Brand Strategy Informs Your Content Marketing Plan

One of the biggest advantages of developing the brand strategy for your business is that it gives you a roadmap for your content strategy.

To grow your business you want to be visible and to become known for what you do so you can sell your products and services. To do that, the first step is to get clarity about your brand and craft a strategy to reach your audience.

YOUR BRAND STRATEGY

The single most important thing you clarify when you build your brand strategy is who it’s for. You have to clearly define your niche and ideal client in order to position your brand with the right messaging to speak their language.

When you develop your brand strategy you’re determining:

The PURPOSE of your business & who it’s for
The PERCEPTION you want your audience to have of your brand
The POSITIONING for your business to resonate with your ideal clients so they know what you do, why you do it, the benefits and why you are the best choice solution for them
The PACKAGING to create a cohesive look, feel, design & style to appeal to your audience
Your PROMOTIONAL plan so you understand what topics (or content pillars!) you should talk about regularly to reach and convert your audience into paying clients

YOUR CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY

When you’re creating your content marketing strategy, the #1 thing you need to know is what are the biggest challenges, goals and needs of the audience you’re targeting. Your brand strategy will tell you this! Then, you can craft messaging and copy that addresses your customers’ needs and they’ll begin looking to you as a go-to expert in your niche.

Besides knowing your audience’s biggest challenges and goals, you’ll also need to know these essential branding elements so you aren’t reinventing the wheel every time you sit down to create content:

Your brand fonts (without your brand strategy you’re probably switching fonts all over the place and not creating a consistent style for your brand)
Your brand colors (again, you want your brand to be instantly recognizable as yours)
Brand photos (that custom content for your brand that really elevates your credibility with your audience)
Brand content pillars (so you know the topics you’re sharing that your audience cares about)

You see how brand strategy needs to come before creating your content plan? Otherwise, your messaging will feel all over the place, you’ll confuse your audience and lose their trust.

You want your content to be relevant and engaging (or what I like to call “sticky” content). When your content sticks with someone it leaves a lasting impression. It means what you said really matters to them and it’s something they care about. For example, if you give your ideal client a quick tip they can implement immediately and see success, you’ve definitely created sticky content.

KNOW THE REASON & WHERE IT’S HEADED

Nail your content marketing strategy by knowing what you’re going to talk about and post so it’s aligned with your business goals and serves your audience:

Know the topics that resonate with your audience
Know the purpose for posting: engage, teach, impart knowledge, add value, serve, inspire and move your audience
Know where you’re leading your audience to next and create content that continues the conversation
Your content is your calling card: it helps your audience get to know you, your expertise, how you deliver on your brand promise and if they want to continue coming back for more

Your content strategy can be tailor made for your ideal client because you already took the time to consider how you communicate, your brand voice and personality, the benefits and brand promise you deliver, and how you’re different from the competition. Use this knowledge from your brand strategy to inform your content marketing strategy and winning your audience over will become so much easier.

Curious how your content marketing strategy can help you sell more via social media? Then, I’ve got you covered because I’m teaming up with my copywriter friend, Christine Blubaugh, to bring you a special (FREE!) masterclass: