6 Steps and 6 Weeks to an Effective Content Strategy: Week 1

content marketing, content management, content strategy, strategic marketing, marketing strategically, strategic communicationsIn last week’s blog post we met Jazz Jones, a physician and former healthcare administrator who is hoping to raise awareness and generate new coaching business through content marketing. Her first step: gaining clarity around what she hopes to achieve, specifically.

Step 1: What do we hope to achieve (goals and objectives)?

As straightforward as this question may seem, it can often be hard to pin down clients in terms of what, specifically, they are hoping to achieve. In this case, Jones initially tells us, “I’d like to generate more coaching clients.” Yes, we presumed that. But how many new clients? What volume of activity per engagement? Do the new clients desired break down into specific service areas? And, if so, what are the objectives for each of those areas?

Goals are broad. “Gain new clients” would actually be a fine goal statement. Objectives, though, need to be more specific. SMART is an acronym commonly used to help achieve this: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-framed. One of Jones’ SMART objectives might be, “Add five new mastermind coaching clients at a minimum contract rate of $20,000 annually, by the end of fiscal year 2016.”

That’s specific. That’s Step 1.

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About Us

Strategic Communications, LLC, works with B2B clients to help them achieve their goals through effective content marketing and management with both internal and external audiences. We are adept at evaluating and analyzing communication efforts and working with clients to plan, create and publish high-quality, unique content, through both on- and offline media to achieve desired results. Our background in business journalism, marketing, PR/media relations and online communications makes us well-positioned to serve the needs of 21st-century marketers.

We serve clients who are looking for help creating content for a wide array of channels—from social media posts to full-length manuscripts, and everything in between. We focus primarily on service-related B2B topics and work with a number of independent consultants interested in building their thought leadership through online channels. For ongoing content management, our first step is to fully understand your goals, objectives and competitive landscape.

Then we’ll conduct a thorough analysis and assessment of your digital presence, compared to competitors, and recommend a communication strategy to achieve your goals. But, we also regularly take on individual projects – white papers, blog posts, contributed articles, etc. If you’re interested in learning more, let us know!

(Strategic Communications is certified as a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise through the Wisconsin Department of Administration.)

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Author: Linda Pophal

Linda Pophal, MA, SPHR, is owner/CEO of Strategic Communications, LLC, and a marketing and communication strategist with expertise in strategic planning, B2B content marketing, PR/media relations, social media and SEO. Her background as a freelance business journalist, advertising copywriter and corporate communication professional provides the foundation for understanding how to produce and use high-quality, personalized content to inform, motivate and engage audiences. This, coupled with expertise in online marketing, SEO and social media, serves as a foundation for working with clients to find the most cost effective combination of traditional and digital communication tactics to get the results they're looking for. Linda is accredited through the American Marketing Association and is a member of the Association of Health Care Executives, the Society for Human Resource Management and the Association of Health Care Journalists.

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