How to Build Your Content Strategy for 2016

We’re well past New Year celebrations, but some brands and businesses are still struggling to come up with a decent content strategy for 2016.
The comprehensive infographic by ZenContent below offers some great tips and ideas for building a marketing plan that identifies goals and a budget for success. Here’s a breakdown:

Understanding What Works

• B2B success metrics: website traffic, sales lead quality and higher conversion rates
• B2C success metrics: website traffic, sales and higher conversion rates
• Must-have social media channels: LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube
• Custom content is key: custom articles, videos, buying guides, etc. are what attract consumers

Planning a Profitable Strategy

1. Identify goals
Take a look at your target audience and select general goals such as higher engagement and increased visitor time on site.
a) Define objectives: Pinpoint specific objectives that, ideally, are measurable so that their success can be tracked.
b) Specify details: Create an action plan for each of these objectives, which includes a strategy for achieving them.
c) Set a schedule: Each broad goal should have its own long-term schedule and each specific objective should have a short-term schedule.
d) Start measuring: Have predetermined tools on hand to measure progress and success.
2. Strategize to reach goals
a) Select social media channels: Facebook drives a quarter of all Internet traffic and LinkedIn is considered by marketers to be the most effective platform.
b) Plan for consistent content: Fresh, unique, regular and frequent content will keep your audience interested and result in a better ROI.
c) Keep an eye on trends: Most marketers support data-driven methods, as these allow for better predictions.
d) Optimize for mobile content: With the ever-increasing use of mobile devices, failing to optimize for mobile engagement can be detrimental to a campaign.
e) Document everything: Recording plans and progress is the best way to see what works and what doesn’t for a specific set of goals.
3. Variety of content & content types 

• Expert content: Articles, research reports, white papers and case studies by thought leaders in the specific field.
• Branded content: Produced by the business itself (blog posts, buying guides, etc.).
• User content: Audience-generated content such as product reviews, podcasts and video testimonials.
• Videos, infographics and blog posts are the most effective types of content.

Budgeting for Success

When your budget is limited, it’s important to know which kinds of content are the most effective in relation to the difficulty level of producing them. In this regard, articles, case studies and infographics are the best. The following also needs to be factored into the budget:

• Paid advertising – social ads, SEM
• Mobile-friendly content – easy to share and engage with
• Expert content – makes brand more authoritative & knowledgeable
• Branded content – helps customers make purchasing decisions and increases brand loyalty
• Outsourced content – improves traffic and is shareable content

The Dos & Don’ts of Outsourced Content Creation

Do: 
– Avoid crowdsourcing
– Run paid pilots
– Research vendors
– Rely on creator expertise
– Set up QA testing
Don’t:
– Invest in one type of content
– Lack a clear execution plan
– Keep using underperforming content
– Over or underpay vendors

“Building Your 2016 Content Strategy” by ZenContent.