There are a lot of moving parts to a content strategy and content development.

Here are a few reasons why you should also consider a content development marketing strategy.

1. Increase leads to your website at a low cost
2. Become a thought leader in your industry
3. Build relationships / excite influencers
4. Move leads through the sales funnel

In order to define where to go for content, as well as to determine the type of content you need to create, you must first know:

• Where your buyer/customer gets his/her information—Internet, email, video, social media, stores, reading, radio, television, newspaper, networking, etc.?
• What the buyer’s pain points are and challenges about getting a product like yours—price, availability, access, convenience, etc.?
• What your key marketing message is when speaking with this persona? Focus on each persona when writing for that audience.

Where can you get content and content ideas?

Now that you know you need to create content based on platform type, buyer persona, and media, here are several ways to begin collecting content to help drive your development cycle.

1. News aggregators, like SmartBrief
2. Google and TalkWalker alerts
3. Comments posted from others on a blog you read often spur an idea
4. Current events
5. Tips sent to clients in email
6. Best practices and How To’s
7. Ranked lists
8. Comparisons
9. Question of the week
10. Interviews

Posting Formats

When posting the same content on each platform, vary the post style, such as a question, statement, or comment. Buffer offers this resource on how to write a social media update by platform.

• Facebook posts usually have question or engagement element, such as a fill in the blank, content that is relatable from a human perspective, rather than just for informational purposes only.
• Twitter is great for sharing quick updates, activities, information, and links to other content related to a conversation stream, i.e., hashtag.
• LinkedIn is the “professional” platform, so sharing information about your favorite sports team may not be best use of this platform. Keep things informative, professional, and “linkable.”
• Pinterest has beautiful imagery about topics of interest, such as fashion, cars, technology, homes, etc. The goal here is to entice people to like you’re Pins, but to also visit the link associated with the pin.
• Instagram is similar to Pinterest in that it too is a photo-centric platform. That’s where the similarities may end. This is a personal platform as much as it is a business tool. One thing that sets it apart is its availability on mobile only.
• Google Plus combines the efforts of Pinterest and Facebook. You want pictures associated with every post, but also make things informative. Ask engaging questions to entice the G+ audience to follow a conversation stream.

Scheduling Posts

Now that you’ve been creating your own content, and collecting content from other resources, it’s time to figure out how to schedule posts so you’re not tied to your computer. There are many scheduling tools on the market. Find the right one for you based on price, functionality, platform access, and convenience.

Remember scheduling posts does not mean you forget about them. You need to be monitoring comments, liking people’s comments, encouraging conversation in the posts, and thanking people for their engagement.

If you have content development tips you’d like to share, please add them in the comment below.

Your Turn

What is your biggest content development challenge?