Master the Art of Content Strategy: Your Roadmap to Business Success

Imagine this: you're about to embark on the road trip of a lifetime. Your family is buzzing with excitement, and you can't wait to hit the open road. You're convinced this vacation will be unforgettable! However, you decide to go old-school—no apps, no paper maps, just your gut instinct.

As you turn the ignition, the sunlight catches the gleam of your key.

Eventually, you reach your destination, but at what cost? Ten times more than you'd budgeted, a bored family, and a missed deadline that forces you to cut the trip short. Was it worth it?

Now let's try a different approach.

This time, you're fully prepared: apps downloaded, phone charged, and entertainment options aplenty. You've discovered the most efficient route, ensuring a smooth journey to your dream vacation spot.

Now, let's shift our focus to the world of business.

If you're simply posting content without a clear plan, your marketing efforts may bear fruit—but progress will be slow and labored. You might question if investing in social media and online content was even worth it.

But what if there's a better way?

Envision a scenario where every post, every blog, and every piece of online content has a quantifiable impact on your business's success, all easily trackable and measurable.

Let's pull over for a moment and explore the strategies that keep your online marketing on the road to triumph, avoiding the pitfalls of aimless wandering.

Start With The Destination

Lewis Carroll, famed author, once said, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." Well, how do you find out where you’re going? Ask yourself a few very important questions. I invite you to do this with me as you read.

In a Perfect World...

What is your ultimate goal for your business? I’m not asking for a scared answer here. I want the ideal. Your ideal yearly revenue. Your ideal business outcomes. Now that we’ve placed your head squarely in the clouds, let’s slowly come back down to earth. Write down where your business is now.

10 Steps to Success

What 10 steps do you need to take to get from here to there? One of the problems most people have is a lack of clients and enough money coming into the business. These challenges can often be traced back to marketing and sales.

The Role of Marketing and Sales

Marketing establishes your presence to the world and invites them into your world. The sales team is the one who seals the deal. Now, the next thing I want you to ask yourself is this: is your website and social media working for you, or is it just another chore that you don’t even know if it works?

Building a Strong Online Presence

Does your online presence provide backup for your sales team to send prospects information that they might find interesting? Does it celebrate your customers and make them feel good about your brand? Most importantly, does it bring you closer to your goals? That’s where the system comes into play, along with your destination, milestones, and processes.

Celebrate Every Milestone On The Road

As you work on achieving your goals and implementing your content strategy, it’s easy to become absorbed in day-to-day tasks. Remember, each milestone you hit is one step closer to making all your business dreams come true. It’s important to acknowledge the hard work of you and your team in accomplishing each goal.

Even if all you can do is send out an email thanking everyone individually for their hard work, the effort is well worth it. According to research by Gallup, only 24% of workers feel like their contributions are even acknowledged by their employers. Low employee recognition can lead to decreased motivation and higher turnover rates. Employees are most likely to stay motivated when they feel their contribution means something.

Remember, you’re an employee too, even if you own the business! So, celebrate your work as well. It took everyone working as a team to make these goals happen. This is also part of the larger business strategy—motivate yourself and your team for every milestone you complete.

You Might Need to Change Direction and That's Okay

Just like a “road closed” sign, sometimes you have to turn around and find another street to get to your destination on your strategy. Guess what? That’s normal and expected. Trends change, platforms come and go, but this doesn’t mean you have to give up. Your strategy remains the same; you just change to a different road to get there.

Here are some examples:

• You plan your blog ahead of time, and your software doesn’t post it on time, and you don’t find out until later. No need to panic. Take a breath and post it when you remember. Then, send out an email to your subscribers at a good time to let them know you’re still alive, and although their regularly scheduled blog had a hiccup, you thank them for their patience. You could even give them a 10% coupon as an apology.

• You post something you really like, and it doesn't do as well as you expected. Once again, take a breath. Exhale. Let’s figure out why it didn’t perform as well, perhaps by analyzing engagement metrics or seeking feedback from your audience. Then, let’s create something different next time using what we know about the audience’s preferences.

• Likewise, you might check your plan and find that you need to course correct something major. Great! Be glad you caught it in time before you had a major accident.

Remember, encountering roadblocks is normal. Stay adaptable and willing to learn from your experiences, and you'll continue making progress toward your business goals.

Check your Mileage Vs Your Plan

It's easy to put the pedal to the metal, but you'll soon find yourself refueling faster than you expected. Advertising and other marketing costs can add up fast.

Before you even start, you need to add your budget to your plan.

Take an honest look at your business’ finances. How much can you spend on marketing? This includes a variety of costs. For example, let’s look at my clients. There’s the fee for my work, the fee that platforms charge to create ads, website hosting, email service, and more depending on what they buy.

It’s important for me to let you know that you can also get progress with free posts; it just takes a longer time. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. If you can’t afford someone to do it for you, you can join a group coaching program, take a course, or hire someone to coach you one-on-one.

With careful planning and a willingness to adapt, you can achieve your goals while staying within your budget.

Your Dream Destination Awaits

The idea of reaching your dream business destination is just as amazing as reaching your dream vacation spot. But, while you're dreaming, you have to actually get there first.

Imagine this: you’re already on that dream vacation. Everyone’s happy. The sun is beaming down as you glow with pride. You used a strategy for your trip, so you avoided all the headaches and hassles of those who drove in circles and got lost.

The Future You Is Calling

You used a content strategy for your business that made the journey easier. You started with your ideal destination while making a plan to get there. You celebrated every step along the way. You navigated the changing roads of content creation to still accomplish your goals. You checked the finances and stayed within your budget. After all that, you finally reach your goals and have the business of your dreams.

The Present

The keys are in your hand. Your dreams can become a reality with an integrated content marketing strategy, as it's an important part of a larger business strategy for modern businesses.

Now, it's time to embark on your journey and drive your business towards success!