According to Zazzle Media, 60% of companies struggle to produce content consistently, and 65% find it a challenge to produce engaging content on a regular basis.
Getting content in front of your customers at this time when you can’t physically connect with them is more important than ever before, so in this blog we wanted to share some tips to help you overcome the challenge of producing regular content through a carefully planned strategy.
Why plan your content?
When content is created on an ad-hoc basis, you risk communicating content that is not focussed on your core messaging, is inconsistent and off-brand.
In contrast, there are a number of benefits to having a content plan:
- Post content on a regular basis
- Maintain focus on key topic ideas
- Share the strategy across your team so that others can contribute
- Ensure your content always has consistent messaging
- Save on time spent researching ideas
How to get started
First define an overall theme for your content and what you want your target audience to associate with your company and your brand. This should then be the main focus for your content creation.
Also, if you plan to get others involved in creating your content then it would be useful to define the tone of voice to be used in order to achieve consistency.
Now think about what you want your content to achieve and how it will be shared. Do you want to:
- Increase awareness to a wider audience
- Drive more traffic to your website
- Increase conversions on your website by getting people to exchange contact info for gated content or requesting a demo
- Increase engagement on your social media channels by getting more likes and comments
- Insight – get feedback on your products or services
Brainstorm content ideas
Now that you know your overall theme and objectives, you can now start to think about what types of content you need to create. Start my making a list of topics that fit the bill and if they don’t relate then scrap them and look for more.
As well as using Google, research social media channels such as Linkedin and Twitter to see what other content is being created and shared in your space, what appears to be well received and what is growing in popularity. Use hashtags to help you find content relating to your main topic areas.
Another source of inspiration is to look at your SEO activity – it should be able to inform you what content you need to improve your ranking positions against some of your key search terms, and thereby ensure all of your marketing channels are working towards the same goals.
Create Your Content Calendar
One of the best channels for sharing your content is social media, and by creating a content calendar you can be sure to create a steady flow of content to feed your social channels.
You could begin by plotting important dates for your industry, and this in turn may also throw up good ideas for content, as well as highlighting key dates for when certain content will need to be completed.
For example, plot on your calendar the key events and campaigns you have planned for the year ahead and what content you will need to support these. Then narrow down your efforts to focus on one quarter or one month at a time, keeping a close eye on the next period ahead.
Think about how often you will need to post new content and what format is required. Bear in mind that the same format might not suit every taste and so it is often worthwhile repurposing content into various formats to meet different audience or demographic requirements. For example, one whitepaper could also be broken down into a series of blogs, or an infographic could be turned into an animation style video. As you produce and share more and more content, you will be able to measure which formats are best received by your audience too.
As your calendar takes shape it should provide an at a glance timetable of what content needs to be produced, by when and by whom. By publicising all deliverables and deadlines, it will be easier to manage and keep on schedule, thereby delivering on the goal to provide a regular stream of on-brand content.
At Rapport Digital, content marketing is at the heart of everything we do. We help accountants and accounting firms plan and implement their content strategies across a wide range of market sectors. If you’d like to discuss ideas on how to get started, with no obligation, get in touch at hello@rapportdigital.com.