To grow your business, you must have a documented content marketing strategy. But, in reality, 63% of businesses do not have a documented strategy. According to research, only 36% of them do have a properly documented plan. The other 38% do have a strategy, but it isn’t documented, and 19% of them plan to make one within a year. However, 6% of them neither have a plan nor do they plan to have one.

Out of this division, only those 36% that do have a documented plan reported that their marketing efforts are successful. But, the question is what their content marketing strategy is that helps them to grow their business? Below is the eleven steps guide for you!

1. Develop a Goal  

Before starting business operations, your goal must be clear in your mind. You should be clear in your mind as to what is it that you want to achieve. The first step to developing a content marketing strategy is to make a mission statement that could reflect your goal. A mission statement should be as per the demands of the target audience, and should also include the benefits they’ll get.

2. Develop Your KPIs

KPIs are key performance indicators that reflect your goals in terms of sales, revenue, traffic, and other aspects of digital marketing. Just as your vision and mission should be clear in your mind, you should know the milestones you plan to achieve.

3. Target Your Audience

Every business is different and has particular requirements; therefore, there are different audiences for different industries. For instance, a jewelry and apparel business has to target girls and women. Collect the demographic data of your social media followers, visitors, and email subscribers, and then target them as per age, gender, income, or other aspects via the web or social media analytics.

4. Determine Where Do You Stand and Find Out Content Channels

You have to determine your current position so you may work on the areas of improvement. The position is in terms of content on your website or social media page, and you have to know whether that content is helping you out to meet your goals. You can also compare the content with your competitors and use gap analytics to determine where it is you need to improve.

5. Decide Content-Type and Allocate Resources

When you are clear about your goal and audience, it is easy for you to determine the content type. Decide what is it your audience will be attracted to and visit your online store. It may include written content, videos, short clips, etc., and you can do it with the help of different tools. Once the content type is decided, you then have to allocate resources accordingly. For instance, hiring a writer to develop content, or assigning the graphic designer to develop the ad post.

Once you have allocated resources, you can then create the content and share and distribute it to the market. You will then be able to measure the results and see how successful you become.