

The publishing cadence might be something like this:

  • 1 article/blog post a week – 2000 words +
  • a case study monthly
  • 1 infographic monthly
  • an ebook each 4 months
  • one lead magnet each quarter

Publishing cadence - content strategy example

Editorial Calendar

Once your content is published, the content execution process is complete. Content calendars are crucial for organizing tasks efficiently among team members.

Your content calendar should include the following details for each content type you plan to create: 

  • Title of the piece of content/article
  • Scheduled publication date 
  • Content pillar it belongs to 
  • Stage of the buyer journey 
  • Content format 
  • Distribution channels – where the content will be promoted.

Editorial calendar example content strategy framework.

Content Strategy Example: Content Promotion Channels 

Determining the appropriate channels to promote your content is a crucial task. It is essential to consider being present on the same social platforms as your target audience. 

Your primary channel should be your website, which serves as your primary platform and asset.

The second important channel is your email list. It is often emphasized that the email list is the most valuable asset of a business in today’s rapidly changing digital landscape.

Social media is a collection of platforms where you should have a presence and promote your content. Select and concentrate only on social media networks where your ideal customer is active. 

Choose wisely, based on analytics.  I recommend focusing on no more than 2-3 channels to maintain a strong presence.

Identify additional channels to bolster your outreach strategy, such as guest posting. Develop a roster of influencers in your industry or related industries to approach about guest posting on their websites.

Once the social media channels are decided, the following step is to create a plan and schedule to promote your content.

Each piece of content will religiously respect this schedule.

Content distribution channels

Free Distribution Plan

For the free distribution of your content, you need to complete:

  • the promotional channels where your content will be published, aka Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc
  • frequency of publishing
  • the objective of the page, where appropriate
  • who is the targeted buyer persona
  • what do you want your reader to do – for instance, subscribe to a webinar, download a freebie, etc
  • select the performance indicators that will indicate your results.

A promotion schedule on social media channels might look like this:

Day of publishing:

  • One Pin on Pinterest
  • One Facebook post
  • 1 Instagram post
  • Three Twitter posts

One week after publishing:

  • 1 LinkedIn repost
  • Two Twits three days a week
  • One Medium repost
  • One Pin daily on group boards

Following weeks till one month after publishing:

  • One LinkedIn repost after one month of publishing
  • Two Tweets three days of a week, four weeks after publishing
  • 1 repost weekly on Facebook
  • One Pin daily for one month in group boards and own relevant boards

Paid Distribution Plan

Similar to your free distribution plan you should have a paid distribution plan.

For your paid distribution you might take into consideration:

  • Native advertising
  • Influencer marketing
  • Paid social media promotion

Paid distribution plan example

Measure KPIs and Results

Measuring the success and effectiveness of marketing content is a significant challenge for marketers. 

It is important to not only identify the appropriate metrics but also interpret them correctly. For instance, the impact of the bounce rate on the success of your content and whether page views are a significant indicator of success are subject to debate.

Below are some metrics that marketers should consider when measuring the success of their content:

  • Pageviews: A high number of page views suggests that the right audience has been attracted to the content and products.
  • Time on page: The longer a visitor spends on a page, the more useful they found the content.
  • Social shares: The more a piece of content is shared on social media, the more successful it is perceived to be.
  • Bounce rate: A low bounce rate indicates that the audience is interested in the content, whereas a high bounce rate suggests that the audience was not engaged.

Once the appropriate metrics have been selected, marketers need to determine how frequently they will generate reports and create templates for these reports.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To measure your progress and success you need to establish some indicators to guide you on whether you are on the right path or not. These are specific metrics relevant to your goals. 

KPIs are different for each business, depending on the services or products they provide and on their targeted goals.

The most common KPIs are:

  • Number of new customers or users for the planned period
  • Total revenue
  • Unique or total views/impressions
  • Number of subscribers to the newsletter
  • Number of content shares

Remember your KPIs should match your goals.

Key performance indicators

Metrics and Content Analytics

After deciding on KPIs, it’s time to establish the metrics that are relevant for you and that you need to constantly review. To avoid any confusion, keep in mind that all KPIs are metrics, but not all metrics are considered KPIs. Meaning a metric that is considered KPI for one business for one might be irrelevant.

At this point, you should simply translate the goals you set, into measurable metrics related to your KPIs:

  • Reach X views per month on the blog.
  • Generate $X in revenue.
  • Gain X new followers on X social media channels.
  • Add X new subscribers to the email list each month.
  • Reach X number of shares per post per month.

Always keep an eye on the performance of your content. 

Check regularly Google Analytics or Analytics sections of social media channels to observe the evolution of your content results. Optimize and adjust accordingly. 

