the ultimate content strategy guide for your organization

to get started

Where do you start? A strong content strategy consists of several parts. When it comes to the word “content”, many people think of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. But content can have so many more meanings. For example, writing blogs, setting up a YouTube channel or using LinkedIn. Capture where your target group search for, where to find them, and what kind of content they consume.

It can help to choose a target group based on generation. Is your desired audience Generation Z? They are often found on short form video platforms such as TikTok. Do you want to present your content to generation X? These can then be found more often on Instagram and YouTube. Are you looking for a b2b connection? Then make use of LinkedIn or put a podcast Sun. But you can also look at a target group with a specific profession or within a certain sector.

the Google algorithm

Making yourself discoverable on Google is one of the important parts to include in your content strategy. Google is still the most popular search engine. There are several ways to find you on Google. By means of SEA (Search Engine Advertising), your organization will be placed at the top of the search results as an advertisement. You have to pay for this, so it is mainly used in markets where there is a lot of competition or for specific campaigns. The advantage is that you see almost immediate results in the CTR (Click Through Rate). Apart from being expensive, the disadvantage of this is that the results are of short duration. The results depend on the length of the ad.

implementing blogs into your content strategy

Another way to be found is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). By using text smartly on your organization's website, Google's algorithm can easily find out what the keywords you name are. This brings up your website when someone searches for the same keywords. The advantage of this is that the flow of visitors will be a lot more stable, because you are not dependent on how long you pay for an ad. This is because SEO is free. In addition, organic leads are often more successful than those that come in via advertisements. An ad can increase the CTR to your website, but often also contribute to a high bounce rate. A disadvantage is that there is a lot of competition, choose one or two keywords and let them appear sufficiently in your text. With blogs, you not only improve your organization's SEO position, you also share your knowledge directly.

determining content formats

Now that you know which platforms and resources you want to use, it is useful to determine what kind of formats you can use. This includes videos, photos or text, etc. In addition, it is useful to see if you can make a series from a certain type of content. In your content strategy, do you opt for generation Z, and do you know that they love short form video content? Then you will mainly focus on video. Within video, there are still endless options. For example, think of a topic that you can make multiple videos about or a particular style that you will return to. Chances are that you will use multiple platforms. Create different content per platform; it is useful to research what works well per channel and to respond to this. When the content varies too much, you run the risk of appearing cluttered. Therefore, make sure that there is some kind of uniformity. Consider, for example, maintaining a certain corporate identity. It may also be interesting to have a cross-media campaign to be designed to increase uniformity.

content strategy equals planning

Don't underestimate the power of good planning. This helps visualize what you're going to post and lets you see what you already have and what you're still missing. Look online to see when your target group is active on the platform you want to use. Take into account all the different aspects of your target group, for example: do they work or are they in school? Look at what time they're taking a break or finishing work. In general, there is an online overview for each platform, including the times when traffic on that platform is highest. Once you've built a following, you can analyze when they're online and hone it at their most active moments.

publish and analyze

Once you've published your content, it's a good idea to see how it performs. After all, it is quite possible that a post only gets 20 likes. If you have 5000 followers, that is very little, and you will have to analyze to see what this could be due to. This is how you can fine-tune your content strategy. But when you have 50 followers, getting 20 likes is actually a lot. Then you can look at what works well and how you can use it again later. Get familiar with the analytics of various platforms. This way, you have an idea of what you are measuring and you can make adjustments based on the results.

manage and maintain

When creating content, it can help to ask yourself how long this content will stay accurate and relevant. Sometimes it's the case that you can highlight a blog as a LinkedIn post, in a newsletter, or turn it into an Instagram story. Or you've made a video for YouTube that you can edit into a TikTok video. Not all content is suitable for every channel, remember this when reusing content. And don't be afraid to take content offline. Especially when you think about your organization's digital footprint. When content is no longer accurate, the best solution is to delete or archive it. This way, you don't spread misinformation and you ensure that you remain credible.

tips for getting started with your ultimate content strategy

1. Choose your target group and identify who they are, where they are active, what they do there, why they do it and when they do it.
2. Determine which platforms and resources best suit your organization and the target group. So here you mainly look at where the intended audience is active.
3. Define different topics and formats.
4. Make a content schedule based on the times when the platforms are most used.
5. Adjust based on analysis of what works well and what is less successful.
6. Revise previously created content and reuse content that is relevant and accurate.