7 steps to a successful content marketing strategy [2024]

Content might be “King,” but even the most compelling content can fall flat without a solid content marketing strategy to back it up.

Content marketing attracts customers through various channels, providing value, targeting specific buying stages, and maintaining brand consistency, ultimately attracting and retaining customers through inbound strategies.

According to recent B2B content marketing trends research from the Content Marketing Institute, 70% of marketers report integrating content strategy into overall marketing, sales, and communication strategies, while 2% integrate it into another strategy.

Without a clear vision and content strategy, even the most engaging pieces can fail to reach their target audience or meet objectives. 

In this article, I’ll walk through the essential pieces of any content marketing strategy and guide you through crafting and optimizing your content effectively.

TL;DR: What is a content marketing strategy?

• Content is king, but a solid content marketing strategy is essential for success.
• A content marketing strategy is a detailed plan that involves creating valuable content to attract and engage target audiences and aligning teams on goals and objectives.
• The seven steps for creating a successful content marketing strategy are starting with clear objectives, audience analysis, competitive research, running a content audit, choosing content types, creating a calendar and measuring results.
• Prioritize quality over quantity, engage with your audience, and commit to consistency.

What are content marketing strategies?

Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant content (in different forms and channels) to attract and retain a defined audience through compelling stories and helpful information.

Think of a content strategy as the reason behind all the content you create, manage, distribute, and promote. 

A content strategy plan is the backbone—or the content strategy framework—that defines how and why articles, videos, and infographics come to life.

A killer content marketing strategy doesn’t just create content for the sake of creating it. 

When we start building our plan, we’re outlining the why, what, and how of creating content.

Okay, now what does that mean? Well, it all starts with your goals. 

For instance, imagine you run a cafe. Let’s say one of your goals is to increase community engagement by 20%.

Instead of randomly posting pictures of coffee, your content strategy plan defines that: every Tuesday, you’ll showcase a customer’s story with their favorite brew.

This strategy aligns with your goal to highlight community and meet your audience’s love for heartwarming tales.

In order to get to this point, you first need to:

• Identify a goal.
• Understand your audience and what they care about. 
• Figure out the best channels to reach your target audience (in this case, social media). 

Well-crafted content marketing strategies ensure everything you produce has a clear purpose, mirrors your business goals, and connects with your target audience.

Why create a content marketing strategy?

7 steps for creating a successful content strategy

Creating an effective content marketing strategy is like building a bridge. It connects your business to your audience, delivering a steady flow of information and value. 

While the process might seem overwhelming, breaking it down into manageable steps can make the journey smoother. 

Here’s a guide backed by my experience in B2B content marketing:

1. Start with clear objectives

Clarity is critical to a successful content strategy plan. Before creating content, consider what success means to you.

Answer these questions to get started. Are you:

• Aiming to boost website traffic through targeted keywords for better SERP rankings?
• Seeking to nurture customer loyalty with exclusive, engaging content?
• Focusing on ramping up conversion rates with solution-driven marketing content and persuasive calls to action?
• Attempting to amplify brand recognition and trust through authoritative research, opinion pieces, and influential partnerships on social media?
• Looking to get new backlinks from reputable sites?

Define what you want to achieve with your content marketing efforts, such as brand awareness, lead generation, customer engagement, or sales.

Then, define your objectives, document them, and share them with your marketing team. Your content strategy plan hinges on setting specific, actionable goals.  

2. Understand your audience

Effective communication requires knowing who you’re talking to. Understanding your audience persona (also known as buyer persona) is an important element. Study your best customers to gain insight into your ideal buyer persona:

• Who are they? 
• What are their interests? 
• What are their pain points? 
• What problems are they trying to solve?

Gather data using surveys, feedback forms, and analytics tools, then review it closely to pinpoint customer trends. 

• Identify and understand your target audience’s needs, preferences, and behaviors.
• Create detailed buyer personas to represent different segments of your audience.

Gaining insights into their world can help you tailor excellent content that speaks directly to their interests and needs. Remember, it’s all about making that connection!

