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It can be overwhelming to consider putting together your own content strategy. It’s even more pressure to rely on your content to make an impact on your business goals. If your small business or nonprofit organization can’t afford to hire an experienced marketer, you might wonder how you’ll even get started.
What even IS a content strategy? It’s the intentional plan by which you create and distribute various pieces of content in specific places for your target audience. The key word here is intentional—it’s not a strategy if you are simply throwing things out to see what sticks! Try these steps for building an impactful content strategy for your organization.
1. Outline Your Content Goals
Before you can create a strategy, you need to identify, understand, and document your purpose. This is a major part of being intentional!
Some content marketing goals might be:
Increase brand awareness among your target audience
Increase inbound qualified leads
Position your business as a thought leader in your industry
Provide a value-added resource to your existing clients
I’m a fan of creating SMART goals. This means that each goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, your goal might read like this. “By July 31, 2023, we will increase website pageviews by 5% by creating and publishing consistent content.” At this stage, you can’t exactly outline which content and on which platforms. But you can always go back and revise your goals after you build your strategy.
2. Reinforce Your Brand Foundation
Before you try to engage new and existing audiences, you have to prepare for the questions they will have. Who are you? What do you do? How long have you been around? Why should I care?
Review The 10 Commandments of Branding and, if necessary, reinforce your brand foundation. Make sure you have a clear and strong mission, vision, and values and if possible, write a brand story to guide your content creation. You also should create a brand style guide if you don’t already have one to ensure that you’re creating consistent and accurate content.
3. Identify Your Target Audience
You may think you know who your potential clients are, but it’s a good idea to do some research. Look into your current clients and identify commonalities between them. Are they all a specific type of business or in the same industry? Are your contacts around the same age range or at a specific job title? Ask yourself these and other questions to try and pinpoint your target audience.
Also look into your competition, if possible. Who are they currently working with? Who is their content speaking to? You shouldn’t copy their efforts, but some competitive research can help you formulate your own target audience.
Going one step further, create personas for different segments of your target audience. These personas are specific profiles of an imaginary person that fits into your demographics for each segment. Include each person’s pain points and why they would choose to use your business to solve them. Say your accounting firm has a persona for Carol, who is 45 and struggles with bookkeeping for her small business. You’ll have an easier time creating content that speaks directly to her pain points (and therefore, those of the people like her in your segment).
4. Decide on Content Formats
There are so many formats that you can use to publish content in today’s digital world. Will you write blog posts? Create YouTube videos? Share quick Instagram Reels or TikTok videos? Show vivid images of your work?
This is another area where competitive research can be helpful. Compare your business website and social media channels with others in your industry. You can even look into how they rank on Google and what keywords they’re using. You might find content voids where there is a great opportunity to share a specific type of content that isn’t currently being leveraged.
That said, make sure you are comfortable creating content in your chosen formats. If you can’t imagine getting in front of a camera, don’t say that you’re going to make selfie-style Instagram Reels. Instead, play to your strengths and consider formats that don’t require you to show your face all the time!
5. Select Distribution Platforms
Now that you’ve established who your target audience is, you need to find out where they hang out online. Your content strategy should include social media channels where your target audience is present! You also have to make sure you choose platforms you’re comfortable with. But only so many—if you spread yourself too thin trying to publish on every platform, it won’t end up well.
If you already have social media channels set up, now is a good time to evaluate how well they are working. It’s absolutely allowed to quit a social platform that isn’t giving you the results you need. Don’t waste your limited time on a platform that isn’t serving you!
6. Define Your Production Processes
It’s helpful to define your process for each content format you’ll be creating. Whether you’re a one-woman show or a team of 20, you need to document your process so that you can be consistent, save time, and be ready for others to assist you. (You might not be a one-woman show forever, and it will be much easier to bring on assistance if you already have your process documented.)
Different formats will have different processes for creation and publishing. For example, my video creation process is very different from my blog creation process. Similarly, the tools I use to schedule and publish blogs are different than the tools I use to schedule and publish social media. Take the time to figure out a process that works for you, write it down, and revise it as necessary if you figure out a better way to do things.
