Content marketing is a pretty basic strategy. Put simply, you create some kind of content (a video series, comic, blog, music, etc.), and you put it out there free of charge. The hope is that, as you gain an audience, that audience will begin to see you as an expert. You’re buying their goodwill, and when it comes time for them to make a purchase they’ll be more likely to go to you than to a company they have no previous relationship with.

Because your content is the tip of the spear, though, you need to make sure it’s the best it can possibly be. Which is why you should sit down, and ask a few questions about the content you’re creating.

Question #1: Who Is This For?

The first question you need to answer is who are you making this content for? Your audience, obviously, but who is that? Are you aiming at a certain age demographic? A particular hobby, like model railroad builders? Are you looking to interest a certain ethnicity, or gender, in your content? Or are you looking for people with certain political views?

Even the best content needs to have a target you’re aiming at. Otherwise it’s going to pretty wide of the mark you’re trying to hit.

Question #2: What Does This Content Provide?

Remember when you were in school, and your teacher was talking about the purposes of essays? You know, how some of them are written to inform the reader, while others are meant to persuade them to a certain viewpoint, and a few are meant strictly to entertain the audience.

So what is your content’s goal? What need (or needs) does it fill for your audience? Does it provide them with much needed DIY tips? Is it funny, or cute? Is it a product review persuading them that what you offer is better than the competition? All the polish in the world won’t help if you lose the thread of what your content is supposed to do.

Question #3: How Often Do You Create Content?

People are creatures of habit, and they like knowing when something new will be available. That’s why if you’re a content creator, you should keep a schedule. Whether you release a new video on the first and third Fridays of the month, or you update your blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you need to have that content up, and ready to be seen. If you aren’t going to make that deadline, you also need to warn your audience there’s been a delay. Otherwise they might just stop tuning in.

Question #4: What Are Your Goals With This Content?

In order to measure your progress and success, you need to have something to judge it by. Which is why you need to have specific goals you’re trying to achieve. So, do you want to increase your average views to 10,000 per new piece of content? Do you want to increase your social media followers to a certain level? Are you looking to gain a certain level of visibility for your content? No matter what your goal is, you need to know where the finish line is before you start running.

Question #5: How Long Can You Keep This Going?

When it comes to your content, you need to ask how long you can reasonably maintain a project. Sometimes it can go on indefinitely, such as when you have a blog that covers your business’s ever-changing products and services. On the other hand, you might decide to only make 10 episodes of a series. Make sure you have a timeline in mind, and remember that not every type of content is meant to go on eternally.

For more ways you can increase the quality of your content marketing, simply contact us today!