The Ultimate Guide to Having a Bulletproof Marketing Strategy

A start to finish guide on how to develop a Content Strategy.

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Whether you’re a small business just starting out with handling your own social media campaigns, or a marketing student or you’ve been in the game for a while, it never hurts to revisit and rebrand your content strategy plan. it is important to make sure that it is up-to-date, innovative, and understandable.

During these competitive times, where more businesses are turning towards social media and online campaigns to promote themselves and reach new and existing customers, the first step to getting ahead of the competition and actively engage your audience, is to have a solid, smart content marketing plan in place.

That’s why we are going to help you, every step of the way. At the end of this guide, you’ll find a downloadable strategy to help you!

What even is a Content Strategy?

A Content Strategy is in simple terms, a guide to your business's social media and digital marketing management. It will cover every media that you create and own, from posts to captions and even to downloadables. It will outline all the steps that you will take to engage and reach your audience, and who is responsible for these tasks, and the purpose of it all.

It is important because it will explain how you want your audience to view and perceive you — and this in turn leads to organic traffic, which could lead to sales directly from your posts!

Before you start creating your strategy, ask yourself:

• Who is my target audience, i.e who will be viewing your content?
• What problem will you be solving for your audience?
• What makes your business unique?
• What is your brand message, and business personality?
• What content formats will you focus on — videos, blogs, emails?
• Which platforms will you focus on — Facebook, Instagram, YouTube?
• How and who will manage content creation and posting?

Once you know the answers to those questions, it is time to start your strategy.

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Step 1: Define your goal.

Goals, we all have them. But with your strategy, your goal will be your aim for developing a content marketing plan. Why do you want to produce content and create a content marketing plan? What are you hoping to achieve from posting on social media/internet?

Know your goals before you begin planning, and you’ll have an easier time determining what’s best for your strategy.

Step 2: Conduct audience research.

To develop a successful plan, you need to clearly define your content’s target audience — who you want to make use of your product/services? Who do you want to click and interact with your content?

This is especially important for those who are starting out or are new to marketing. By knowing your target audience, you can produce more relevant and valuable content that they’ll want to see and click on.

Remember, your audience can always change, so regularly revise this step.

Step 3: Establish your content and platforms.

Most people start out with blog posts or a simple Facebook page, but if you want to venture out and try producing other content pieces, consider which ones you want to make and if they are suitable for the platform that you have chosen, or the platform you want to expand to.

Also, align your goals with these platforms - what do you want to achieve from each piece of content? It is also important to establish your voice, personality, and brand in this section.

Here’s a list of types of content you can post, and for which platform it's suited for:

1. Blog posts: WordPress, Blogger, Medium, Websites, Twitter.
2. Ebooks: Amazon Kindle, Personal Websites, Emails.
3. Case studies: Medium, Websites, Emails, Instagram, Linkedin.
4. Templates: Emails, Linkedin, Websites, WordPress, Blogger, Medium.
5. Infographics: Medium, Websites, Emails, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest.
6. Videos: YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter.
7. Podcasts: Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Obviously this is just a general guideline, and depending on your content, you can always test it on other platforms as you wish.

Step 4: Choose a Content Management System.

Have a system in place where you can create, manage, and track your content is known as a content management system (CMS). This is an all-in-one place where you can do cool stuff, like content creation, content publication, and content analytics (reports on how your content is doing).

We currently use Hubspot, which is free. With HubSpot CMS, you can plan, produce, publish, and measure your results all in one place. Another popular CMS is WordPress, to which you can add the HubSpot WordPress plugin for free web forms, live chat, CRM access, email marketing, and analytics.

A free alternative to this Zoho Campaigns and Later — all great in their own way.

Step 5: Publish and manage your content.

Your marketing plan should go beyond the types of content you’ll create — it should also cover how you’ll organize your content, and who is responsible for different platforms and times.

With the help of an editorial calendar, you’ll be on the right track for publishing a well-balanced and diverse content library on your website. Then, create a social media content calendar so you can promote and manage your content on other sites.

Many of the ideas you think of will be evergreen — they’re just as relevant months from now as they are today. That being said, you shouldn’t ignore trending topics either. While they may not be the bulk of your editorial calendar, they can help you generate spikes of traffic.

Most people count on incorporating popular holidays such as New Year’s and Thanksgiving in their marketing efforts, but you don’t have to limit yourself to these important marketing dates.

If there are niche holidays that might appeal to your audience, it could be worth publishing content on your blog or on social media.

Step 8: Use this template.

It takes time, organization, and creativity to grow a successful content marketing strategy. From building the foundation of your content marketing plan to adding tools to better manage your content, setting up your strategy for the new year won’t be a hassle if you follow the steps and explore the resources here.

For help and guidance, use Webacies’s Marketing Plan Template to create a strategy suited for your business, without getting frustrated.

Happy creating!

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What can we offer you?

At Webacies, we usually charge hourly rates for all projects.

When you contact us, we will ask you about your budget and the scope of the project — also revised in a brief/proposal. If you are unsure of both, we give you free consultation and advice on what we think would be the best option for you.

We will never go over your budget, and will never overcharge — we are the most Affordable Digital Agency in South Africa!

We also offer flexible repayments, meaning upfront, or monthly payments broken into different brackets according to your requirements.