How to Develop a Strong Content Strategy and Solidify Your Brand's Online Presence How to strengthen your brand's online presence through a connected and unique content strategy.
By Goran Paun Edited by Chelsea Brown
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There's no denying that the way people consume content is at an all-time high and has drastically changed over the past few years. The quick morsels and tidbits of information that people seek can be found across different platforms and mediums, and the stakes are high when it comes to quality content.
Many brands and businesses have begun to pay utmost attention to the quality of their content based on the expectations of users, and that also means getting serious about information that is put out into the digital sphere when it comes to a solid brand representation. A strong online presence through a connected and unique content strategy can positively impact your brand just by focusing on the finer details and best practices.
Related: 4 Tips for a Successful Content Strategy
Focus on the foundation
The initial push that will move any project down its pipeline needs a solid foundation before it can be fully developed — this also applies to content strategy building. Before delving into writing content or its corresponding visuals and assets, it is best to dissect as a team, fundamental questions that will elevate your content.
Preliminary conception can begin by asking internally, who the target audience is. Knowing your audience, and the audience you may want to attract, streamlines what your brand puts out into the digital space. Features such as demographics, expertise and more can reduce fluff and allow for more centralized output. Additionally, analyzing any underlining issues that your current content strategy has helps prevent creating the same mistakes. If there is a pattern that your content is not ranking high in engagement or interaction, an assessment as to why is imperative.
From there, the layers behind the purpose of each content delivery can also be fine-tuned, and a great way to ensure this is by focusing on what makes your brand a differentiator in the industry. Spotlighting why audiences should seek your brand over others builds credibility and trust that a lot of users are often seeking.
Drive engagement and retention via connectivity
Against the verve and excitement that comes with the growth of digital products, a solid content strategy that drives engagement through connectivity can bring a brand full circle. Further, when audiences can attain a high level of engagement with a brand's content, there, in turn, is a strengthened level of retention for conversion and connectivity to a brand. When a brand can magnetize, delight and engage its users, growth inevitably follows. To master this much-needed brand and marketing initiative, there must be a focus on quality.
When thinking of content strategy, it can fall under different tiers such as web content, social media, publications, ads, visual designs and campaigns —thus all these assets should attain an equal level of importance and quality. When content is coupled with a high-quality graphic design or visual asset, for example, it only amplifies the messaging, thus micro forms of content strategy (for example, a social media post) should deliver the same standard as all marketing collateral that harbors a brand's identity.
Moreover, high-quality content to propel engagement can also be achieved through personalization. By tailoring content to the specific needs and interests of individual users, brands can create a more relevant experience that engages audiences' emotions through a human-centric approach. Whether it's web pages, email marketing and more, content that is tailored to users' preferences on an individual level can ensure your content is much more engaging and sparks a connection with users. Ultimately, incorporating personalization into a content strategy can help brands build strong and lasting relationships with their target audience.
Related: Why Content Marketing Is Crucial to Your Business
Consistency and distribution
Attaining a strong content strategy in place is only as strong as its upkeep. The pulse in which your content development strategy is uploaded is essential to not only boost SEO but to also ensure a consistent online presence. Thus, creating a content or editorial calendar that organizes the frequency of posts helps you avoid missing opportunities to stay connected with your audiences. Additionally, structuring the calendar to include where each content asset is published is key. Visibility across platforms and tiers such as paid, earned and owned publication of content further covers all your brand's bases. A healthy balance across all three furthers exposure and traction as well.
To further ensure cohesion, consistency in tone, voice and delivery across all platforms establishes a robust brand identity. A brand that is unified in the way in which it is represented further engages audiences and solidifies a brand's ethos. In turn, when a brand's internal team is on the same page about the intricacies of a brand's overall purpose, it promotes a better sense of brand enablement in which a brand will be represented accurately across platforms, internally and externally.
Track performance
With a content strategy newly in place and an editorial calendar ready to ensure its frequent delivery, tracking the analytics of a content strategy is crucial for gauging its effectiveness and making data-driven decisions to optimize it for better results. Analyzing the data that arises from your brand's content can provide a clear vision of how users are interacting with the newly established content, the bounce rates and linger times, as well as conversion rates to see what is working and what still may need to be improved on.
Tools such as Google Analytics or heat mapping can help determine if your users are skipping over any content that may not be in line with what they are seeking, or perhaps, might be too long in length. With the landscape of the digital world changing, keeping an eye out on user trends and how they interact with content is also essential. Understanding how your users are consuming content can also determine the analytics. For example, today, most users consume content in easily digestible formats such as short scrollable videos as opposed to, say, reading a full-length article. The shifts in which preferences turn and transform shouldn't be overlooked.
Content is in full force in the digital world, and ensuring that your brand has a robust and optimized content strategy in place can elevate it in new ways. The tips above will help you develop a strong content strategy and boost your brand's online presence.
Related: How To Create Better Content And Grow Your Business