3. Analyze your competition

Creating the perfect content for your audience can be a bit overwhelming. But you’re not alone. According to the Content Marketing Institute’s 2024 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report:

“57% of marketers cite creating the right content for their audience as a challenge. This is a change from many years when ‘creating enough content’ was the most frequently cited challenge.”

So where do you start? Competitive research helps develop a successful content marketing strategy plan. Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs can help you identify the content types your competition produces most frequently.

• Evaluate the quality and depth of their content. Which topics are they covering that resonate most with the target audience? 
• Check for gaps. Have they overlooked a topic where you can provide valuable content? 
• Analyze their engagement rates, the responsiveness to comments, and the frequency of their updates. 

Understanding these intricacies will give you an edge and allow you to craft a strategy that stands out.

4. Run a content audit and analysis

A content audit and analysis play a critical role in creating a solid content marketing strategy. They include a thorough review and assessment of all current content to determine its performance, recognize its strengths and areas for improvement, and identify growth opportunities.

• Assess your existing content to determine what has worked well and what hasn’t. 
• Analyze content gaps and opportunities to improve or expand your content offerings.

You can use free tools like Excel or Google Sheets to categorize and track your content URLs and record important metrics like organic traffic, social shares, and backlinks. 

Paid tools like Semrush or Screaming Frog can identify broken links, crawl errors, analyze on-page SEO, and suggest improvements for better organic performance.

After finishing your audit, you can take that information to identify the main content themes and topics that match your brand and connect with your audience. Make sure these themes align with your business goals.

5. Choose the right content formats

Once you know your purpose and target audience, decide where to distribute your content. Different channels cater to different audiences and content formats.

Whether it’s a blog post, a video, or social media, choose channels that best amplify your content and reach your intended audience. Be sure to plan the timing and frequency of your content releases to ensure they reach your target audience.

Content marketing strategies use a wide range of content types to connect with target audiences. Here are a few tried-and-true content marketing examples:

• Blog posts help to give a deep understanding of topics, offer in-depth insights, and show expertise. 
• Visual content like infographics and videos catches people’s attention and explains things in a simple way.
• Webinars and podcasts allow people to interact and listen, creating stronger connections.
• Lead magnets like ebooks, whitepapers, and templates offer valuable resources in exchange for contact information. 
• User-generated content and reviews are fantastic for building trust and authenticity.
• Case studies demonstrate real-world applications and success stories.
• Thought leadership shares your expertise and innovative ideas to establish your business as a respected authority in a specific field or industry. 
• Social media platforms are great channels for content distribution and engagement.

Start by identifying your audience persona’s preferences and then evaluate your capabilities and strengths in content creation. Repurposing resources for multiple channels can save time (and effort!). 

For example, a webinar can be turned into a blog post. Add it to your YouTube channel and create short clips for social media.

Pro tip: At Wordbrew, we simplify the process of generating original content by combining AI and human expertise. Our expert network spans over 300 seasoned subject matter experts across various industries. Once your content strategy is set, we can help you create and scale your high-quality content.

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Read more: How to use AI for content creation

6. Create a calendar

I would argue that content isn’t king: Consistency is. Creating an editorial calendar and a content calendar helps you plot topics for weeks or even months in advance, ensuring a steady stream of good content. 

Both editorial calendars and content calendars are essential tools for planning and organizing content, but they serve slightly different purposes and usually contain different types of information.

Editorial calendar: High-level, long-term strategic planning of content themes and major initiatives. 

• An editorial calendar provides a strategic overview of content initiatives.
• Includes major content themes, topics, and campaigns.
• Outlines important dates, such as holidays, industry events, and product launches.
• Highlights critical milestones and deadlines for different stages of content production.

Content calendar: Detailed, short-term scheduling and management of individual content pieces. 

• Lists specific content types, such as blog posts, social media updates, videos, and newsletters.
• Includes deadlines for drafts, reviews, and publishing dates.
• Tracks content status, such as assigned, in progress, reviewed, and published.
• Includes details like keywords, target audience, channels, and formats.
• Manages content and production and scheduling topics and formats.

7. Measure results

Set up key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your content marketing. You can use analytics tools to monitor performance and gather valuable insights to improve.