7. Decide on a Publishing Schedule
A publishing schedule is critical for holding yourself accountable and staying consistent. If you know that you publish a blog post every Tuesday, then on Friday you know you need to get cracking if you haven’t written one yet. (Although I highly recommend batching your content creation. This just means setting aside a block of time for creating a several pieces of content while you’re in the zone.)
Having a publishing schedule also helps you take advantage of holidays, special events in your industry, and other key dates. You’ll be able to match specific content with these dates and schedule it accordingly. And speaking of scheduling, take this time to research and select a scheduling tool that allows you to “set it and forget it.” You want to avoid having to manually post on certain days or at specific times if at all possible. I use Hootsuite to schedule my social media posts and WordPress to schedule blog posts in advance.
Even with a scheduling tool, you need to be realistic about the time you have to devote to content creation and publishing. Even with marketing tools to help automate your process, you’ll be spending a LOT of time on executing this strategy! It’s OK to start with publishing less frequently and work your way up to posting more often if you find that you have the time and resources to do so.
8. Develop Content Pillars and Subtopics
You’re getting into the fun part now! Having dedicated content topics that you focus on—also called content pillars—makes your creation so much easier. Have a brainstorming session to consider the major topics that you want to focus on.
Remember, these should be adding value to your current clients and target audience. Think about their pain points that you identified when you were building your personas. What are the major topics that someone would search for to help solve them? Smaller topics that relate to your content pillars are your subtopics, and there can be an infinite number of content pieces to discuss them.
You can also post other content, of course. We want to educate, inspire, and entertain our audience! So if you want to post a relatable meme on your social channel, go for it! You can also share content that humanizes your business, like behind the scenes videos or employee spotlights.
9. Create Pieces of Content
We’ve reached my favorite step! I love creating content to share—but that wasn’t always the case. I was nervous about sharing my thoughts and, in some cases, opinions with the world. This is totally understandable and normal! However, you have to take ownership of your expertise, skills, and experience and act like the expert you are.
Since you’ve already identified your content pillars and subtopics, you know where to start. Make a big list of content ideas, even if they are half-baked to start. You can flesh them out and assign them to specific formats and platforms as you go. (Side note: If you’re writing blog posts, I cannot recommend HemingwayApp enough. It is my essential tool for composing clear and readable content!)
Take advantage of research tools to find detailed information to back up your own thoughts. Scour recent headlines and search engine questions to get ideas for timely content in your industry. While current events are trending for a time, make sure you plan for evergreen content as well. This is content about your business or industry that doesn’t change—or at least rarely. These will be blog posts and graphics that you can refer and link to time after time.
You might also consider having guest content as well, especially on your blog. Invite a guest for an interview or even ask them to write a blog post that you can publish on your website. Or on social media, you can partner with another business in a related field within your industry. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, you can partner with a caterer and tag both companies on Instagram. You’ll gain more exposure to your shared target audience that way.
Remember to repurpose content for different formats and different formats! If you write a blog post, condense your main points and share in a TikTok video with a link to the post in the caption. Make a graphic for your Instagram that relates to the post. It’s OK to mix and match formats using the same content. Your audience is spread out among different platforms, so this will help you reach more people with the same ideas.
Once you start creating content, you want to set up a place to hold it all. Your content library can simply be organized into folders on your computer, saved in an organized Dropbox, or held in a Google drive. Whatever way you choose to save it, make sure it’s organized so that you can find things when you need to.
10. Publish, Engage, and Track
Now you can publish your content—yay! If you’re using a scheduling tool, this is effortless because you’ve already set it up. If you’re publishing manually, that’s OK too. However you need to do it, shake off the nerves and hit post!
Once you’ve sent your content out into the world, watch for engagement and respond accordingly. If someone leaves a comment, acknowledge them! Commenting can sometimes be just as scary as publishing in the first place. You’ll also encourage further engagement if people see that you’re interacting with them.