Metrics

Content Strategy Example: Content Marketing Budget

You are just about to complete your content marketing strategy. The final step is the budget!

To correctly forecast the costs of producing and distributing your content (except the tools that you pay monthly or yearly) check the offers you have from the contractors you work with or the hourly rate for your in-house employees.

For content writing, take the editorial calendar and see how many words you need to create monthly, and then multiply the result by the cost per word.

Let’s say you need the first month of 12,500 words written for all the content types, you have an average cost of $0.3 per word, which would be $3,750 total cost with content writing for the respective month. Add the cost for each month and you obtain the total cost for the year.

Content strategy budget.

Finally, after following the content strategy example you have your content strategy created and documented. If you feel you still need help with your content strategy framework, consider hiring an expert.

FAQs

How do you document a content strategy?

To document a content strategy you have to write down and follow all the following steps of a content strategy:
* Define your mission,
* Establish your team,
* Decide your marketing toolbox,
* Audit your content,
* Set your content marketing goals,
* Define your buyer persona
* Determine your pillars of content and topics
* Create an editorial calendar and flow
* Decide on content distribution channels and craft a distribution plan
* Establish KPIs and measure the results
* Set a content strategy budget

What is the content strategy process?

The content strategy process is the concert activity of documenting a content strategy with all its components: strategy goals, content audit, buyer personas, pillars of content, editorial calendar and flow, content distribution plan, KPIs and results measurement, budget, content marketing team, and toolbox.

What is a website content strategy?

A website content strategy is the part of the content strategy that refers strictly to the website of a company. Taking into consideration that all the content created via a strategy will be first published on the website, this is its core part. It refers in principal to the pillars of content and topics published. And may include blogs, articles, how-tos, infographics, case studies, videos, and white papers, among others.

Get Results Like Never Before - Content Strategy Example pin
How to Write a Content Brief without Feeling Overwhelmed – Tips and Tricks from the Pros

How to Write a Content Brief without Feeling Overwhelmed – Tips and Tricks from the Pros

Are you feeling overwhelmed when it comes to creating content briefs? Do you struggle to find a balance between providing enough information and not getting bogged down in the details? If so, you’re not alone. 

Writing a content brief can be a daunting task, especially when you’re working on a tight deadline or managing multiple projects.

Reading this post will provide you with tips from the pros on how to conceive a content brief without feeling overwhelmed. We’ll break down the components of a content brief and provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to create one.

It’s understandable that the thought of writing briefs may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Here is help to streamline your process, save time, and ultimately produce high-quality content that resonates with your target audience.

So, let’s begin the journey toward creating a content brief that not only meets your needs but exceeds your expectations.

Let’s Make Your SEO & Content Work Better for Your Business

What Is a Content Brief?

A content brief is a document that shows how to write and what to include in a piece of content. It outlines the objectives, and parameters needed, the purpose of the content, the target audience, the key messages, and the outline that needs to be conveyed. 

A content brief is the backbone of any content creation process, helping to keep everyone on the same page and ensuring that the crafted content is aligned with the marketing goals and objectives.

What Is an SEO Content Brief?

An SEO content brief is similar to a content brief but with an added focus on search engine optimization (SEO). An SEO content brief not only indicates the objectives, and outline of the project but also includes specific instructions and guidelines for optimizing the content for search engines. It might include:

  • Keyword research
  • On-page optimization
  • Interlinking strategies
  • Meta tags

The main difference between a content brief and an SEO content brief is made of the optimization parameters.

Why Are Content Briefs Important?

Creating a content brief is crucial for an effective content creation process. Without a clear plan in place, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds and lose sight of the overall goals and objectives of the project. 

A content brief offers the necessary guidance and helps to keep everyone on the same page.

In the context of marketing, a good example of the importance of a content brief can be seen in the creation of a blog post. 

Let’s say that a company wants to create a blog post about a new product they are launching. Before they start creating the piece of content, they should develop a content brief that outlines the following:

  • The target audience for the content (potential customers).
  • Key messages that need to be conveyed (benefits and features of the product).
  • Main keyword and semantic terms that should be included in the content (e.g. the name of the product, related search terms, etc.)
  • The desired outcome of the content (increased awareness and interest in the product, potential sales)

With this content brief in place, the company can then start creating content that is targeted toward their desired audience and optimized for search engines.

By following the guidelines outlined in the content brief, they increase the likelihood that their content will be discovered by search engines and, ultimately, by potential customers.

