The average consumer is served over 15,000 banner ads monthly but only sees about half. Why? Advertising fatigue. Consumers can spot an ad the millisecond one begins and have trained themselves to mute, skip, or stop listening altogether. The younger generation, practically raised with an iPad in hand, has been viewing digital ads in all shapes and sizes from the moment they could press play. In fact, a friend’s two-year-old son is so well-versed in digital media that he knows exactly when to skip ads on YouTube, even hovering his finger over the screen and anticipating the exact moment that black bar shifts from seconds to SKIP.

So how can you create a plan that cuts through the clutter?

We’re walking through the benefits of content marketing and why creating a plan for your content strategy will solidify and boost return on investment. In a world drowning in paid advertising, content marketing is guaranteed to make a splash.

What Is Content Marketing?

Simply put, content marketing is when individuals, small businesses, or large companies use any form of original content – whether that be blog posts, videos, newsletters, podcasts or webinars – to speak to their audience, grow a consumer base, improve brand recall, and ultimately generate sales.

How Can It Help My Business?

70% of customers would rather learn about a company through an article over any kind of advertisement. Not to mention, roughly a third of all users have some sort of ad blocker installed.

Content such as videos and blog posts that inform and entertain users with no obvious “I’m selling to you” tagline cut through the ad blockers and approach consumers with a level of authenticity absent from discounts in bold letters, standard promotions, and other obvious #ads.

How Do I Do It Right?

Include sales funnels and opt-ins so that your content will lead consumers to a purchasing phase. Stay consistent with your posts, target content to a specific audience, and use plug-ins to guarantee that all content is optimized for search engines.

As we’ll discuss in the next section, developing a plan will ensure that these aspects of your content marketing are always activated.

How Should I Create a Plan?

Marketing plans consist of several key steps.

Set a clear objective. What is your end goal? Is it to improve revenue? Sales? Boost engagement on social media? Increase website traffic? All of the above are appropriate goals and can be tracked with measurable KPIs such as email subscribers, social media followers, and in-store revenue. You need something to measure success with to understand if your strategy is working and to understand if your strategy is working, you need clear-cut goals.

Understand your audience. If you’re struggling to come up with clear business goals, it helps to at least establish an audience. Who is your target audience? What content will resonate with them? The answers to these questions will determine the heart of your content strategy. When developing an audience take into consideration age, gender, demographic, and income level.

Choose a channel. Chances are, you already have some content alive on your site or social pages. Use metrics to determine what’s working and what’s falling flat. What platform is reaching the most users and what medium just isn’t resonating? You may consider running a content audit. And check out what types of content is working for competitors. Goals, target audience, channel, and competitor content should all play a role in your content development plan.

Publish and manage. Create editorial calendars to ensure your schedule is consistent and the planning process (production, writing, editing) is well managed to ensure content is created in the first place. Pages with lags in content distribution don’t reach the same audience as outlets with a frequent and consistent output.

Related Questions

Why Are Digital Plans Important?

Like any other marketing campaign, plans for content marketing help ensure your resources are being allocated appropriately while your content is being produced and distributed in a way that optimizes engagement and ultimately sales. Plans keep you on track, on schedule, and ensure your hard work is reaching the right audience, at the right time, at the right place. Don’t just throw a shot in the dark. Aim with purpose and reap the rewards.

What If My Budget Is Tight?

Content marketing isn’t just for large businesses with endless resources and funds to outsource creative projects. In fact, content marketing typically costs less than traditional and outbound marketing strategies. When you think about it, all you really need is WordPress and a laptop to crank out a few blog posts. A video camera and editing software. A batch of customer email addresses and some great ideas for a newsletter. You get the point.

Facing budgetary restrictions is also a great reason to create a content marketing plan. Planning how much of your spending is going where will help cut costs and ensure every penny is doing its part.

How Can I Make Sure My Content is Seen?

With WordPress plugins like Yoast, anyone can master the art of search engine optimization. Taking the time to improve your content’s SEO score can generate endless payoff. Users are more likely to discover your site when search engine algorithms suddenly swing in your favor. A fantastic opportunity to show off your value and creativity, let your company speak for itself with content marketing. Reach new viewers, engage existing users, and avoid the clutter of traditional, paid advertising.

Web Fox Marketing is a web company in Livonia, Michigan SEO and digital marketing experts. We serve our surrounding community nearby Livonia, Novi, West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills, Southfield and beyond. On top of offering digital marketing advantages, we are knowledgeable in search engine advantages , Google Ads marketing (Pay Per Click), SEO solutions, social media prominence, and much more!

Your website most certainly is a critical step, as on-line success through-out our connected markets is dependent on local dominance and maximum visibility to many digital channels. Our Michigan lead generation firm is more than happy to help you with any opportunities you have. Call us now and let’s get started creating your next web project!