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5 Practical Tips For Supercharging Your Content Strategy in 2017



When you invest in a content strategy you learn how to manage content as a valuable business asset. Producing content at the highest level takes time and patience, and few businesses get it right from the get-go without a watertight plan of action. If you are looking for information on creating a content strategy to help grow your business online, here are five tactics to start you on your way:



1. Conduct a website audit

2. Build an editorial roadmap

3. Diversify your content formats

4. Adapt to mobile

5. Make friends with influencers


1. Conducting a website audit


Your website or blog platform needs inspecting every once in a while to ensure the functionality and execution of your content is error-free and contributing towards helping rankings and a more rewarding user experience. Both from a technical and creative standpoint, auditing is a page-by-page process that requires stringent criteria to measure against. Templates and guidelines are not hard to come by although for a thorough review of your content entirely you may call on an expert for a fresh perspective, and to spot glitches that you’ve become immune to. It’s never too late to review your content. Keep an open mind to suggestions from colleagues, and put yourself in the shoes of your reader. The insights you collect from the audit output will help crystallise the next steps of your content strategy.


2. Building an editorial roadmap


Preparing content collateral ahead of schedule carries many benefits: it spreads the workload over a greater time frame; allows you and your team breathing space for revisions; more time to pitch in content to influencers; develops habits of structure for a long-term strategy. Getting there early can also aid SEO factors, such as solidifying rankings.


Get your team on board, choose a template that participants can follow and engage with and make a decision as to how far in advance you want to plan for your content. Start brainstorming the key events throughout the year that relates to your brand’s content themes and the various ways in which you can document this information. Google sheets are handy for allowing multiple users to update their section of the roadmap without the need of overwriting changes on a local server.


3. Diversifying your content formats


Data visualisation studies are the in-thing right now. When executed with style, they can spread online like wildfire. The beauty of producing content that’s driven by data is that your brand immediately becomes a reference for all queries relating to that specific niche.


Video storytelling is another trend not to be ignored, the evidence can be seen on all major social platforms - from Snapchat to Facebook - now rolling out the service for users. Information comes at us thick and fast and video shorts are ideal for catching attention. Whether brands can own this space is another question altogether.


In general, brands will do better in terms of reaching KPIs (traffic, awareness, conversions, sales, links and beyond…) when their content strategy evolves from standard written copy into multi-formatted styles. For every time you rework a piece of content through an additional platform you elevate your chances of reaching a wider audience.


4. Adapting to mobile


Is your website mobile friendly? If you’re not sure then the answer is no. Find out by running a test online to know for sure. Google doesn't look kindly on websites that aren’t keeping to up to date with important advancements, but the reasons for adapting to mobile are as much practical as they are technical: more and more people are flocking to websites and social channels via their mobile phone devices and they will expect a user friendly experience each step of the way. Don’t alienate your potential customers and audiences by not making the basic changes required. Some worthwhile tips include: employing responsive design, making your content touch-screen friendly and shortening sentences to get the message across faster and more efficiently.


5. Making friends with influencers


A rule of thumb I always make a point to abide by is to have a distribution plan in mind and not produce content for the sake of it. This rule mainly applies to producing material intended for publishing offsite as in a thought leadership article or a series of visuals that reveal insights about your industry. And in order to drum up maximum interest in your fruits of labour, you will need to know who the influencers in this field are, which titles they work for and which topics interest them. Without gathering up these answers you will encounter many a dead end and hours of frustration not knowing why your content wasn’t well received. So where do you start? Build out a list for each of the following:


  • News writers and editors (useful database tools are available at a cost)

  • Bloggers (check to see who’s ranking for keywords about your industry)

  • Social sharing and time killer websites (you may need to register your profile)

  • Trade publications, if applicable

  • Niche groups within social media channels, such as Facebook and LinkedIn


Now you have a five-pronged attack for your distribution strategy. Not surprisingly this works better than simply sharing content with your friends on Facebook. The wider you mark out your distribution network, the more influencers you will interact with, sometimes even through chance. Always present the benefits of your content and offer to be of as much help as possible when having a pitch accepted.


Tom Willis is a Sydney-based content marketing and public relations specialist.
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