Creating an effective content development strategy can be daunting, but more companies are jumping on the content marketing bandwagon. Why?
Content marketing strategies generate three times as many leads as traditional marketing.
It’s time to roll up your sleeves and start bringing in paying customers with high-quality content.
In this article, we’ll explore what an effective content development strategy is, share our step-by-step process for content development, and show you how you can implement it for your business without any hassle.
What is an Effective Content Development Strategy?
To achieve business goals, effective content development strategies involve conceiving, planning, producing, and disseminating content. In content marketing, the term refers to the entire lifecycle of content, from conceptualization to impact on readers (a.k.a. potential customers).
Investing in an effective content development strategy has the following benefits:
A well-planned and executed content strategy increases your chances of success. Having a plan will also keep you consistent, which helps you maintain traction and build trust with your audience. You will be able to target your ideal audience and create content that meets their needs and solves their needs.
You can monitor the key performance metrics and track how well your content is performing, which will help you meet and exceed your goals with a content development plan.
With a content development process, everyone on the team will be on the same page. Your team will know what to do with each piece of content and what to expect for performance. But the journey doesn’t end there. Once your content goes live, it’s crucial to harness your predetermined distribution channels to maximize reach.
Repurpose your content effectively:
- Convert podcasts into engaging blog posts.
- Transform blog posts into LinkedIn updates.
- Create YouTube videos using insights from previous articles.
This approach ensures your hard work garners the attention it deserves. Moreover, as you publish and distribute, diligently track the performance of each piece. Monitoring analytics helps you identify what works and what needs refinement, guiding you to make strategic adjustments.
Remember, content marketing thrives on trial and error. It’s through this iterative process that you fine-tune your strategy. While quick wins are exciting, the most impactful content often results from weeks, if not months, of meticulous planning and research.
By dedicating time to outreach activities, you can also acquire quality backlinks, further enhancing your content’s visibility and authority. This continuous cycle of creation, distribution, and evaluation is key to achieving sustained success in your content marketing efforts.
Effective content development works; you know it works…but how do you do it correctly?
5 Steps to an Effective Content Development Strategy
If you’re starting from scratch or auditing your current content development process, our 5-step content development strategy will help you succeed.
1. The first step is to set content goals
Consider what you want your content to accomplish before you think about topics or audiences. At which stage in the content marketing funnel should your content reach your audience?
You can create content that raises product awareness for your audience by creating blog posts, infographics, ebooks, and whitepapers.
In order to drive sales right away, you might need to invest in testimonials, customer success stories, and live demos. Other content like email newsletters, case studies, and podcasts can also be useful at many funnel points.
When you set content goals, you’ll also need to decide how to measure success.
- Traffic to blogs
- Rankings on search engines
- Shares on social media
- Generating leads
- Sales conversions
- Retention of clients
Your content development process should include SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Anchored) goals. Additionally, you may need to set specific goals for each piece of content.
2. Research the audience
Once you have your content goals, it’s time to look more closely at your audience and their needs and how they intersect with your content objectives.
In addition to being highly effective, buyer personas are recommended by many experts. Marketing personas have been shown to make websites two to five times more effective for targeted users. You can use buyer personas to create a specific profile of your target audience.
Answer the following questions about your buyer persona:
- What is the purpose of my content?
- What is the main pain point of my audience?
- What is the location of my ideal audience?
- How do they prefer to use social media?
- What social media accounts does my target audience follow?
- What sites does my audience typically visit?
- In what way would my ideal audience prefer to have their pain point resolved?
Send surveys to existing and potential customers to identify their preferences in order to build a persuasive buyer persona. Use audience research tools like SparkToro to study audience behavior online.
Finally, analyze customer interviews and interactions from Customer Service and Sales to determine how well your product already solves pain points.
3. Develop a content strategy that works
Now that we know our goals and audience, it’s time to create a strategy.
A content strategy involves researching, planning, and executing content ideas.
Make a decision about the types of content you will use:
- Are you going to focus on social media posts or long-form content?
- Do you plan to publish more how-to posts or thought-leadership content if you’re doing long-form content?
- How important is search engine optimization (SEO) to your content marketing strategy?
In-depth keyword research using tools such as Ahrefs and Semrush will strengthen your pieces. You could also draft a content calendar at this time, start creating content briefs, and decide on your brand voice.
Lastly, you’ll need to decide whether to hire freelance writers or content marketing agencies to write all this content. As you make this decision, consider the following elements to ensure a robust content calendar:
- Content Types: Will you focus on social media posts, long-form content, or both? Each type requires different scheduling and resources.
- Content Strategy: Determine if your long-form content will predominantly be helpful how-to posts or thought leadership articles. This will guide the thematic flow of your calendar.
- SEO Considerations: Will search engine optimization play a significant role in your content marketing? If so, you’ll need to align content publication with keyword strategies and search trends.
- Distribution Channels: Decide which channels you’ll use to distribute your finished content. This decision affects timing and the variety of content you plan to share.
- Planning Tools: This is also an excellent time to set up a content calendar, start creating content briefs, and establish a consistent brand voice for your articles.
Balancing these considerations will help you create a content calendar that not only organizes your publishing efforts but also maximizes impact and engagement.
