Content Strategy 101: What is content strategy?

By Abby Wood

Welcome to your introduction to the basics of content strategy! This is part one of a series of blogs designed to help you understand what content strategy is, why you should care and how it can help you.

What does content strategy focus on? Basically, content.

Every single element of your company’s content is included in a full content strategy.

Planning content – researching what works, figuring out what doesn’t, when to publish and where to publish.
Creating content
Delivering content
Measuring the performance of content
The governance of content

Wait, what exactly is content?

Content isn’t just about the words on a page.

‘Content’ also includes images, videos and any other multimedia that are used alongside the written copy. All of these elements should come together to create a solid brand experience for your target audience.

When your content is aligned, your readers know exactly who you are, what you do, why you do it and most importantly why they should care.

What makes content good?

Great content is created for your audience. It’s not about you.

Once again for everyone in the back: your content should be created for your audience.

Although it’s your content, it’s not designed to be an ego trip. It’s not boasting about your record profits or how many years you’ve been in business.

Great content addresses your target audience’s problems and shows them how you can solve them.

It should be both useful and usable, well-structured and easy to understand. Combine all those factors and you’ll be onto a winner.

What does this mean for you? Happier prospects, more leads and increased conversions. (More money too)

What is the goal of content strategy?

Content strategy helps create measurable, achievable goals for your company’s content – and a road map of how to get there.

The overall aim is to create content that is:

Meaningful
Cohesive
Engaging
Converting
Sustainable

A content strategy helps you identify what already exists on your website and marketing materials, what’s working (and what isn’t), what needs to be added, what needs to be changed and most importantly the reasons behind all of these decisions.

How to create a content strategy that works

There are four key steps in creating a simple content strategy for your company. (Hey, we’ve all got to start somewhere!)

Identify your goals, target audience and focus on what content is needed. How will you define success? Who is your target audience? What are their problems? What are they looking for? How do you make their life better? If you’ve never done a deep dive like this before, now is a great time to evaluate your company’s brand voice and content guidelines.
Determine what the structure of your strategy is. Where will each piece be published? How will your content be organised? Which pieces have priority over others? How will it be accessed by your audience.
Outline what the roles for each team member are. Rome wasn’t built in a day and it took a lot of hands to get there. If you have an in-house team to tackle your content strategy, make sure each person knows what deliverables they are accountable for. In addition to knowing what they need to do, make sure you have clear deadlines for everyone too.
Ongoing maintenance and measurement. The content life cycle is continuous and needs to be managed. Things go out of date, algorithms change and your audience’s taste will change too. Keep in mind how your content strategy will evolve with your business and keep on top of your ever-changing market.