Advantages of Using Content Briefs

One of the main advantages of using content briefs is that they can prevent the need for rewrites and repetitive revisions. By having a clear plan in place before starting the content creation process, teams can avoid costly mistakes and minimize the need for time-consuming revisions. 

This saves time and money and allows teams to focus on more important tasks.

Research conducted by Ziflow found that more than half of the marketing teams review an asset three to five times before it is considered final.

Another advantage of using content briefs is ensuring no critical information and data are missing. When creating content, it’s easy to overlook important details that can make or break the success of the project. 

Content briefs help ensure that all necessary information is included and that the content meets the buyer persona’s needs.

In addition, content briefs provide a guideline and a single source of truth for the collaborating team. They serve as a reference document that everyone on the team can refer to when needed. 

Consequently, minimizing confusion and misunderstandings, and helping to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal.

Lastly, content briefs provide clear direction. They serve as a blueprint for the project, outlining the goals, audience, tone, and format. And ensure that the content meets the needs of the intended audience and is consistent with the overall marketing strategy. 

It also provides a clear way to measure success and obtain approval from stakeholders.

What Are the Components of a Content Brief?

In order to create a comprehensive content brief, there are several key elements that need to be considered. The key components of a content brief are

  • Topic and working title
  • Target buyer persona
  • Primary keyword
  • Search Intent for that keyword
  • Secondary keywords and LSis
  • Content format, and length
  • Stage of the buyer journey
  • Content goals and objectives
  • Content structure and outline
  • Content tone and style, and instructions for visuals
  • Resources 
  • Internal links
  • Call to action (CTA)
  • Deadlines and milestones

Content brief template

Content brief template.jpg

Content brief example

Content brief example

What Are the Steps for Creating a Content Brief?

To create a detailed content brief follow the next steps:

Identify the Target Audience – Overview of the Buyer Persona

The target audience is the group of people that you are creating the content for or your buyer persona. It is defined based on demographics, psychographics, or other factors. 

Understanding your target audience is essential to creating effective content that resonates with them. 

Example: If the target audience is working moms, the buyer persona may include information such as their age range, occupation, income level, and the challenges they face balancing work and family life. In your brief, you will include a reference as “Mom Mary” and a link to the buyer persona profile.

Execute a Keyword Research – Identify the Primary Keyword and LSIs

 The primary keyword is the main keyword that you are targeting with your content. This keyword should be relevant to your target audience’s needs and should be included in the content in a natural and organic way.

 LSIs (Latent Semantic Indexing) are related keywords and phrases that are also relevant to the topic of your content. Including LSIs can help to improve the relevance of your content and increase its visibility in search results.

Example: If the content is about time-saving tips for working moms, relevant keywords may include “working mom struggles,” “time management,” and “productivity hacks”. And LSIs for “working mom struggles” could be “working mom dilemma”, “ depressed overwhelmed working mom”, “challenges of working moms”.

Brainstorm Content Topic and SEO Title

The topic of your content should be based on your target audience’s needs and interests and related to your product/service. 

Deciding on a relevant, optimized, and eye-catching title is not that easy. Bear in mind that the working title should be attention-grabbing and provide a clear idea of what the content is about. 

It is important to keep in mind that the title is often the first thing that people will see, and based on it, they decide if they click on your article or not.

Example: If the target audience is working moms, topics may include time-saving tips, career development, or self-care. Working titles may include “10 Time-Saving Hacks for Busy Working Moms” or “How to Advance Your Career While Juggling Motherhood.”

Determine the Content Format and Length

The format and length of your content can have a significant impact on how it is received by your target audience. 

Depending on the topic approached the format may be a listicle, a how-to, a guide, an ebook, etc. 

Content length in words is also important. Usually, you want this content to be useful for your audience and rank in search engines. The word count should be in the range of already ranking articles and should cover the topic in depth.

Example: If the goal of the content is to drive conversions, a product comparison guide may be the most effective format of content. The angle of the content may be based on a trending topic or a pain point that the target audience is experiencing.

Establish the Stage of the Buyer Journey for the Piece of Content 

 The stage of the buyer journey that your target audience is in will influence the type of content that they are looking for. 

For example, someone in the awareness stage may be looking for educational content, while someone in the decision stage may be looking for product comparisons. By understanding the stage of the buyer journey, you can create content that is tailored to their needs and more likely to convert.

Define Content Goals and Objectives 

The goals and objectives of your content should align with your overall marketing goals.

 For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, your content may focus on spreading the word about your product or services or sharing customer success stories. 

By aligning your content goals and objectives with your overall marketing goals, you can create a more cohesive and effective content strategy.

Example: If the goal of the content is to generate leads, the objective may be to collect email addresses through a lead magnet.

