Step-by-Step Content Marketing Strategy: Step Two

Your Step-by-Step Plan to a Successful Content Marketing Strategy

Step 2. Establish Your Content Target Audience 

Know your audience. A large part of creating your content marketing strategy is determining who you’re trying to reach. You’ll need to put together audience profiles or buyer personas that relate to your business goals, and use them to guide your content creation.

Gather as much detail as possible about your target audience. Listen to what’s happening on social media, especially in relation to your business or brand. This will help you determine the impact and success of your content. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Where does my target audience spend most of their time online (blogs, forums, social media platforms)? Then drill down even further – which blogs, which platforms, which forums?
• What types of content does my target audience share (format, type, length, source, tone)?
• How can I reach my target audience in the best and most effective way (advertising, search, or organic social media)?

Ok, so let’s see how this plays out in an example. If one of your content marketing goals is to increase sales or leads, you may want to create a specific buyer persona. Profile your buyers to know what they look like and what content reels them in.

Are they an employee or an executive? Will they be an individual, a family, a small business, or a corporation? Will they be on social media or will an email campaign be the best way to reach them? What are their goals, and does your content help them achieve those goals?

Content Marketing Strategy Tip

Traditional advertising is inefficient for some, because it doesn’t target potential clients based on certain traits or interests. Social media advertising is a solution to that inefficiency, because you can target your niche audience based on interests, hobbies, demographics, and more.

• Facebook is an excellent platform for targeting your audience by interest or demographic
• Twitter is a strong tool for targeting networks
• LinkedIn is great for targeting people by career or industry

Last Week: Step One – Set Content Marketing Goals Relative to Business Goals

Next Week: Step Three – Determine Content Types for Your Business