After your content has been posted for a bit, check the analytics that are built into each platform you’re using. You can check to see how many people viewed it, shared it, etc. This is valuable intel for you to see what kinds of topics and formats resonate with your audience. It’s also going to inform the measurement part of your content goals and the way you evaluate your success.
Eventually, you can perform a content audit on multiple pieces you’ve posted to get an overall view of what’s working best. You also should monitor trends with your competitors’ content for the same reason.
Get Started!
Now that you have a content strategy and a plan for content creation, it’s time to get started! If you need help along the way, feel free to reach out to me for advice and assistance. Happy creating!
If you’ve ever studied human psychology (and possibly even if you haven’t), you’ve heard of Carl Jung. He was a renowned psychologist whose work in the 1940s led to the development of personality archetypes. Jung believed that all humans could be categorized into one of these common “buckets” that are based on the dominant goals of each. As we look at his work, it almost seems like common sense. Of course there are commonalities among people, we encounter them every day. But the brilliance of his work lies in the strength of the archetypes and their ability to predict certain behavior based on the values tied to those dominant goals.
While it’s all very fascinating, modern marketers have applied his theories to common brand values, resulting in 12 brand archetypes. It completely geeks me out to think that someone came up with this brilliant twist on Jung’s work!
The idea behind brand archetypes is identical to Jung’s theories about human personalities. They are relatable at a subconscious level because they so clearly represent people—or in this case, brands—that we have all observed or interacted with. And because they are relatable, people feel like they know what to expect from them. This builds trust, and in turn, loyalty. And in the world of branding, loyalty equals dollar signs.
So how does it all work? Let’s take a look at the brand archetypes and their characteristics, and I’ll share some examples along the way.
Characteristics of the Brand Archetypes
There are 12 brand archetypes, but they can be categorized into four overarching types with similar goals. The Creator, the Ruler, and the Caregiver all aim to provide structure to people’s lives—albeit in different ways. The Innocent, the Sage, and the Explorer all relate to the spiritual side of people. The Outlaw, the Magician, and the Hero speak to people’s desire to leave a legacy. The Lover, the Jester, and the Everyman are all about connecting people to each other.
The descriptions below are amalgamated from many sources; however, you’ll find some of my own thoughts included!
The Creator has a vision that guides development of their products or services. They’re the early adopters that push the boundaries and think outside the box. They also encourage others to think creatively to solve problems. The most famous example of the Creator brand archetype is Apple. With their tagline of “Think Different,” the brand embodies the goal of innovation and creative expression.
The Ruler
Dominant goal: control
Adjectives: commanding, refined, trustworthy, articulate, confident, and yes—controlling
The Ruler embraces rules, especially the ones they make. They are strong leaders who will defend their position of power. It’s not surprising that Apple’s main competitor, Microsoft, is categorized as a Ruler. They have established themselves as the authority in every aspect of computer technology and have a reputation of being extremely trustworthy.
The Caregiver has a desire to help others. They have sparkling reputations as champions of those less fortunate or those who cannot care for themselves, like babies. As such, Pampers is a Caregiver brand. They are all about nurturing our most defenseless people and making their lives better.
The Innocent desires to do the right thing and bring goodwill to others. Their positive outlook and focus on spreading joy make them easy to embrace. My favorite brand, Coca-Cola, is an Innocent brand. Their branding is all about bringing people together and enjoying life. (Remember this great ad?)
The Sage believes that the truth will set you free. They don’t necessarily want to change the world themselves, but they’re happy to empower others to do so. They are acknowledged thought leaders who share information freely. TED (you know, like TED Talks) is a great example of the Sage archetype. They empower people to share their knowledge and make a difference in each others’ lives.
The Explorer wants to set off into uncharted territory and make great discoveries. They’re brave to leave the norm behind and are constantly chasing excitement. I want to be high class and say that National Geographic is a great example of the Explorer, but I really think of Jeep first. Their brand is all about getting outside the routine and having adventures.
