Having a strong content strategy in place before you produce the content itself will ensure that you save time, save money and see real results for your company and brand.

Here’s how to go about creating one:

1. Look at your business goals

You can make the most beautifully shot video in the world, with huge viral reach, but if your goal was increased sales and the video didn’t generate a single extra sale, then what was the point?

We recommend: 5 Ways to Improve your Content Strategy Using Video

Consider whether you want to use content to increase brand awareness, engage with customers or generate sales. And then create your content ideas to suit this specific goal.

2. Consider your target market

To develop effective content you need to place yourself in the shoes of your target market.

Are they a new mother looking for helpful articles on dealing with toddler temper tantrums? Or are they a CEO concerned with cutting business costs?

Imagine what they would find useful, informative or entertaining and then produce content like that.

This is also worth bearing in mind when it comes to SEO: What common terms will they be searching for on Google? Incorporate those into your content, but only where they fit naturally.

3. Look at frequency, format and tone

What are your resources like when it comes to producing content? If you have someone devoted to the task then you may be able to produce a new piece of content a day, but if someone is doing it as a side job, then one a week is more manageable.

Don’t produce work that’s of a lower standard – rather produce fewer pieces, but do them properly. Also think about what format your content will be in.

Will your audience respond well to videos? Blog posts? Infographics? Finally, consider your organisation’s tone or voice and ensure this remains consistent through everything you do.

4. Ask the right people the right questions

Most businesses have plenty of sources of educational and entertaining content, but few know how to get this information out of their employees.

Ask an actuary about the products they’ve developed and they’ll soon wax lyrical about what they do in a way that is seldom communicated to your target audience.

Ask your product managers about new trends in the industry and chances are they’ll get extremely excited about something on the horizon that your target audience would love to know about.

Extracting this information is about asking the right questions and the best way to do this is often face-to-face. 

We recommend: Content Marketing Strategies You Can Steal

5. Make a calendar

Once you’ve formulated your strategy, you can then start working on your editorial or content calendar. Add in deadlines, assign people responsible for each task, allow time for approval of content, and lock down ideal publishing dates.

Have meetings regularly with key stakeholders to discuss new ideas, who’s doing what and how the process is moving along.

Above all, be adaptable as you learn what sort of content your audience is engaging best with, so that your content strategy is continuously improving.

We all know that consumers are time poor these days. And consumers of digital media are even more so.

If you want people to engage with your content and eventually purchase your product or service, the way in which you present your information online needs to be carefully considered.

Related: 7 Questions To Ask Before Hiring An Adwords Agency

Here’s what you need to think about when it comes to copy on your website:

1. Put the customer’s needs first

You employ a very detailed philosophy when designing your products? Consumers don’t really care.

Your website should not focus on how amazing you are, it should focus on what benefits you can offer your potential customers and what problems you can solve. So do include your company philosophy on your About Us page, but don’t make it front and centre on your homepage, for example.

2. What makes you different?

If you’re in a competitive industry, you need to emphasise what sets you apart. Maybe it’s your award-winning customer service, or your years of industry experience, or your unique approach to sourcing products?

Make this the focus of your copy so that it’s very clear why a potential customer should choose you versus another competitor.

3. Contact details

I see so many websites where the contact details are placed only on the Contact page, or written in a very small font way below the fold.

It needs to be ultra simple for people to contact you, so make that phone number or email address clearly visible on the homepage – or even better, somewhere in your main navigation that then displays on every page of your site.

4. Calls to action

Consumers need to be told what to do. Write about how great your product is and then follow it up immediately with a sentence telling them exactly what action to take: Need more info? Call us on xxx (phone number) or fill in the contact form below.

5. Use short sentences and simple words 

Long rambling sentences lose the reader – short punchy ones work better. The same applies to words, so use simple ones as often as possible. Remember that simple doesn’t mean unsophisticated.

Think of Google and Apple, two of the world’s biggest brands. They use a simple and direct tone that still communicates their offering perfectly. Also check your tone: write as if you’re chatting to one person and you’ll immediately engage the reader.

6. Get specific and paint a picture

If you’re selling a sailing holiday in Croatia, don’t tell them that the waves are blue and beautiful. Describe the smell of the ocean in the air, the feeling of the sun on your skin and the taste of the fresh sushi caught on a nearby boat.

You can sell something much more easily if you get very specific and evoke an emotive reaction in the person reading your words.

7. Use formatting

No one likes long reams of text – you’ll lose their attention and a possible sale. Break up your copy so that it is easily readable by using bolding, bulleting and separate paragraphs.

Related: Is Search Marketing Still Worth Investing In?

8. Limited sales offers

Reserve space on your homepage where you can include blurbs about latest offers or special promotions.

This will keep your website fresh and allow you to capitalise on potential customers who may be interested in these offers, by encouraging them to click through and stay on your site.

Kindly take note that i m planning to develop block of flats about 30 units, 6 per floor – mixture of 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom in Arcadia. My funder for this new development has requested me to provide him with MARKETING PLAN. I’m planning to develop them and hopefully ask a reputable property management to manage them for me. 

What i m requesting from your office, is to assist me with any person`s contact details whom you have futured in the magazine can assist me with a  MARKETING PLAN that I can present to my funder for this planned project that will help me convince the funder to release the funds, attract potential tenants, etc. 

When considering a marketing plan, it is critically important to think about your target market. In my experience, many businesses forget to critically examine the target market that they are trying to reach.

There are many great marketing campaigns that fail because they are not relevant for the intended audience. Remember, the message needs to work with the consumer in mind. What you may find to be a great marketing campaign may not work for the intended target market. If you are unsure, try testing your concept out first. This will give you a good indication if you are on the right track or not.

In your case, you need to think about who will be buying these apartments. Will it be investors that will be renting them out? Or is it perhaps first-time buyers? Whatever the case may be, your marketing options will change depending on the audience that you are targeting.

It is also important to set out a reasonable budget for your marketing efforts. There are many wonderful plans that have never been successful, because they did not have the budget to support them.

Other factors to consider include:

• Environmental scan – in other words, what the market looks like at the moment. This includes: competitors, legislative factors, available properties, interest rates, rental incomes, building costs and any other factors that would affect the proposed development.
• Threats and opportunities
• Marketing objectives – what do you want to achieve with this plan? For example, for the development to become the premier choice of investors in the Pretoria area.
• Controls – this is to track the effectiveness of your campaign. How exactly are you going to measure the results?

These are just a few of the building blocks to building a successful marketing programme for your business.