Regularly run content audits and use content marketing metrics to measure the effectiveness of your content. Is your content strategy aimed at more website visitors? Are people spending more time on your site? These metrics can give you insights into where your content marketing efforts are paying off. 

An effective content strategy is the foundational blueprint for your content marketing initiatives. It guides you in creating high-quality content and confirms that every content idea aligns perfectly with your business objectives and audience’s needs.

Other important considerations for creating a content strategy

Formulating a content strategy means developing a content strategy plan where every piece is purpose-driven, aligns with your brand’s ethos, and actively serves your overarching goals.

Here are some additional best practices to consider:

1. Prioritize content quality over quantity

It’s easy to think that producing more content will yield better results. But in reality, quality trumps quantity every time. It’s better to create one well-researched, high-quality piece of content than several mediocre pieces of thin content.

2. Engage and interact

Once you’ve published content, encourage feedback. Respond to comments, answer questions, and interact with your audience. These actions boost engagement and offer insights for future content topics.

3. Regularly review and update

What worked six months ago might not work now. Regularly review your content strategy to see if you’re meeting your objectives. Revise outdated content to keep it relevant and retire pieces that no longer fit your brand or objectives.

4. Commit to consistency

And always remember that consistency is your ally. A sporadic or disjointed content marketing approach can muddle your brand’s perception. Maintaining a uniform voice, aesthetic, and publishing rhythm is vital to forging trust and cementing your brand’s position with your audience.

Best practices for your content marketing strategy

Before tackling the mechanics of content strategy, it helps to get the right foundations in place. A structured content approach requires a solid understanding of your business objectives and necessitates the right personnel, financial planning, and technology. Here are the cornerstones you should establish.

1. Create a clear business vision

Understand your business’ long-term objectives and aspirations. This clarity will guide your content strategy. Schedule regular brainstorming sessions with key stakeholders to ensure the vision remains sharp and all relevant content aligns with these goals.

2. Gather a dedicated team

Your team largely determines the consistency and quality of your content production output. Decide if you want an in-house team to offer deeper brand immersion or if outsourcing your content management is more feasible. 

Don’t have the budget for an in-house team? At Wordbrew, we combine data, insights, and AI to create high-quality content that matches your brand voice.

Either way, define roles to stay efficient. Each member should have clear responsibilities, from content creators and editors to strategists and social media managers.

3. Set a budget

While great content is priceless in terms of potential returns, it comes with production costs. Analyze how much you can allocate to content creation, promotion, and other needs.

4. Invest in tools and software

The right content management tools can make all the difference. A content management system (CMS) like WordPress is essential for organizing and publishing content. Analytics software lets you track performance and gauge ROI.

Keyword planners can guide SEO efforts, guaranteeing your content remains relevant and discoverable. In addition, CRM systems can offer insights into your audience’s behavior and preferences, allowing for more targeted content creation.

A content strategy isn’t a standalone entity. It’s intertwined with your business vision, the content marketers and team driving it, the budget fueling it, and the tools streamlining its execution.

Your success begins with an effective content strategy

We’ve seen content marketing efforts flourish, and we’ve seen them fail. The main determining factor in each case was the time and effort spent on the content strategy plan.

A content marketing strategy is the roadmap that guides content creation: It ensures that every piece adds value, resonates with the audience, and drives the business forward. In the modern marketplace, having a solid content strategy is a requirement for business success and growth.

Wordbrew’s hybrid content creation platform can help you achieve your content goals—contact us today to find out how we can help you create and scale great content!

FAQs

What are the 3 components of content strategy?

The three main components of a content strategy are:

1. Content creation

• Planning: Determine what content will be created, including topics, formats, and schedules.
• Production: Develop the content, which can involve writing, designing, recording, and other forms of media creation.

2. Content distribution

• Channels: Decide where and how the content will be published and promoted, such as on websites, social media, email newsletters, or other platforms.
• Timing: Plan the timing and frequency of content releases to ensure it reaches the target audience effectively.

3. Content governance

• Management: Establish processes for maintaining and updating content, ensuring it stays relevant and accurate.
• Evaluation: Measure the effectiveness of the content using metrics and feedback and make adjustments based on performance analysis.