While liberation and freedom are similar concepts, the Outlaw differs from the Explorer in that they actively seek to break the rules. The Outlaw can be off-putting to the masses, but they create a cult-like following with extremely loyal customers. Harley-Davidson is the most often cited example of the Outlaw.
The Magician wants to turn everyone’s dreams into reality. They live by their vision and often keep their knowledge to themselves to make it happen. Disney is the classic example of the Magician brand archetype. They focus on creating magical moments for their customers and transforming seemingly routine activities (going to the movies, taking a family vacation) into powerful experiences.
The Hero wants to make a difference and solve problems. They tend to see things in black and white, right and wrong, and they rise to meet challenges through hard work and determination. Nike embodies all these characteristics perfectly! Their emphasis on the hard work behind being a successful athlete—no matter your level—sets them apart from their competitors.
The Lover wants to be desirable and appeals to their audience through emotional and physical means. They represent an intimate connection, not necessarily sexual but definitely romantic. Some Lover brands are obvious, like Victoria’s Secret, but others are more subtle, like Chanel. Both brands emphasize a romantic view of life and suggest that their products will bring desire into your world.
We all know a Jester type—the class clown who loves being the center of attention and making people laugh. Similarly, Jester brands want to maintain playfulness and bring people together through fun. Strangely enough, Old Spice now embodies this brand archetype. (8-year-old me would never have thought my dad’s deodorant was fun…)
The Everyman is just one of the guys. They aren’t extreme in any way, but they strive to belong and be liked by everyone. It’s a tough archetype to be in because if there’s nothing special about you, people might forget you’re there. Ford is the embodiment of the Everyman, with their good ol’ boy marketing and their strong association with the lifestyle of the average American.
Determining Your Brand Archetype
You’ve probably already found that you relate to some of the archetypes above. Just be sure that your archetype aligns with your values and vision. Embracing these foundational aspects of your brand not only helps you differentiate from your competitors but also strengthens your relationship with your audience.
When your archetype is aligned with your target audience and their pain points, desires, and needs, you’re literally speaking their language. The archetypes allow us to move beyond a logical choice and impact our audience’s emotions. Once you dive deep into the feelings you want to induce, you’ll be able to find the archetype that fits.
But what if you relate to more than one archetype? That’s totally ok! But it is wise to choose one main archetype to relate your brand to, while using the secondary archetype to help build out your brand identity.
Building Your Brand Identity
Now that you’ve identified your brand archetype, you can get even more specific and create your brand identity. While most brands fit into one of the archetypes, your brand’s unique “personality” is what guides your interactions.
Although it might feel weird, giving your brand human characteristics is necessary for dialing in its identity. Think about a movie character based on your brand. What do they look like? How do they speak? What do they like or dislike? Each brand archetype has some typical adjectives associated with it, but dig even deeper. Don’t settle for surface-level descriptors.
If you can build out a full description of your brand’s human characteristics, you can build a profile that others can use. For example, if you’re hiring a copywriter to create content for your blog, you’ll be able to give them the inspiration for your brand identity so that they fully understand the brand’s voice. The same idea applies to social media managers, graphic designers… anyone who will be speaking on behalf of your brand.
I feel like I could go on analyzing brands and their archetypes forever, but I do have to sleep sometime! Give me a shout if you want to discuss your brand (or just wax on about the brands of the world).
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Sometimes it’s ok to just post on social media. Other times, you might want to send an email to reach people. But if you really want to create an impact for your business, you need a coordinated effort on multiple fronts.
A multichannel marketing campaign uses different marketing channels—like social media, email, landing pages, and yes, direct mail—to reach potential customers. To build an effective campaign, there are several key components you need to consider.
Campaign Goals
What is it that you want to achieve with this campaign? Never go into a campaign without a clear, specific goal in mind! If possible, choose only one main goal. If you are trying to achieve too much with a single campaign, it can be increasingly difficult succeed.
