Marketing Begins with Strategy

We often receive emails from clients who want to send a newsletter to their list, post an interesting article on their website, or otherwise engage with their audience. This enthusiasm is critical to success with content marketing, but we have to remember that every action must connect back to a solid strategy.

This record is broken

I’m sure that many of the people with whom we work are sick of hearing, “That’s a great idea. But let’s think about how that fits into the strategy and appeals to your target audience.”

It can be frustrating to hear this. As a business that gets content marketing, you want to spend your time doing — generating leads and customers — not thinking.

Strategy comes first

The truth, frustrating as it can be, is that strategy is the foundation of marketing success. Blog posts and newsletters and social media are critical, but you shouldn’t confuse tactics with strategy.

Without strategy your efforts can become muddled and less effective. You should be producing and sharing content that matters to your target audience — and it’s difficult to know that audience without putting thought into buyer personas, a brand positioning statement, and the dozens of other moving pieces inherent to content marketing.

On the other hand, sticking to a well-developed strategy means you produce content that your audience finds valuable, increasing your reputation as a trusted source as well as the likelihood of their buying from you.

So before you hit “Publish,” “Send,” “Share,” or “Tweet,” take a minute to think about whether what you’re sharing pulls your audience to you or pushes them away.

Begin now

There's no time like the present to take a look at your website and marketing strategy to see where there's room for improvement. If your website isn't bringing you the business you need, you should be thinking, "I need a redesign."

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[Image: stevendepolo]