4. Put your thoughts into words
You’re now ready to begin writing.
Search engine results pages (SERPs) are ranked based on basic SEO best practices, such as incorporating your keyword into your title, URL, and meta description.
Use examples, illustrations, charts, and other elements to make your content actionable. Use storytelling and share helpful information. Ensure you don’t simply regurgitate competitor content but that your audience learns from each piece.
To maximize the effectiveness of your written content, you’ll need to work with multiple team members. For instance, while the content strategist creates the brief, an in-house or freelance writer will likely write it. In addition, your pieces will hopefully be reviewed and fact-checked by an editor.
By leveraging a content hub that supports seamless collaboration, everyone will know when it’s their turn to contribute. With Google Docs, you can automate the content creation process by using templates, building an editorial calendar, and assigning collaborator roles all in one place!
Enhancing your content creation process by integrating third-party applications can significantly streamline workflows. Imagine a system where tasks are seamlessly assigned, tracked, and completed—all within one cohesive platform.
Here’s how you can achieve it:
- Customizable Workflows: With advanced content management systems, you can tailor workflows to your project’s unique needs. This customization allows you to incorporate specific third-party tools that best fit your team dynamics.
- Task Management: Assign tasks complete with deadlines, ensuring everyone knows their responsibilities. By linking project management tools like Trello or Asana, you can visualize progress and bottlenecks in real-time.
- Collaborative Communication: Integrating communication apps such as Slack facilitates quick discussions and feedback loops right within your content creation platform. No more switching between multiple windows to keep the conversation flowing.
- Content Publishing: Streamline publishing by linking content management systems like WordPress, Craft, or Drupal directly into your workflow. This integration makes it easy to publish content once it’s approved without needing to duplicate effort.
By weaving these third-party apps into your daily operations, you cultivate an ecosystem that maximizes efficiency, fosters collaboration, and simplifies the path from conception to publication.
5. Publish and distribute
Promote the content using your predetermined distribution channels (see content strategy). You may need to do this more than once to maximize reach and engagement.
Consider repurposing your content to extend its lifespan and reach different audiences. You can convert podcasts into blog posts, blog posts into LinkedIn posts, and create YouTube videos using content from past articles. This strategy ensures your hard work gets more visibility and engagement across various platforms.
Once your content is live, it’s crucial to track and analyze its performance. Use analytics tools to monitor key metrics such as views, shares, and engagement rates. This data will provide insights into what resonates with your audience and inform future content strategies.
You’ll also need to do some outreach to get quality backlinks from other sites in your industry. Building these relationships not only enhances your content’s credibility but also boosts your site’s SEO.
Remember, content marketing is a trial-and-error process. Regularly review your strategy, tweak it based on performance data, and remain flexible to adapt to new trends and audience preferences. The best content stems from meticulous planning, research, and ongoing refinement.
Content Development: Who Uses It?
Knowledge of content development is required for the following roles:
The content strategist is responsible for brainstorming ideal content formats, planning briefs, and analyzing content success.
Content heads often have a broader role than strategists, but they are also involved in planning and executing content strategies.
Managing the content workflow and ensuring that all parties are working efficiently is the responsibility of project managers.
In the content development process, anyone with a background in content creation must understand their audience and develop a strategy that matches their needs.
Social media marketers are also involved in content marketing. They must also understand the process.
Finally, bloggers regularly interact with their audience via comments and feedback-priceless audience research that can help them create great content.
The Future of Content Development: Demand and Technology
The evolution of content development is nothing short of revolutionary. As the demand for relevant, high-quality content surges, the pressure on companies to consistently deliver across diverse channels is intensifying. Audiences crave a higher volume of content and expect it to be readily accessible on various platforms.
Technological Integration
The traditional method of juggling multiple tools to brainstorm, plan, and execute content strategies is becoming obsolete. The future lies in seamless integration, where content creation processes are streamlined through advanced workflow systems. These systems enable teams to customize workflows, set task deadlines, and integrate smoothly with third-party applications such as Slack for communication and CMS platforms like Craft and Drupal for publishing.
Unified Teams and Enhanced Collaboration
The shift towards integrated content workflows fosters greater collaboration among team members. By uniting diverse functions—writers, marketers, strategists—into a cohesive unit, organizations can unlock the full potential of their marketing efforts. This unified approach enhances efficiency and bridges the gap between brands and their audience, delivering a more personalized and impactful experience.
Meeting Growing Demands
The persistent rise in content demand is fuelled by the need for increased accessibility and availability. Technology is stepping up to meet this challenge by offering solutions that are intelligent and adaptable to changing needs. By embracing these innovations, businesses can ensure their content strategies are relevant and future-proof.
In summary, the future of content development is characterized by an increased demand for diverse and accessible content alongside a technological shift towards integrated, collaborative workflows. This evolution is set to transform how brands connect with their audiences, fostering deeper engagement and delivering value at unprecedented scales. It doesn’t matter what role you play – whether you’re a writer, marketer, blogger, or content creator – you’ll benefit from improving your content workflow by using a strategy or even investing in an agency like Boulevard Digital Marketing to help boost your content creation.