Your goals will define some of the other aspects of your campaign. If you want to generate new leads, you’ll have a different set of priorities than if you’re trying to increase brand awareness. Campaigns can also aim to boost sales, introduce new products or services to existing customers, or encourage customer engagement.
Target Audience
We’ve discussed target audience before—this is your ideal customer. You want to market to a group who share similar characteristics, interests, behaviors, and pain points. Depending on your campaign goals, you might want to segment your list into smaller groups so that you can speak to them even more specifically.
For most companies, you will either build your own prospect list or obtain a list from a data broker. To build your own list, you can collect information from cart abandonments, social media, trade shows or other events, and of course, from previous customers. One issue with building your own list is collecting accurate data that includes email and mailing addresses. If you choose to rent or purchase a list, you’ll incur extra costs but receive a vetted list with accurate information.
Marketing Channels
First, you should analyze the channels you have available to use. If you have a website, you should have the ability to build landing pages to capture leads. If your website has a blog, you can use content marketing to weave campaign-related information into your posts. Most businesses have some existing social media channels, but maybe this campaign is the chance to start on a new platform to further your reach.
Outside of your own resources, paid advertising is available on most digital channels. You can buy ad space on other websites, social media, email newsletters, etc. as well as streaming services. Depending on your budget and goals, you could also consider buying space in physical locations like magazines, billboards, and newspapers. Event sponsorship is yet another avenue to get the word out about your campaign. And of course, we all have the U.S. Postal Service as a resource to send direct mail.
Budget
Speaking of money, your budget is the other main constraint on your campaign possibilities. If you only have $200 to spend, you’re not going to include advertising on subway trains in your campaign. Fortunately, the digital age has facilitated a wide variety of free marketing channels for small businesses.
Don’t be afraid to spend money to achieve your goals, though. So many businesses are reluctant to pay for direct mail, for example. But you always need to consider the return on your investment! For $900, I can print and mail 600 oversized postcards. Direct mail has an average response rate of 9%, which would be 54 people in this example. If I get interest from 54 people, depending on my offer and price point, I can easily make back my $900 and then some! Once you consider the lifetime value of a customer, direct mail can have a major payout in terms of ROI.
Messaging and Content
Your message, which should be aligned with your campaign goals, absolutely must be consistent throughout the campaign. This doesn’t mean you have to use exactly the same words, but the tone, aesthetic, and impact of each touchpoint should remain consistent. All content that is created, whether graphics or copy, should be engaging and aim to resonate with your audience.
When it comes to content, use the differences between channels to your advantage! What works on Instagram (vibrant photos with helpful captions) isn’t going to work on your blog. As long as you’re keeping the message consistent, you can try new things on new channels.
Call to Action
What exactly do you want your audience to do next? We’re humans, which means that most of us dislike having to make decisions. At each touchpoint, you need to provide obvious next steps.
You can direct people to your website or landing with a link or a QR code. You can invite them to follow you on social media and post with a specific hashtag. You can tell them to spend all their money on your latest product line. Whatever you do, make sure they know what they are “supposed” to do next.
Timeline
You need to develop a timeline that contains specific dates (and when applicable, times) for each touchpoint of your campaign. You should also build a content calendar that outlines content creation, publishing, and promotion.
It’s also helpful to include details in your timeline around aspects you can’t control. For example, if you have a direct mail piece mailing on a specific date, estimate how long it will take for the piece to land in mailboxes. You can then plan your follow-up email to reach your audience after they’ve seen the direct mail piece.
Analytics
Your campaign is almost pointless if you can’t measure its success. I say almost because if you made money, then yay! But did you achieve your goal or just break even? Your campaign needs to be tracked so that you know what you do or don’t want to repeat in the future. If your campaign is long enough, you can also course correct in the middle if it is really tanking. If you need to make changes, you can adjust the audience segments, the content, the channels you’re using, or the message (your offer, your call to action, etc.).
