Content marketing strategy: from loose ideas to a plan that works

1. Who are you?

What? A business description of what your company does. Limit yourself to 5 to 7 lines.

Why? For us as a communication agency, this is the logical start of a new content marketing strategy. Our copywriters, social media managers, and online marketers work for various companies, so providing some context is essential. It also forces us to get to the essence, which in turn helps us separate the main issues from the side issues in the following steps.

2. Who are your customers?

What? A segmentation of your customers. Based on the classic B2C and B2B division, for example. Or by scale: do you work for startups or large SMEs? Or is it useful to make a subdivision based on the services your customers purchase?

Why? The previous question in your content marketing strategy focused on products and services. Now we shift our attention to who. For whom does your company do what it does? This way, we bring order to your customer segments and try to create an overview.

3. How do you translate those customers into reader profiles?

What? An answer to the question Who are we making content for? And thus a translation of your customer segments into workable reader profiles. Does that sound a bit vague? Read more about it in our blog Content strategy: the importance of reader profiles.

Why? Because you need to gain insight into what your customers/readers find relevant. You want to do more than just blindly turn every customer into a reader profile. Your goal should be to look at each type of customer from the perspective of their content needs.

Some questions you can ask yourself if you work in B2B:

• What role do they fulfill within their company?
• What are they looking for when your company appears on their radar?
• What question or need does your company answer?
• How do you make their (professional) life easier?
• Do you help them with their main activity or with something they have to do on the side?
• What level of knowledge do they have about your business?

Also indicate your priorities in your content marketing strategy. Not every reader profile is equally important in the initial phase.

4. What content do you create for those profiles?

What? The practical translation of those reader profiles. What (blog, video, magazine…) are you going to create? And through which channels will you purposefully distribute that content?

Why? Because not every reader profile needs the same type of content. And because every type of content brings different opportunities. With video, you can show. In a blog, you can explore a technical subject in depth.

Bonus points if you can also link your content to your company’s mission or your visual language. Two examples:

• Our client Sublimix is firmly convinced that low-calorie food can be just as tasty—no, tastier—than its high-calorie counterparts. This is something we often bring back in their content. By serving a Flemish classic the Sublimix way, for example. Twice as tasty, at half the calories.

• Saleswise helps your sales shift into a higher gear. When they approached us for their content marketing strategy, we extended their Formula 1 theme into their content. The video format Chicane is a great example of that. Or how you can completely customize a classic format like a testimonial.

Content marketing strategy: the first steps

We hope you have gained a better understanding of how to start a content marketing strategy, which elements are essential, and which questions you should ask yourself. Need fresh ideas? And an agency that can turn that theory into practice? Come visit us!