Indicate the Content Tone and Style

The tone and style of your content should reflect your brand voice and values. This can vary depending on your target audience and the type of content that you are creating. 

For example, a piece of content aimed at millennials may have a more casual tone and use humor, while a piece of content aimed at business executives may have a more formal tone and use data-driven insights.

Example: If the target audience is working moms, the tone may be empathetic and understanding

Determine the Search Intent Behind the Main Keyword

 Search intent refers to the reason behind a search query. Understanding the search intent behind your target audience’s queries is crucial in creating content that matches their needs. 

By understanding the search intent, you can create content that is more relevant to their needs and more likely to be found in search results.

Create the Content Structure and Outline

 The structure and outline of your content should be based on the type of content and the goals that you have set. It may include headings, subheadings, bullet points, or other formatting elements. 

The provided outline should be logical and easy to follow and should help to guide the reader through the content.

Example: Suppose the goal of the content is to inform the audience about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. In that case, the structure and outline of the content should include subtopics such as nutrition, exercise, stress management, and sleep.

List the Resources 

Resources are an essential component of a content brief. It is crucial to specify the resources needed to create the content. Resources include anything that the content writer needs to successfully complete the project. 

This can range from research materials, case studies, statistics, images, videos, or any other type of media. Or competitor articles. By specifying the resources, the content creator can plan and allocate sufficient time to organize them and extract the right information.

When creating product pages or other landing pages, or infographics, it’s useful to indicate a design mockup or at least similar examples.

 Additionally, this helps to avoid unnecessary delays and reduces the risk of missing essential data.

Example: Suppose the content is about the benefits of a plant-based diet. The resources that need to be reviewed may include scientific studies, books, and online articles from authoritative sources on the topic.

strategy template

Determine the Call to Action (CTA) That Will Be included in the Content

A call to action (CTA) is another important component of a content brief. The CTA informs the reader of what action they should take after engaging with the content. 

For example, a CTA could be encouraging the reader to subscribe to a newsletter, purchase a product or service, or schedule a consultation. 

By including a CTA in the content brief, content creators ensure that their content has a clear and specific purpose that aligns with the brand’s overall marketing strategy. Moreover, a well-crafted CTA can help improve conversions.

Example: Suppose the call to action for the content is to sign up for a free trial of a meal planning service. The content should include a link to the trial sign-up page and clear instructions on how to sign up.

Establish the Deadlines

Deadlines are the final essential component of a content brief. A deadline refers to the date and time when the content must be completed and delivered. Including deadlines in a content brief is vital as it helps to keep the project on track and within the specified timeline. 

By specifying a deadline, content creators have a clear understanding of when the project should be completed, allowing them to manage their time effectively. Additionally, deadlines ensure that all stakeholders involved in the project are aware of the delivery date, minimizing the risk of delays and missed opportunities.

It is essential to consider each component of a content brief to create effective content. Neglecting any of the essential components can result in content that fails to meet its objectives. 

For example, if a CTA is not specified in the brief, the content may lack direction, and the audience may not know what action to take after consuming the content. 

Similarly, if resources are not adequately indicated, the content may be incomplete or lacking vital information. Finally, failing to set a deadline for content delivery can lead to delays, missed opportunities, and unhappy clients.

Now, you have heard for sure that content briefs can be generated by AI-driven tools. There are plenty out there. In my experience, none of them delivers great results, but help speed up the process and reduce the time needed for creating a solid content brief. 

Key Differences Between a Manual Content Brief and an AI-Generated Content Brief

AI-generated-brief
  1. Manual briefs rely on human input and creativity to develop customized briefs, while AI-generated briefs use algorithms and data analysis to develop a brief based on predetermined criteria.
  2. The manual approach offers greater flexibility and adaptability to changing project needs, while AI-generated briefs may be more rigid and difficult to modify.
  3. Manual briefs allow for more nuanced messaging and tone, while AI-generated briefs rely more heavily on keyword optimization and data analysis.
  4. Even though they are not as highly qualitative as manual briefs, AI-generated briefs can be developed more efficiently and are useful when producing content at scale. Executing them manually requires more time and resources to develop due to the need for human input.
  5. Manual briefs are better suited for complex projects that require human expertise and creativity, while AI-generated briefs may be more suitable for standardized or routine content creation tasks.

Finally

Creating a content brief doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By breaking it down into manageable steps, and focusing on your target audience and marketing goals, you can create a clear and concise brief that will help you achieve your marketing objectives. So go ahead, give it a try, and don’t forget to celebrate your successes along the way!

How to Write a Content Brief without Feeling Overwhelmed - Tips and tricks from the Pros

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