My suggestion is to measure as much as relates to your campaign goals. If your goal is brand awareness, measure how many followers you’ve gained and how many views your website gets. If your goal is to increase sales, that’s an easy one to track. So is tracking new leads. But don’t forget to also track some of the behind-the-scenes analytics too.
For example, you’d still want to see how many hits your landing page got if you’re trying to obtain new leads. What if you have 750 hits to your landing page, but only 7 new leads? A 0.9% conversion rate doesn’t sound right to me, so I’d wonder if you need to make your offer more enticing. There’s interest from your audience, but something is holding them back from giving you their information. Next time, go even further and offer them something they feel is worth giving out their email address!
Putting It All Together
As you can see, there are a lot of moving parts when you’re planning a campaign. Not to mention the time, skill, and resources it takes to launch and monitor a successful campaign. If you need help with any or all of these parts, get in touch! I’m always happy to help, even if you just have a question about something. 🙂
Looking to develop your content strategy? You’re not alone. According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. Around a third have a loose, undocumented strategy, and 27% have no strategy at all. Why does this matter?
Since the pandemic, content usage has increased by 207%. People are searching online every minute to find the answers to questions that your business can answer! Providing quality content to assist them is a key tactic to drive business. But you have to be intentional about what content you create, where you post it, and how you create it.
To help develop your content strategy, answer these 14 questions:
Identifying Your Target Audience
Who is my ideal client? Hopefully you have a current client who is just a dream to work with. But if you don’t, imagine what they would be like. Picture the field they work in and what their daily responsibilities include. Do some sleuthing online to see what these people likely care about when it comes to their work. (Or if you’re a B2C business, figure out the circumstances that would lead to them buying your product or service for their personal use.) You need to know as much as you can about your ideal client so that you know you are speaking their language.
Which of their pain points can I speak to? I separated this out from the above because it’s critical to understand how your business can solve your clients’ problems. A pain point is a problem that they are currently having, without an obvious solution. (Or maybe it is obvious and they just haven’t done it?) Once you know who you’re talking to and what problems you’re solving for them, you’ve got a path to start creating content.
How do I want my audience to view me? This should be an easy question to answer if you have been faithful to The 10 Commandments of Branding. If you have an established brand mission, vision, values, and voice, then you know how you want to be viewed. If you don’t… time to do some homework!
Planning and Creating Content
Why do I want to post about this? When you start creating content, this is a crucial question to ask yourself. Is this content really helpful, or do you just like talking about it? I mean, I’m a huge fan of pop punk music, but that doesn’t relate to marketing (or does it?) so I won’t be blogging about it. Make sure your content falls into one of these categories:
Educate—teaches your audience something new
Inspire—encourages your audience
Entertain—evokes emotion in your audience
Does this help position me as an expert? Continuing the above example, my love of My Chemical Romance isn’t going to paint me as an expert in marketing. Evaluate your content ideas and be sure that they relate to your business offerings. Showcase your expertise in your field, which you’ve gained over years of education and experience.
What pain point is this solving for my idea client? Not every piece of content have to solve one of your clients’ problems. But 80% of your content should fall in the “educate” category, so most of it should relate to something specific that they are struggling with. Consider those pain points you established above and think of content you can provide that eases the pain. A good tip I like to remember is to tell people WHAT they should do, but not always HOW they should do it. You should be providing value and helpful answers, but if you give away all your secrets they won’t need your business!
How can my content usher my audience through the sales funnel? You should create a wide variety of content that helps people at all the various stages of your sales funnel, including those who are already clients. Here’s a quirky little secret: instead of a funnel, I like to picture an onion. The outer layer is a little flaky, like the people who are just skimming to see what’s out there. They don’t really know what they’re doing, so you need to tell them what’s up. The next layer is a little bit thicker, for people who know what’s going on but aren’t ready to buy. They might have specific questions but aren’t in a position to engage with you directly. Even thicker is the next layer, for the people who know exactly what they need and are trying to identify the best option. This group needs proof of your expertise and signals that you are the right choice (case studies, testimonials, etc.). The thickest, innermost layer is for your current clients. Even though they are already buying from you, they can still learn new things and be inspired and entertained by your content.
