But Inbound Marketing is not limited to the content production stage: an effective strategy requires the implementation of rigorous tools and processes to attract people seeking information on your subjects of expertise, to demonstrate your expert status, and above all to make them want to take action (contact form, reservation, order).
Here are the key points and steps to follow to develop a lead generation strategy around content production:
1. Define specific targets for your content
The first step before embarking on content production, and even before defining which topics you want to speak about, is to define targets. Simple? Not always. You know your customers thanks to your CRM software and databases, but a content strategy may not be aimed at the same type of people. You need to take this opportunity to rethink your targets, or if you keep the same ones, refine them.
Inbound marketing can help you reach a different customer base. You can deliberately choose to address certain functions of the company or certain sectors of activity that are neglected on offline channels. Define your priorities. In the light of the target profiles identified, you must then devise suitable content and make it coincide with the interests of these targets. The questions you need to ask at this stage are: what topics are your targets interested in? How will you "keep them" on the site? What are their preferred communication tools? What social networks are they on?
2. Have a publication schedule and an editorial charter
You have drawn up a typical portrait of your targets. The main themes to be presented to them have also been determined. Now you need to define an editorial charter and a publication schedule:
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- Who is the expert on which topic? Who can (should) speak on a topic? Define your experts and their fields of action, and how they will pass on their knowledge. Will they write the content themselves? Will it be written by an external web editor, an agency, by one person in-house?
- What tone will you adopt? What is the chronology of topics? What will be your publication rhythm? You need a battle plan with a "tunnel" view of your publications. The clearer you can see the weeks ahead, the smoother the creative process will be.
Be careful, defining a publication schedule and an editorial charter does not mean setting a strategy in stone and then never returning to it. Keep in mind that current events, unforeseen events, or even a major fact in your sector can impact your content. Therefore, a very precise vision beyond three months is not necessary.
3. Optimise your referencing
Of course, producing quality content on your favourite subjects will contribute positively to your natural referencing. But this is not enough! Behind the websites that have a good referencing hides a thorough technical optimisation: the choice of a server, a domain name, the hierarchy of contents or the writing of meta tags... A referencing audit of your site can help you to optimise these technical elements. It is necessary to follow the evolution of your referencing in a regular way since the algorithms of positioning change constantly.
This technical optimisation of your site is essential to the long-term success of your Inbound Marketing strategy. There is no point in producing quality content that no one will find. In fact, if you don't have visibility, your desire to produce content will wane because of the lack of results.
4. Bring your content to life with a communication process
Once content is published on your website, its digital life begins. Define your communication process around this content: how to promote it? Which channel will be the most effective in reaching the targets defined above? Mailing, newsletter, sharing on social networks?
Should an article be revealed in full or in pieces? Using certain platforms for teasing? It is essential to think about this process of relaying articles, as it will determine the success of your Inbound Marketing strategy.
5. Be interesting... but above all, be engaging!
If you think that a topic is not captivating enough or that it will not keep the readers' attention, change the angle and try to find a relevant entry key. The titles and illustrations of articles are the first levers of engagement for your readers.
Secondly, always keep information "under your belt". Provide useful material without delivering everything. Deal with specific and circumscribed subjects that respond to the concerns of your targets in a logical progression. Always give them the opportunity to find out more, either by subscribing to your newsletter or your company page on social networks, or by taking part in a webinar... Or by contacting you directly by email or telephone. In short, make sure you create a relationship with your readers and generate interactions with them so that they enter your funnel: only then will your (quality) content become a real lead generator!
The webinar is an essential inbound communication tool: through its audience and its content, it can generate many leads. Find out how in this webinar:
