A step-by-step guide to creating a successful digital content strategy

Most marketing professionals accept the validity of content as part of the marketing mix. They know why content marketing is important – what the benefits are. The principles are widely understood: use content to find and engage audiences and then make them do things (click, watch, buy, join).

But how do you DO content marketing? How do you create a digital content marketing strategy? How do you create a content marketing plan? How do you choose the content that goes into it? How do you measure it?

Digital Content Strategy

By building a solid digital content strategy you will have, in one place, a document that contains:

• Insight and data
• Your strategic approach to content
• The plan: what, where, when

By methodically creating a digital content strategy, you will use data and insight to tell you what your strategy should be; your strategy then tells you what the plan should be. Each stage informs the next.

But how do you build a digital content strategy?

The check list below is a step-by-step guide on how to create a digital content strategy. Quick caveat: this is a guide not a definition – it is not a comprehensive or definitive method for creating ‘the best’ digital content strategy.

Aims and objectives

• What are the business goals and business objectives?
• What is the marketing strategy?
• What is the brand’s mission?

The brief

What is the brief? What will content be used to achieve?

What does this brief want to achieve?

• Broad goals
• Specific goals

State of play

• Current content pillars (what topics or types of content is being produced?)
• Communications channels – statistics, successes, challenges
  • Social media
  • Newsletter
  • Website
  • Print
  • Other
• SWOT

Research and insight

• Content audit
  • What’s working? What’s not? What might work that’s not here?
• Site traffic
  • Popular pages
    • What’s popular
    • Why?
  • Bounce rate and dwell time
    • What’s engaging?
  • Affinity groups
  • How current content is doing
  • Referral URLs
    • How are you acquiring traffic?
  • Value: what types of content are evergreen? What types of content offer only time-sensitive spikes?
• Social media
  • Channels
  • Successes/themes
  • Social listening (Buzzsumo, Brandwatch)
    • Are people talking about what you do/offer
  • Influencers
    • Who are the most influential people in your sector?
• User/reader/customers research and customer surveys
  • What people like
  • What they don’t like
  • What they care about
  • What they need
• Insight from client/anecdotal
• Demographic info (Mosaic data)
  • Use information to define needs of audience
• Keyword research
  • What does keyword research suggest that people are looking for?
  • What terms are people interested in your sector?
  • How are people searching for what you offer?
  • What else are people looking for in your area?
  • What do you know about that people want to know?
• Google Trends
  • What key terms are trending?
  • Is there any seasonality?
  • Does it suggest any breakout terms/alternative keywords
• Google Keyword Planner
  • What is the density of search around your key terms?
  • What terms does GKP suggest is similar or linked?
• Google auto-complete and Also Suggests
  • How are people searching for the thing you do?
• CRO data
  • What content is converting the most traffic on the site? (define converting: purchase, newsletter sign up etc.)
• Device %
  • Mobile
  • Desktop

Competitor analysis

• Who are the competitors, and what are they doing that works? What are they doing that doesn’t? Read our essential guide to competitor analysis here.

Audience

Build a picture of your target audience. Use all of the insight and data to define what your audience needs, likes and what they need/would like from you? Click here to read our guide to getting to know your audience and building buyer personas.

• Demographic info
  Personas
  • What do these people care about?
  • What are they interested in?
    • What questions are they asking?
    • What do they need?

The strategy

• Why choose content to achieve the goals?
  • What will content do?
  • How will content answer the needs of an audience?

• Strategic recommendation
  • What does the data say you should do to reach your goals?

• Content proposition
  • Define content pillars (3-6 is usual)

• Strategy for audiences
  • If you audience is split, you may have a two-pronged approach
• Tone of voice
• Look and feel: what will the visual design cues and personality be?

The content

Read our ideation tips article here.

• The idea/piece’s name – not always the title of the piece
• The idea synopsis in one line
• What is the hook? Is it unique? If not, how will you make your mark on this idea? (authority, beauty, angle, access, update)
• What type of content are you going to make? What format will the content take? What’s the best way to communicate what this piece needs to say?
  • Video
    • Animations
    • Vlog
  • Infographic
  • Words
    • Review
    • Interview (Q&A or flowing copy?)
    • FAQ
    • Ultimate guide to…
    • News
    • How to guides
    • White papers
  • Photography
  • Interactive graphic
  • A combination…

Content creation: check out our 6 simple magazine tricks to make your online content more engaging article.

The plan

• What? What pieces of content are you going to create?
• Where are you going to be publishing content? Channels. Have a strategy for the web as well as any other platforms.
• When?
• Define your work flow and allocate owners and timings
  • Sourcing content (ownership and responsibility)
    • Editorial management/implementation
    • Creation
    • Sign-off
    • Realisation (upload)
    • Dissemination (social, newsletters, PPC, outreach)

Content calendar

Create an editorial calendar in Google Sheets/Excel.

• Plot the above metrics into a calendar
  • Add:
    • Status (live, commissioned, with Sally)
    • Name
    • Synopsis/description
    • Source (if applicable: interviewee/documents/contact)
    • Keywords
    • Assets (pictures, video, social media elements and source)
    • Promo (social, newsletter, PPC)
    • Desired outcome (what this piece hopes to achieve for the brand)

Promotion: marketing the content

Where is the content going to go? How will people see it?

• Organic
  • Social media
  • newsletter
  • Print comms
  • Media partnerships
• Paid
  • Paid social media
  • Boosting posts
  • PPC (likes or links campaign)
  • Google Ads
  • Influencer outreach
  • PR
  • Native ads/Branded content
  • Outbrain/Taboola
  • Other paid channels (eg: Reddit)

Plot the above into your calendar/planner where relevant.

Measurement

Measuring content marketing’s efficacy remains a dark art. Most of what you measure will depend on the objectives and subsequent KPIs set. Pick and choose from those below that best answer your brief.

• Site traffic
• New content is the most popular on the site
• Brand search
• Social interactions
  • Likes
  • Shares
  • Comments

• Engagement: smaller % of people viewing only one page
• Increase in engagement stats on social media
• Increase in new business leads/enquiries (12 months)
• Reduced average bounce rate (new content)
• Increased average dwell time (new content)
• Increased % of traffic from emails
• Increased rankings for key terms
• Newsletter sign-ups
• Incoming links
• Review – and amend strategy
  • What worked?
  • What didn’t?
  • What should we change?

Build a second page of your Google sheet and plot the relevant data on it at regular intervals.

There are APIs that can automate elements of this into a helpful dashboard – let us know if you’d like us to tailor one for your business.

Would you like us to build a digital content strategy for you? Or need help with digital content strategy consultation? Contact us at hello@www.gravityglobal.com.