Content Marketing: From Random Content Creation to Content Strategy

Do you, as a content expert, sometimes face the question of what it is? Content marketing? Content? And do you sometimes find it challenging to explain smoothly? To your grandma, for example? Or to people who aren't familiar with marketing. You're not alone. But if we find it difficult to define and scope it, then who will?

Content is everything. Every email, photo, presentation, podcast, social post, newsletter, blog post, every card, every video, is content. So, content marketeers, pay attention! If you don't clearly define and position your specialization, there's a chance that all possible forms of content creation and all the various and fun ideas that people in your company have will come your way sooner or later. Every message you convey to your target audience via a specific channel and according to a specific format is content. And from that bottom-up logic, all marketing roads quickly lead to the content marketeer, content manager, or content strategist.

So, how do you ensure that you evolve from random content creation to a targeted content strategy? Because content marketing is indeed a clearly defined specialization within (digital) marketing. With clear do's and don'ts, with its own tactics, channels, and formats. With its own rules.

Ready to clearly delineate your field of expertise and its associated work field? Keep reading.

What is content?

Content - when used within the field of digital marketing and content marketing - refers to all information shared by your company or organization with your target audiences online or offline through various channels and in different formats. Examples include texts, photos, videos, infographics, podcasts, webinars, updates on social media, blogs, whitepapers, e-books,... And since it is an extremely powerful tool and a we should not forget to mention storytelling.

What is content creation?

In content creation, you know the impact you want to have on a particular target audience, and then you creatively and purposefully bring together the message you want to convey, the most suitable format, and the most relevant channel.

When done correctly, your content creation achieves the desired impact. You inform a potential customer looking for information about your product. You build a cool brand reputation with a younger audience that only wants cool products. You dispel the last doubts about the price-quality ratio for a customer about to buy from you. You prove that you operate sustainably to people who value that when choosing a store.

In short: a content creator tries to gauge what their target audience desires, and then puts together a package in which the message, the format, and the channel come together as a strong whole. Good content creators, like copywriters, storytellers, graphic designers, video marketers,... are invaluable. They have the creativity and expertise to create the right content packages and open doors.

Why do you need a content strategy?

Although content creation is an art, and content creators are incredibly sought after, having only content creators on board is not enough. If you don't want to invest a lot of money and resources in one-off actions, you also need a content marketeer or a content strategist. They ensure that your content creations fit perfectly within a larger strategic framework. They create a content strategy and then the blueprint of a content plan.

"If you don't want to invest a lot of money and resources in one-off actions, you also need a content marketeer or a content strategist. "

Let's talk!

Why should your company have a content strategy? Checklist!

A content strategy...

• ensures that investments in content creation measurably contribute to the company's objectives.

• ensures that you are not led by the countless new tools, channels, and trends in our field. It's important to stay updated, but chasing the latest quick wins from low-hanging fruit to low-hanging fruit yields little concrete results in the end.

• ensures that you keep on optimizing your existing content so you don not solely focus on the creation of new content, but you also re-use existing your content.

• ensures that your people and resources are used purposefully and not scattered across the endless array of channels, messages, and target audiences.

• ensures that the way your company handles content becomes top-down. After all, you have a defined content marketing playing field within which content can then be created, with everyone aligned and budgets heading in the same direction.

• ensures that you don't let your gut feeling guide decisions about what your target audiences need at any given moment, but that you know. The research and data underlying your strategy show the way.

• ensures that you build sustainably. First, you build a strong foundation for your content marketing approach - with enough room for seo content marketing in it - and then create creative custom work and campaigns that make a difference. This ensures that your investments yield returns for a longer time and you're not just stringing together one shot after another.

• ensures that you, as a content marketeer, don't become the plaything of all well-intentioned but often ineffective ideas and plans from all the people in your company, but that you become their advisor.

"A content strategy ensures that you, as a content marketeer, don't become someone who just executes all well-intentioned but often ineffective ideas and plans from people in your company, but that you become their advisor."

Go for that Upgrade

With the evolution from old school marketing, where messages were communicated one way, and the focus was heavily on inside-out influence, to digital marketing and content marketing, the added value of marketing has been taken to a completely different level.

However, many managers and leaders do not yet see it that way and continue to set lines in the old-fashioned manner. So, if you want to position yourself as a content marketeer and establish content marketing as a marketing specialization, then invest in a content strategy and a content plan that align with the overall business strategy.

You'll elevate the perception of our specialization to entirely new heights and will find that you subsequently have the opportunity to evolve from a role in execution mode into a role as a valuable advisor and expert. The day they no longer try to tell you what you should do, but consult you and do not dare to make a decision without your advice, that is the day your mission is accomplished.

Do you feel it's time to transition from random content creation to content marketing? Take action on that content strategy and content plan, showcase your expertise strongly in your company, and demonstrate your worth! Good luck!

Need some assistance in evolving from content creation to a content strategy? Get in touch.

Let's talk!