Why you need a content strategy

I’ve talked to a lot of clients that just don’t get social media or blogging. They have tried it and then given up, or have not even got started seriously. To those clients I often ask 3 simple questions.

Do you have a content plan?
Have you thought about who your audience is?
Why should they be interested in reading what you write?

Answering these simple questions can be the key to getting the best out of social media, your blog and even your website.

1. You need a plan

Put simply you will run out of things to say without a plan

As busy people, there will come a time when you are too busy, or are stuck for something to say. A plan can help you remain consistent and get passed any writer’s block. We all suffer from those moments when we dread the blinking cursor or blank white page.

Without a strategy how can you measure if your activity is successful?

You need to be able to measure the return on investment to justify spending valuable time on social media or blogging. Without goals, how can you measure any kind of real success to justify the time and resources you have spent?

2. You need to know who your audience is

There are a lot of people on social media channels

You can’t interest and attract everyone to ‘follow’ or ‘like’ you. By spending some time thinking about who your message is aimed at you can create more focused and interesting content.

Find your niche and focus your energy at that audience

Creating a strong relationship with you audience is important. If they don’t feel you share their values and interests you will just be one more message that they do not read.

3. You need to have interesting content

Good quality content does not come out of thin air.

While spontaneous articles and tweets can be effective, that spontaneity is not sustainable over a long period of time. The internet is a noisy place, with a lot of voices trying to gain the attention of an audience with a very short attention span.

I refer you back to my first point. It is time to create a plan!