What’s the best format for this content? If I tried to make this blog post as an Instagram reel instead, it would never work. There’s way too much detail. Conversely, if I tried to make a blog post out of an inspirational quote (which I typically post on Insta), it would be ridiculous. Take some time to flesh out your idea a bit and visualize what format fits best.
Choosing Publishing Platforms
Where does my audience spend their time online? Back to your ideal client—where do they hang out? Are they reading about the best fishing spots in North America? Are they watching makeup tutorials on YouTube? Are they scrolling through TikTok at 1am? The more you can find out about your audience’s habits and preferences, the better you can serve up your content in the way and location they want. (Not to mention that if they are searching for you, their go-to sources will be able to find you too.)
What platforms am I comfortable learning and using? It doesn’t matter if your audience spends all their time on TikTok if you’re not comfortable using it! (Can TikTok even be used for a business? Short answer: YES!) If you’re not already on the platforms that your audience prefers, check them out and see if you can understand them and get behind using them. If not, don’t include them in your strategy. (Or outsource… more on that below.) It’s also not important to be on every social media channel plus a blog plus a podcast… If you spread yourself too thin, it’s pointless anyway. Find out where your audience is, evaluate your comfort in using that format, and choose where you’re going to be.
Establishing Your Process
Where can I look for inspiration? Before you can create valuable content, you have to consume valuable content. This doesn’t mean you should look at your competitors’ blogs and rip them off. Great ideas can come from anywhere, especially other industries and entertainment sources. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, research fine art sources for inspiration. Or look within your industry at other vendors. Maybe a wedding cakery will inspire your next great Instagram post.
How much effort am I willing to put into my content strategy? Not gonna lie, this all takes a lot of time. If you’re new to creating graphics or writing blogs, there’s also a learning curve you’ll have to experience. How much time are you willing to invest in developing your content strategy and the tactical execution of your plan? Be realistic, because the best laid plans mean nothing if you can’t get the content published.
What tools can I afford to use? There’s a wide range of tools available for creating graphics, scheduling social media, posting blogs, even drafting content. Some are free, while others cost big bucks. How much can you invest in these tools to bring your strategy to life? Or can you outsource as a “tool” instead?
Should I consider outsourcing to a pro? According to the Content Marketing Institute, half of all marketers outsource at least some of their content creation. If this list is overwhelming to you and you don’t know where to begin, consider finding a marketer to partner with. Even if you can answer some of these questions but don’t have the time or resources to activate your strategy, reach out. You may find that it’s more cost effective (whether in terms of money or time) to outsource.
In recent years, video has become the most compelling media format for most audiences. Specifically, short videos have the capability to engage before the audience loses interest. In fact, according to Woosuite, the short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy at 30%.
When working with clients, I use a 7-step video ad production process to develop the best video for their advertisements. Paired with the strategy to have that video reach the appropriate audience, these videos accomplish great things! Some of these steps have “sub-steps” to them, but the seven below are the main buckets of the process.
Step 1: Hold the Discovery Meeting
Gathering all necessary information at the outset is critical to a successful campaign. If this is a new client, I collect all branding information about the client. I need to understand their mission and values to understand the underlying goals of their marketing. I request access to their logos as well as previous collateral to be able to match their voice (unless we’re pivoting with this campaign).
One of the most important areas is understanding the client’s target audience. Three things we need to know about the target audience: their pain points, what platforms they use, and what content resonates with them. These answers will guide specific messaging as well as dictate which ad platforms we deploy the video on.
Of course, it’s always helpful to determine the client’s ad budget in advance so that we’re prepared later on when it’s time to deploy. This is the amount they are willing to devote to the ad appearing on each platform.
Step 2: Plan the Video
Planning is a seemingly easy task. You just write a script and film it, right? The reality is that there are many moving parts that must come together before you write a single word.
