Content strategy is a relatively new discipline within the web environment and shares common ground with other similar systems, particularly around UX and SEO. A content strategy often is used to pull potential customers along a goal fulfilment funnel that leads ultimately to an order. For this reason, many consider it to be a facet of marketing.
However, the main element of content strategy has to be—and always is—delivering engaging and relevant content to users. The fact that the content is on–message, or has the aim of guiding your customer to make a purchase, should be secondary.
A good content strategy should cover the main factors of content management:
- Are business objectives met;
- What do your users expect;
- Who will create the content;
- When will it be written; and,
- How will it be delivered?
When developing a content strategy, it should be achievable: creating a delivery schedule that plans for one person to deliver 50 articles a week is unrealistic—the strategy is doomed to failure from the start.
Developing a sound idea of the audience is essential for a content strategy: clarity on who is the audience and why is paramount so that appropriate tone and media is used (blog, article, video, streaming, music, etc.).
Incorporating SEO best practices into your content strategy is the best way to perform well in search engines. How your content makes use of meaningful semantic code falls within the realm of content strategy. There are many ways for your content to become “machine–readable” so that dates, addresses, individual contact details and people, product listings, reviews, etc., can be understood by search engines and screen readers.
Finally, your content strategy should fully embrace the modern web expectation for content to be shared by your viewers and clients. The best way to get your message out there is to let your clients tell their story using social media and attaching a link to your content. Encouraging your readers to engage with you and your content is fundamental to building a reliable marketing platform.