Is the Content You're Creating Effective or Just Noise?

I read somewhere, “Content without a strategy is just noise.”

Wow. So, are the blog posts or videos that you’re producing good content of true interest to your target, or are they adding more noise in a noisy world?

Is what you’re writing or creating what you think your target would be interested in or what you know they need? Are you addressing their problems and needs? Are you giving advice or over-selling?

Related: What is Content Marketing?

How do you find out if your content is effective?

The first telltale sign is your website statistics and analytics. You should review these stats every month:

How many people visit your site per day and month?
How long do they stay?
What’s your bounce rate? If it’s higher than 50%, you’re going in the wrong direction.
How many pages do they view while they’re there? (Hint: the longer they stay on your site, the greater the chances they will do something.)
Which pages or blog posts were the most popular? (Hint: this is what they’re interested in! Write more like these)
How many people converted from a visitor to a lead? That is, they downloaded an ebook, a coupon, whitepaper or signed up for your newsletter.

Do you really understand your target market?

What are their pain points that your product or service can alleviate?
Are they under 40 or over 40? You talk to the generations differently.
How can you make their lives better, easier, more fun, luxurious, productive, simpler, less painful?
Who else do they follow? Where do they go for trusted information? Who influences them?
What are their likes and dislikes? (This free workbook will help you define your target market whether you’re B2B or B2C)

Have you done your research?

One thing all this technology has provided is a lot of data. You can easily find statistics on any target market and industry. Don’t skimp on research if your marketing is going to be effective.

You want to learn:

Which social media networks do they frequent the most?
What type of content do they prefer to read, watch or listen to?
What is their buying journey?
What devices do they prefer?
Who are good referral sources?
What’s the best offer to entice them to give you their email address?

Have you set goals?

What do you want to accomplish? Set SMART Goals.
Do you want to grow your email list? Yes!
Would you like to drive more traffic to your website? Absolutely!
How about increasing conversions? Of course!
Would you like to increase sales? Who wouldn’t?
Do you want to get more followers on the social networks? All of the above!

Now, based on your workbook results, research and goal-setting, you can come up with a content strategy on how best to reach your target.

What are you going to blog about?
How often are you going to blog?
Are you going to do videos? Professionally produced or self-produced on your cell phone?
How often are you going to share it on the social networks?
What other sources of quality content (not yours) would be of interest to your target? And how often are you going to share it?