I’m a word person. I’m one of those people who shudders at the thought of using “your” when it should be “you’re” or vice versa. So, you’d think I’d have caught on to a thing like the difference between content marketing strategy and content strategy, but I’m ashamed to say I was only recently made aware of the distinction.
I’m hardly the first (or the last) person to make the mistake of using content marketing strategy and content strategy interchangeably but, being a word perfectionist, I had to write about it on my blog and atone for the sins of my past. Because, while there is a lot of crossover between content marketing strategy and content strategy, there are also some key differences, and if I got it wrong for so long, I’m willing to bet a lot of you out there are also confused about the distinction between the two. Or maybe you didn’t even realize until just now that there was a distinction. Either way, here’s my chance to clear up the confusion.
Table of Contents
Before we start talking about strategy. Let’s define content marketing and content
Content Marketing
Content marketing is any time you create marketing content for your business. Website landing pages, blog posts, press releases, newsletters, social media posts, white papers, ebooks, videos, webinars, podcasts, infographics, etc.
The goal of your content marketing efforts can vary, depending on the type of marketing content, but they should involve either driving brand awareness, positioning yourself as a thought leader, and/or leading prospects through the buyer journey.
Content
Content is a very broad term that includes everything in content marketing, plus any other content you create for your business. Do you have an employee handbook? That’s content. Do you have a user guide for your product? How about assembly instructions? Those both count as content.
I tend to focus on written content, but it’s important to remember that all kinds of content (visual, audio, etc.) are all content you’re creating for your business. If you have a welcome video for new employees and/or new clients, that’s content for your business, but not necessarily marketing content. The same goes for how-to videos that show customers how to assemble and/or use your product once they’ve already made a purchase.
As you can see, we’re all creating content for our businesses. It’s just that some of us focus more on the marketing content than the other types of content, while some might lean in another direction.
Now that we know the differences between content marketing and content made and distributed for other purposes, let’s talk strategy.
Content Marketing Strategy
Not only should you be marketing your business, you should have a strategy behind all the marketing you do. For example, posting about your product on Tik Tok doesn’t make much sense unless you’re selling to teenagers.
Writing a guest post for a blog that has nothing to do with your industry is also a waste of time and effort.
For your content marketing to be effective, you need a strategy behind it. You need to identify your target audience and the places where they spend the most time, both online and off, as well as the topics that are most likely to interest and engage them.
As with any other aspect of your marketing efforts, your content marketing strategy should include taking into account the marketing funnel. For each piece of content you create, you should identify where your target audience is in the buyer journey and include a call to action at the end that will prompt them to take the next step in the buyer journey.
Content Strategy
Since content includes marketing content, as well as all the other content you’re creating for your business, it stands to reason that content strategy would include content marketing strategy, which is why the two terms tend to be used interchangeably. Just remember, content strategy includes content marketing strategy, but content marketing strategy does not always equal content strategy. Make sense?
Hopefully, everything you do for your business has a strategy behind it. Not just marketing, but prospecting, identifying the prospects and clients you should meet with and which ones aren’t worth your time. Deciding how many employees to hire in which departments and which candidates to hire. Identifying which jobs require you to bring on more employees and which ones you can outsource. When to grow your team, and when to pull back.
These all require strategic thinking, Looking at the data available and using it to decide on the best course of action.
The same goes for your content strategy. Going back to the idea of making a welcome video for your new employees, first you need to decide whether they’re more likely to watch a video or read an email. These days, most people are more inclined to watch a video than read an email, but if you have a lot of readers on your team who appreciate being able to skim the content quickly and then get on with their day, an email might be better. On the other hand, you could be hiring busy professionals who would rather have the video going on in the background while they set up their workspace. Only you know what kind of people you’re hiring, and a lot of these questions can be answered in the onboarding process.
The same goes for your clients. You should also have a standard way to welcome your clients after they decide to buy from you, so you should use the same process to determine whether they’re more likely to engage with a video or an email comprised primarily of text.
Don’t forget you can double up by writing an email and including the video in the email so your new employees/clients can choose whichever type of content they prefer.
Employee Handbooks
For the strategy of employee handbooks, you’ll want to talk to HR and your attorneys to make sure you haven’t accidentally crossed any lines. When you bring someone onto your team, whether as an employee or a contractor, there’s a relationship there that requires a certain level of trust. Your employee handbook/contract should protect your interests without violating the rights of your employees/contractors.
How-to Guides
How-to guides that explain how to use your product are a little trickier because I think they could easily be considered both content and content marketing. On the one hand, they can be given to people who have already purchased your product, in which case they’re content. On the other hand, they can also be shown to prospects to show them how easy your product is to use and/or how much easier it could make their lives, in which case they become marketing content.
Follow-Up Emails/Calls
Following up with leads is important, but it’s just as important (if not more so) to follow up with existing clients to see how things are going. Did they use your product? What did they think? Do they have any questions you can answer for them?
Too many people make the mistake of assuming the relationship ends as soon as the prospect buys something and becomes a client, but that’s not at all true. Attracting, engaging, and converting a new lead costs approximately 5 times more than it costs to retain a client, so it is absolutely in your best interest to follow up with your clients and make sure they’re happy. If they’re not, it’s better for you to figure that out ASAP so you can do something about it and increase the chances you’ll be able to keep that client, rather than having to go hunting for a new one to replace that lost income.
Also, don’t forget that existing/past clients can be the best referral partners because people like to hear from someone who has experience with the product/service. So, even if they never buy from you again, it’s still worthwhile to check in with past clients because you never know when someone in their network will ask them if they know of anyone who sells what you sell.
While I don’t think phone calls can be considered content, emails definitely are, but again, you need to know whether your clients prefer phone or email.
Conclusion
If you don’t regularly blog or post on social media for your business, you might have made the mistake of thinking you don’t create content for your business, but I hope this content has corrected that misconception. We all create some sort of content for our businesses, and you need to make sure you have a strategy in place before you start writing (or recording).
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If you need some help with your content marketing strategy, we’d love to have a conversation with you.
