During 2020, the problems people were trying to solve changed. Behaviors evolved. Priorities shifted.
So it’s no surprise that 94 percent of professionals surveyed by the Content Marketing Institute changed their content strategy during the pandemic. Content as usual won’t work when business is anything but usual. To remain relevant, adapt.
The pandemic is an extreme example, but relevance always matters. You can’t attract an audience or nurture prospects without it. So prioritize it in your content strategy. Here are three starting points.
1. You have more data now. Use it.
Digital acceleration is a buzzword now for a reason. From retail to restaurants to financial services, businesses and customers have rapidly adapted to increased digital interaction and transactions.
If you have data management and marketing automation systems in place, now’s the time to use them. Every new digital touchpoint is a chance for you to understand your audience. For content strategy, data allows you to build stronger, more specific audience profiles. It reveals critical issues and pressing problems — issues and problems you can address via helpful, relevant content.
2. Be channel-relevant.
Speaking of competitors, does data suggest your audience reads certain trade or consumer publications? Then perform a competitive content audit. What topics are those publications covering? And, more importantly, how? If there’s a lot of “news” in your field but not a lot of “how to” content, that might just be your niche to own, for instance.
Consider social media habits, too. A person reading a thought leadership post on LinkedIn is in a different mindset than someone seeking inspiration on Instagram. Your content strategy must account for this. A copy/paste strategy across channels is doomed to fail.
3. Be creative, but also be technical.
For marketers with a verbal background (I’m raising my hand), elements such as user experience (UX) or SEO can feel daunting. But a little knowledge — and a lot of listening to colleagues — goes a long way.
SEO research is not only to inform topic selection and taxonomy but also ensures you’re using the right metadata behind the scenes to attract attention. On the front end, well-crafted UX ensures users can find your relevant content swiftly, with little effort.
And then they’ll come back for more. That’s the power of relevance.
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