Identifying a speaker (or speakers) will guide the tone of the video. Will it be two people playing off each other’s words? Will it be a single person speaking directly into the camera? Then there is the location to consider. What type of setting is appropriate for your video? Will you need B-roll footage? Or on-screen graphics to overlay onto the video?
Writing the script is often the last piece in the puzzle once all these other questions are answered. But even this task isn’t as simple as it seems. You must write in the brand’s voice but also make it natural for whoever will be delivering the lines. It’s a balance, and takes skill (and usually several drafts) to get it right.
Step 3: Film the Video
Whether you’re filming on a iPhone (don’t laugh, they have great capabilities!) or on a more professional camera, you’ll likely need some extra equipment to achieve the best results. First, test your setup and see whether you need a tripod (yes), auxiliary mics (probably), or other accessories. Plan to use a teleprompter app or cue cards so that the speakers aren’t focused on remembering a long script.
When you’re ready to start shooting, be aware of the lighting and make sure your subject is lit well with no competing light sources. Shoot as many takes as necessary to get your speaker comfortable with the process. While filming, keep in mind where you might have breaks, voiceovers, and B-roll. You can splice different takes together when editing, but only if the splices are at appropriate times.
Be sure to play back your captures onsite so that you can evaluate whether more takes are necessary. Check the video footage, listen to the audio and see if there is unwanted ambient noise, etc. “We’ll fix it in post” is a foolish assumption! It’s much harder to alter the video and audio after the fact than it is to get it right in the moment.
Step 4: Edit the Video and Graphics
I’m a big fan of using Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing, but there are so many professional settings that it can be overwhelming if you’re not used to it. A simpler program, like Adobe Rush, might be easier if you’re just starting out. You won’t have as many options for creating transitions and placing graphics, but there are basic options and captions available.
Whatever editing program you decide to use, hopefully you won’t have to touch up too many areas within the video or audio feeds. At this point, you’ll cut your scenes, insert B-roll and voiceovers, and add any graphics you’ve planned. Make sure you save your working file so that you can edit minor details after all stakeholders have seen the draft!
Step 5: Set Up the Ad(s)
Each platform you use will have different settings for your ad setup. LinkedIn requires different information than Facebook, and both differ from website-specific specifications. However, there are commonalities that you can plan for in advance. Most likely you’ll need a headline, body copy, your video, and a call to action.
Usually you can set either a daily budget or a lifetime budget for the duration of the ad. I like to set a lifetime budget because there is more flexibility in how the ad is shown to users.
You’ll also be able to set up audience parameters in most platforms so that your ad will be seen by the right people! This is a fuzzy area, because often the budget will dictate how many people you target instead of the other way around. Fortunately, most platforms will provide a forecast based on the number of people in your audience and the amount of money you’re spending. Play with your parameters, including geographic location, to find the sweet spot based on your desired results. (For example, if you’re hoping for 50 clicks to your landing page each day, play with the parameters until the forecast is in that range.)
Step 6: Deploy the Ad(s)
Hit publish, submit, whatever! This is the easiest—but possibly most terrifying—step.
Step 7: Track the Ad(s)
Without tracking the performance of your ads, you won’t know how well they are doing and if they were worth it in the first place. Every platform provides analytics to show how many times the ad was seen (impressions), how many individual people saw your ad, how much you spent per day, etc. Some platforms even tell you how much of the video was seen. This is powerful feedback that directly relates to your video content!
I recommend using a landing page to direct people to with your call to action. The landing page might be additional information to expand on your video, or it could be a purchase page if your call to action was directly asking them to buy. It could also be a form that they fill out to receive some free content. Whatever the goal of your ad is, the landing page is where it should happen.
The beauty of the landing page is that you can track exactly how many people went through with the process. This is opposed to the metrics given by the ad platform, which can only tell you that they clicked through to the landing page. If you had 427 people click through but only received 19 forms, I’d conclude that your ad worked wonderfully but your landing page or the offer itself is lacking.
I hope you find this 7-step process helpful! I’d love to hear feedback on your own process and whether this helped!
