Hardwood Flooring February March 2018

Content Marketing (Continued)

How to develop a content strategy: think like a publisher Now that the content marketing strategy is in place, it’s time to develop a content strategy – a sort of editorial calendar. An effective content strategy is focused on the customer and closely aligned with their journey – the steps they go through when planning a purchase and the points at which they interact with you, or you can interact with them. To learn more about the customer journey, see the October/ November 2017 issue of Hardwood Floors for the article on page 40, “Understanding the Customer Journey: How to Build Relationships that Last.” When developing a content strategy, think like a publisher and ask the following questions: 1. For whom are we writing? Develop several detailed personas. This is different from and more specific than a segment or target market. It’s a detailed, fictional representation of an ideal customer based on market research and real data about existing customers including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, media habits, and goals. 2. What do they care about? For example, are they trying to decide which type of wood is hardest or most durable, or which is the cheapest? 3. What information will move them along? Create journey maps for each persona. This will help you determine where to intervene and with what type of information, or even what to offer to prompt that next step. 4. What does our sales funnel look like? Map it out, step-by-step, so you can develop appropriate personas and journey maps to address each of the following steps (minimum) in the process: • Those who don’t know you. • Those who know something about you – or you know something about them (lead). • Those who are interested in what you offer (prospect). • Those comparing you to other solutions (opportunity). • Those who are ready to take action (buyers). 5. What does the buying process look like? It might look like this: • Become aware of a need • Search for information (website or store visit)

Smaller companies, especially, will benefit from content marketing because of the minimal investment and the opportunity to build brand awareness and leads with limited resources. It’s as simple as writing a blog or creating a photo gallery that can be shared on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or even emailed. Start

small and experiment with different platforms for six months; then, after six months to a year, develop a more formal content marketing strategy.

How to develop a content marketing strategy: think like a businessperson

Content marketing strategy is about how, why, and to whom you deliver content. It’s like a marketing or business plan for your content. A good content marketing strategy: • outlines your goals (e.g., driving website traffic, increasing brand awareness, generating leads); • addresses the content needs of the target audience – what they want and need to know and when to move them along their buying journey; • defines the type of content needed – what formats will the audience best respond to, and what will help you reach your goal; • determines a distribution strategy – where on digital and social media your customers are spending time, whether on your own unpaid media or in paid media; • includes an editorial calendar – that outlines content, purpose, timing, type, keywords, call to action, and distribution strategy for each piece of content to keep everyone on track; and • incorporates pre-defined metrics that can be tracked and measured. You may be thinking, “That’s a lot of work for a customer who I’ll sell to only one or two times.” True. But, think beyond that one customer to the hundreds or thousands of customers who you can reach with content during the life of your business; not to mention the referrals those customers will send your way. Further, your distribution strategy can greatly enhance SEO, which can reach anyone searching for your products or services.

42 hardwood floors www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com