In a world where 85% of Americans spend their time online daily, implementing a digital content strategy is more critical than ever before. Three out of 10 adults said they are nearly constantly online, so a sound content strategy helps you meet them where they are—and they are not going anywhere soon. 

A digital content strategy allows marketers to plan, implement, and manage their digital media assets. Managing a content strategy looks slightly different from traditional development and planning in a digital world. People use the internet to consume content every day, so it has become a sub-unit of marketing that requires specialized skills to be implemented most effectively. 

Why Develop a Digital Content Strategy?

65% of marketers find it challenging to produce consistent, high-quality content as the world is constantly moving online, raising the question: what is the best way to connect with new and existing customers? Developing a digital content strategy that speaks to your audience is the first step in successfully reaching them. This blog will guide you through the seven-step process to effectively prepare, develop, and implement a successful digital content strategy. 

Developing a Digital Content Strategy: 7 Steps

In some instances, companies place content on the back burner to build ads that generate revenue. However, never underestimate the value a digital content strategy brings to your organization. Building content drives traffic to the top and middle of the marketing funnel, which can later be moved through the remainder of the funnel using retargeted ads, improving conversion rates, and reducing your cost per acquisition (CPA). 

 Due to regularly changing algorithms, updated content pillars, and product changes, your digital content strategy will need to be reviewed and adjusted regularly. Regardless of how much your content needs to change, these seven steps are the building blocks to ensure it converts. 

1. Start with a goal

Like any other marketing strategy, start by defining success. Do you want to drive traffic back to your website or enhance brand awareness?  Consider how you will track these KPIs. Will you use Google Analytics to watch traffic driven by your content or invest in a content management system like Sprout to monitor your social media metrics? 

Once you set goals, define how they will be achieved. Use SMART goals, an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound,  as a guide to ensure goals are clear and you and your team can be accountable to them. 

2. Understand your target audiences

Now that you know what your goals are, it is time to identify and understand your target audience.  77% of B2B marketers achieve a successful digital marketing content strategy by starting with the development of the buyer persona, a representation of your ideal customer based on research and data collected. 

Knowing your audience helps you build quality content that speaks to them and identifies which platforms they are using. It allows you to communicate your unique value proposition and identify pain points and a need for your product or service. 

3. Develop content pillars

Content pillars are necessary building blocks of any digital marketing strategy. They support the overall objectives of your campaign to ensure your efforts spread across all of them. This foundation also allows you to stay focused on your goals and provide valuable content to users across various channels. Designating pillars keeps your content cohesive without spreading yourself too thin. You develop content pillars using these steps:

1. Understand your target audience 
2. Identify your audience’s needs 
3. Implement keyword research 
4. Sort keywords into buckets of core content pillars 
5. Create a content calendar 
6. Develop and promote content 
7. Repurpose your existing content 

4. Conduct a content audit

A content audit helps you compare what worked previously and what did not. Compare your old content to the pillars you developed to see if it aligns. If not, consider adding new pillars to your strategy. In some cases, you may find that the pieces of content that did not fall under the pillars were also the ones that were the least effective. 

5. Determine the types of content to produce

Now that your goals are aligned, and content pillars are established, it is time to plan and publish content. One of the best ways to build great content is ensuring it falls within the four phases of the content marketing funnel.

Phase 1: Awareness
In this phase, your content should be focused on educating your target audience. For example, you can build social media posts that share what your company does, the products and services you offer, and your mission and vision. Awareness content can come in the form of: 

• Infographics 
• Blogs 
• Social Media Posts 
• Podcasts 
• Videos 
• E-Books 

Phase 2: Evaluation
Your target audience will question whether they need your product or service. This is when you build content that resonates with them. Step into your audience’s shoes and identify the pain points that would make them need your product or service, or answer questions they might already be asking before making a final decision. Understanding your audience is key to moving from this phase to the next one. The best content to build in the evaluation stage is: 

• Case Studies 
• White Papers 
• Emails 
• Downloadable Resources  

Phase 3: Conversion
Now that you touched on your audience’s pain points, they can find a reason to buy your product or service. Maybe they made a purchase because they saw an ad that resonated with them or in response to a comment on a compelling social media post that convinced them to try it. But, once you have the sale, you do not stop selling. It is time to keep them engaged in the next phase. 

Phase 4: Delight 

Keep your audience engaged after they purchase your product or service. Encourage your customers to leave feedback or to refer their friends. By keeping them engaged, you are more likely to see repeat business, building customer loyalty. 

6. Plan how to produce and publish content

Once you understand which types of content you need to produce and their alignment within your marketing funnel, the next step is to create and publish content. Before you start building, develop a publishing plan. A content calendar is an excellent way to maintain a consistent publishing cadence on social media and your company blog. 

Determine which types of content you will produce, whether you will publish videos, and how they will look. Will they be reels, which are vertical videos that can be up to 60-seconds in length, or are you planning to produce long-form thought leadership videos on YouTube or your website? If you are planning on writing blogs, ask yourself how often you will write them, whether they will be written in-house, and who will optimize them to ensure they show up in Google search results. 

7. Continually monitor and optimize

Once the content is live, consistently evaluate it to determine whether or not it is hitting the mark and moving you closer to your goals. If not, you may consider promoting content on social media to increase impressions or engagements or building a landing page to collect user data for future retargeting purposes. Then, use content management tools like  Sprout Social or data tools like Google Analytics to monitor your performance and adjust. 

Develop a Content Strategy That Hits the Bullseye

Bullseye Strategy acts as a natural extension of your marketing team to drive conversion from successful digital content strategies so that you can reach qualified leads sooner rather than later. Contact Bullseye Strategy today to learn more about how our dedicated content marketing services can help you create a digital content strategy that converts.