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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Developing a Content Strategy in 2022

by | Feb 4, 2022 | ContentWritingChat

Content Writing Chat recap

Does your brand have a content strategy in place for the year ahead? If not, it’s time to make a change!

A content strategy encourages you to have a purpose behind the content you’re posting, while also helping you reach your business goals. Plus, it’ll help you stay consistent. When your content is already planned out, there’s no need to question what to post next.

So, you may be wondering… How do I create an effective content strategy? Well, we have some answers for you in this #ContentWritingChat recap.

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Developing a Content Strategy in 2022

To ensure 2022 is a success for your brand, it’s time to take your content seriously. For this month’s community chat, we went over some key elements of crafting a content strategy.

Q1: What are the primary benefits of having a content strategy for your brand?

As Andrew pointed out, it’s all about consistency. Having a content strategy allows you to be consistent in your posting frequency, but it also helps you to be consistent in creating content that’s aligned with your brand. What you publish online should be a reflection of your brand’s mission and its values.

With a strategy in place, your content will be all planned out. This means you’ll never have to wonder what to post about, nor will you be scrambling for ideas at the last minute.

Dana feels inspiration is more likely to strike when you aren’t worried about filling a content calendar or meeting deadlines. So, don’t be afraid to plan ahead to create more consistency in your posting schedule.

Q2: Creating a content strategy starts with knowing your goals. How can you ensure the content you publish online will help you achieve big things?

You definitely want to keep your goals in mind when it comes to planning out your content. You can use your goals to shape the kind of content you’re publishing in terms of formats, topics, etc.

It always goes back to finding ways you can serve your audience. Create content based on what’s interesting to them and what will address their pain points.

Q3: Where do you get fresh content ideas that will appeal to your audience?

Sometimes it’s as simple as seeing what your favorite creators are talking about. That can help generate tons of new ideas!

Kushlani finds that scrolling social media, reading articles, and talking to her clients about challenges can be a great source of inspiration for her content strategy.

Andrew turns to research studies, polls, and the latest news to help him generate content ideas.

Dana said watching all different genres of TV and movies is helpful for her when she needs to get the creative juices flowing. And of course, you can’t go wrong with simply asking your audience what they’d like to see from you. They’ll share their thoughts.

Q4: How do you decide if it’s worthwhile to invest in a new content format? Do you follow the trends or stick to what you know?

The content formats you choose should fit two main requirements: it should showcase your strengths and appeal to your target audience. This will increase your odds for success.

Joana sees the value in experimenting with trends. After all, you never know when something may take off for your brand and perform really well.

Asangi agrees that it’s worth trying new ideas and trends. At the end of the day, you never know how something will work for you unless you try.

It’s also smart to consider how something fits into your budget. Do you have the money to invest in pursuing these new content ideas?

Q5: How does distribution play a role in your content strategy? What ways do you spread the word about the content you’ve created?

Social media and email marketing are common distribution tactics to include in your content strategy. That’s because they’ve been shown to be effective at generating traffic. Other tactics Andrew relies on are personally messaging his LinkedIn contacts that may benefit from his content and employee advocacy.

Dana plans to focus on social media and email marketing for her distribution plan as well.

Kushlani’s advice is to consider the type of content, your audience consumption, content goals, and distribution goals before fleshing out your distribution strategy.

Q6: How often do you check your analytics to measure the results of your content strategy? And when do you make changes if something isn’t working?

Joana checks her analytics regularly, twice a month in fact. However, she waits three months before making changes. This allows ample time to see how your content is performing.

Andrew checks his analytics weekly and receives automated reports from Hootsuite to assist with this.

You may even find that you want to give certain types of content more time before you start diving into the analytics of a post.

Q7: Accessibility is crucial to ensure everyone can enjoy your content. What changes can you make in your content strategy to accommodate those who may be visually impaired or hearing impaired?

Captions, alt text, and transcripts are crucial when creating accessible content.

Taking one piece of content and making it available in different formats can be very effective. As Asangi said, you can turn a case study into a video and also include captions to make it accessible.

Even simple tweaks like adding alt text to the images you post on social media can make your content more accessible.

Q8: Do you use any tools to help you plan, create, and distribute your content? For example, a content calendar, social media scheduler, etc.?

Besides relying on her brain, Joana uses paper and pen, a content calendar, and a social media scheduler to be a content pro.

Want to join us for the next #ContentWritingChat? Mark your calendars for the first Tuesday of every month at 10 AM Central. Then, follow @ExpWriters for all the latest!

Tags: content strategy