Etna Interactive

Five Steps to a Content Marketing Plan

5 Steps to a Content Marketing Plan

At one time, content was just content. People cared about educating their audience with quality information and making sure the grammar was accurate. Well today, content strategy is more powerful than ever, and it’s no longer just about providing information.

We all want to be seen on the Web, and to be found, you must have a compelling reason. You are judging your content, your customers are judging your content, and now Google is judging your content.

Take a look below to learn the 5 steps of creating a content marketing plan that will benefit your clients, your brand, and your visibility on the Web.

    1. Tell your story. Make a compelling reason for Google to showcase your client and for your client’s patients to retell that story. Be clear who you are and what you are about to all who are reading. A good mix of patient testimonials, videos, social media posts, and blog articles is an effective way to tell your brand’s story. Ask yourself, “How do our products help prospective patients?”

 

    1. Know your audience. Who are the end users, and what motivates them? The content you create should be custom-tailored with your client’s patients in mind. Help your clients to market your products and procedures by giving them the tools to speak to the end user. Your own content marketing efforts need to be written with the knowledge that the more your content is read, shared, and linked to, the more it helps your SEO.

 

    1. Provide your clients with the strategy to speak about you and your products. A content plan that includes a timeline and clear direction will help. If you make it easy for your clients to implement your content marketing strategy, you will reach more potential consumers than is possible through your own media channels. For example:
      • Month 1: Add this video to your website and/or YouTube. Use this image for a Facebook page linking to that video with this compelling tagline.
      • Month 2: Incorporate these graphics in a blog post, and link back to your website and the video.
      • Month 3: Use this promotion for an email marketing campaign and add this graphic on your specials page.
      • Month 4: Follow up with an e-blast using this message to get people to join a free seminar.
      • Month 5: Use this survey to follow up after your seminar.

 

    1. Have a clear call to action. In the example above, the end goal is to get consumers into the client’s practice to learn more about the product. The goal is achieved by providing an easy way to sign up for the seminar, request a consultation, and to encourage action. Make sure your message to “act” is clear, compelling, and impossible to overlook both for your site’s strategy and for the strategy you provide your clients.

 

  1. Gather feedback. Listening to feedback is the best way to find areas for improvement. Ask for feedback, apply the message, and continue to build a trusting relationship. Your end goal is to sell more products, but your message to the consumer goes through your client making it complicated to keep a consistent message. Make certain that you and your client are clear on the goal and the message, and when there is an opportunity to improve, take it.

Content marketing is essential, and the better you get, the better the results. Keep it simple, make it easy, tell your story, and create content that works for your client and the consumer. Compared to many traditional online marketing tactics, content marketing has the potential to provide a greater return on investment for your company and for your doctors.


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