So You Want a Content Strategy? How To Begin and How to Succeed
“72% of marketers say that good content strategy has increased the number of leads they generate.”
Content Marketing Institute, USA
Heard the term ‘content strategy’ flying around?
Want to engage a video production company, but don’t know where to start?
Need some kind of strategic direction for your content, but don’t know where to begin?
You’re not alone!
The US Content Marketing Institute (CMS) regularly reports that great video content is one of the most effective ways to promote an organisation, business or product.
While almost half of all marketers plan to use content to reach their customers, according to the CMI, 63% of businesses don’t have a documented content strategy.
So… what do you do when there’s a content will but not a content way?
We’re here to help!
Great content strategy begins with content planning and development.
When CMI asked the same respondents to detail the biggest content-related challenges their company faced, they found that:
- 65% were unsure what ‘engaging content’ was, and how to produce it
- 62% didn’t know how to measure the return on investment of their campaigns
- 60% said they were unsure how to produce content consistently and effectively
The bottom line? Without a plan, there can be no sustainable growth of your content and, as a product, your sales, engagement with your audience, growth in your client base, and more.
But what does a great content planning session look like?
Depending on the size and structure of your business or organisation, it can be a wonderful team bonding exercise to involve as many people as possible in the content planning process.
By doing so, you not only increase the pool of ideas from which your content strategy and planning can draw, but also deepen employee engagement in the process. Two birds!
Here’s how we suggest you begin planning your content strategy for the year ahead:
- Do an audit alongside your team: who is your audience? How do they respond to content? What research can you find about how to best engage them with content?
- Backwards design your ideal outcomes: what are your goals with your content? What does conversion look like? How will your content achieve this?
- Consider content format: video and animation are consistently rated the most effective methods of engaging prospective clients, while written content can support your messaging
- How accessible is your content? Do you use closed captions, image descriptions? Which audiences are you missing out on accessing by not making these decisions?
And of course, we always suggest asking the experts!
With decades of combined experience in our field, Pickle Pictures’ nation-wide, richly networked team produces great-looking content naturally imbued with strategy.
Let’s help you get bang for your buck.
Let’s find you a great content strategy template.
One of the biggest challenges marketers face is that end-point visual reference: what on earth does a content strategy document actually look like?
Content strategy templates are some of the most-searched items on Google. And it’s for good reason too – it’s all very well to want to produce great video examples, but articulating the plan in a strategy document means it’s more sustainable and easily replicable.
As one of Australia’s most sought-after, quick-turnaround video production companies, Pickle Pictures is proud to offer clients easy, simple to understand, conversion-boosting content strategy consultations… and yes, those all important suggestions for how to get it down on paper!
The bottom line: great content strategy paves a clear pathway from content production to conversion.
Our top content strategy tips?
- Go broad: nail down your goals, values and aims first, and work backwards from there – never assume your broader business goals aren’t worth revisiting!
- Experiment with format: never tried animation? Looking for a great video content production partner? With video still 2020’s no.1 content format, now’s the time to give it a go
- Keep it simple: restrict social media videos to 30 seconds maximum!
- Think about your audience: what values drive them? What will best influence them to purchase? In what ways (and why) do they align with your brand?
Got the will but no way… yet?
Begin with Pickle Pictures. The hardest thing you’ll do is reach out – we take it all from there!