Content has always been the driving force in business. It is the one thing that carries the marketing message from one platform to another whether online or offline. It comes in different forms (as opposed to some assuming that it merely pertains to text) such as text, video, audio and some forms added along the way like infographic, video infographic etc.

Unfortunately, most businesses do content marketing the wrong way. They don’t undergo the creative brief that is required in making a web copy or a blog post. They simply throw in a 500-word post or more and spread the URL link of the post all around social media, expecting people to do what they want.

This article will help you understand the true essence of social media marketing and how it should be done.

SMART is a famous marketing abbreviation for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bounded.

Setting goals is one of the most important tasks to do before setting anything else in motion. A Goal is broken down into sets of objectives that support it to keep it in line to achieving.

Specific – determine the focus of your problem and single that out to solve. Goal should then be specific and not all over the place.

Measurable – set goals that can be measured by numbers (e.g. percentage of number of new sign ups, sales etc.) so it is easy to adjust cutbacks on budget, time or points to burn on tasks).

Achievable – they say aim for the moon so when you fail you still have the stars. But if you want your team to be motivated don’t set out for a goal that even you know is not possible in the given timeframe or budget.

Relevant – set goals based on realistic processes and outcomes that proved successful before and is priority to the business at hand.

Time-bounded – it is setting a specific time-frame to a goal or sets of objectives that compose it.

Step 1 BE SMART ENOUGH TO DO SMART

Admit it; your business is not fit for everyone. In that case, your content should not attempt to cater to everyone either. Being an effective business, it is important that you know your target market – the people who most likely need your products or services.

Sign up to get the free eBook on How to Create Your Buyer Persona.

Here are the most common questions to ask when coming up with a persona:

1. Who are you talking to?2. What are their pain points?3. What are their are� of inter�t?4. What do they want?5. How do they consume it?

Step 2CREATE YOUR TARGET PERSONA

It is important to zoom in on your value propositions. Know what they mean to your target market and whether they lead right to your goal.

You have your goals and your target market but how will you ever bridge the two so they create an explosive marketing strategy? You need to create and decide on a content roadmap.

Watch this Google video on creating a marketing plan.

Step 3DECIDE ON A ROADMAP

Review your existing content and pick out those you can use that still fulfill your buyers’ needs. Try repurposing content in a way that makes it more understandable. What is repurposing? It simply means delivering the same content using a different package.

You can take out a written tutorial and convert it into a video demonstration to make it more engaging and easier to understand.

REPURPOSE EXISTING CONTENT

Step 4

Review existing content to learn of gaps. You might have written more of something compared to others that are equally important.

Creating an editorial calendar will help you clearly see where your content is leading and what more needs to be written to achieve the goal. An editorial calendar also helps you maintain areas of focus and guides you on what to write without cramming for topics.

Here is a Google Spreadsheet containing Editorial Calendar Templates that you can use free.

CREATE AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR

Step 5

Content creators do not necessarily have to know everything to create the content that buyers would need. In fact, there is only one possible way to write topics you do not know anything about – internal communication.

Communicating with the different department of the company and asking them about the product and services on their point of view will help you create another angle for your content, which your buyers are looking for that you might have missed out.

LEVERAGE INTERNAL INFORMATION

Step 6

The most difficult part in content marketing is producing an engaging content. When writing or creating the content, it is important to think of these three aspects: attractive, attention grabbing introduction, information-packed middle, and compelling and enticing call to action at the end/conclusion. Once you keep in mind all these, it becomes easy to write content that engages buyers.

PRODUCE ENGAGING CONTENT

Step 7

What comes after the content creation? Content sharing on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms is the immediate action of most content creators. But before you even try to share the content, it is a must that you have built a strategically effective way of sharing it.

Posting a headline and the link to the post is not enough to entice followers and fans to click and visit the post. Headlines are good and inviting but it would be twice better to inject personality. Thus, it is important to spend a little more time in actually sharing the content or you might lose the opportunity to gather clicks.

SHARE CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Step 8

You have set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bounded goal, now is the time to determine whether results from the actions implemented coincide with the set goals.

Measure results based on key propositions, channels utilized and specific buying pathway of clients.

MEASURE RESULTS TO BASELINE INFORMATION/DATA

Step 9

Observing past marketing activities and results enhances the chance for improving process not only on content creation but also on marketing as a whole. Taking all the points that were effective and not effective helps in understand the target audience more, which in turn provide guidance on how to do better next time and reach the goal whether it’s brand awareness or sales.

As was said, content marketing is not a run-off-the-mill kind of thing that you do in an hour or less. It requires insight and regard to target audience’s wants and needs. It must answer specific questions and problems. It also has to be packaged in a way that is very attractive so it has the potential to be opened and discovered.

You will know you are doing well in content marketing when results are aligned with business/marketing goal.

LEARN AND IMPROVE FOR BETTER RESULTS

Step10

SpringRank is the fastest growing company specialized in Web 2.0 Business Applications and the No. 1 Supplier of Social Media Services including Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud, Pinterest and Vimeo. The company’s proven technology, comprehensive services and expert guidance help small and medium sized enterprises as well as social media individuals gain traction online.

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