14 Steps To Becoming A Content Marketing Machine

When it comes to content marketing, there’s no easy way to do it you just have to get started. Build a plan, execute on that plan, learn from your successes and failures, and continually iterate. 

Fortunately, we’re here to help you at every step of the way. 

Whether you’re looking for ways to ramp up your content creation or understand how SEO works or how to craft high-converting CTAs and landing pages, we’ve got all the steps covered in this exhaustive list designed just for you!

Beginners Guide To Content Marketing 2020 – YouTube
Takeaways
1. Understand Your Audience and Goals
2. Develop a Clear Content Strategy
3. Create High-Quality and Valuable Content
4. Consistently Publish and Share Content
5. Leverage SEO for Improved Visibility
6. Use Social Media to Amplify Reach
7. Build a Strong Email Marketing Campaign
8. Invest in Visual and Multimedia Content
9. Collaborate with Influencers and Partners
10. Utilize Data Analytics for Insights

Step 1: Define Your Target Audience

The first step in becoming a content marketing machine is to determine your target audience. Who are you talking to? What are their demographics? Are they male or female? Young or old? 

You might think that your audience is everyone, but this isn’t always true. There’s a difference between “everyone” and the people who have an interest in what you have to say.

Once you’ve defined your audience, think about their interests, pain points, goals and expectations. What challenges do they face on a daily basis? 

What questions do they have about the topic at hand that would make them better equipped to meet those challenges? These are all things that will help inform how you create content for them moving forward.

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Step 2: Research Your Competition

Now that you’ve defined the purpose of your content, it’s time to identify your competition.

While this step might seem simple at first glance, it can actually be very challenging because there are hundreds of thousands of blogs out there in the world and many of them cover similar topics as yours. 

You’ll want to find out what they’re doing and how they’re doing it so that you can stand out from the crowd when creating new content for your audience.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

Who are my competitors?

What types of content do they create? How often do they publish? What kind of distribution channels do they use? Are their pieces ever shared on social media or do they stay focused on their website traffic alone? 

Do they have any unique features (like videos or infographics) that I don’t have access to yet in order for me to create better quality content than theirs is now?

How big is my competitor’s following compared with mine currently (and realistically speaking if I wanted them all switched over tomorrow)? 

What kind of resources does each brand have available when creating new posts how much does it cost them per month/year compared with what type of budget would need if I wanted comparable results too!

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Step 3: Design A Content Marketing Strategy That Actually Works

The first two steps are all about understanding your audience and creating a brand voice. But now that you’ve got those things nailed down, it’s time to put together a content strategy that will be effective for your company. 

And if you want to do that, you need to know exactly who you’re targeting with each piece of content.

This may seem obvious, but one mistake many brands make is assuming that they can appeal to everybody at once and end up appealing to nobody in particular! 

Instead of trying to please everyone, think about who makes up your core audience and then create content specifically for them. 

For example, if most of your customers are parents between 30–45 years old with young children (like me!).

Then don’t waste time blogging about how much fun it is working as an accountant during tax season or advising other people on how they should manage their money better when they’re also buying diapers every week. 

These posts might seem interesting enough on paper but if they don’t meet my specific needs as someone who wants tips on saving money while raising children under five years old? Well…they’re probably not going anywhere near my Facebook feed anytime soon!

Once we have our target audience defined and know what kind of information we want them consuming from us regularly (i..e., “content”), then we can start thinking about where exactly those posts will go: Our blog? Social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram? 

Maybe even email newsletters sent directly into inboxes through MailChimp or Constant Contact? 

This process isn’t just limited by geography either; just because someone lives thousands of miles away doesn’t mean they won’t still be interested in reading articles published by another business nearby and vice versa!

Step 4: Link Up With Other Brands That Cater To The Same Audience As You

Another way to cater to your audience is by linking up with other brands that cater to the same audience as you. 

This can be a great way to get the word out about what you’re doing, and it’s also a good way for other brands in your niche to learn from each other and help each other grow.

This step is really easy. First, find out who your competitors are. If there are any blogs or websites that write about similar things as you do (but not in exactly the same way), make sure they are included on this list of competitors. 

If there are no direct competitors, look at what your biggest influencers are doing you might have one or two big names speaking highly of their work online already and include them on the list too!

Next up: research those sites with an eye toward figuring out how they get traffic and why people like them so much (or don’t). Is it because their content is better than yours? Then figure out how YOU can make YOUR content better! 

Is it because the site has more resources than YOU do? Maybe ask THEM if THEY will share YOUR work somehow…and then maybe give THEM some credit for helping spread YOUR message! 

Remember: these relationships should be mutually beneficial if possible; everyone wins when everyone wins!

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Step 5: Diversify Your Content Types

The fifth step to becoming a content marketing machine is to diversify your content types.

There are many different types of content, but they can be divided into three categories: informative, entertaining and relationship-building. Informative content refers to blog posts and articles that offer information or advice on a particular topic. 

Entertaining content includes videos and images that will entertain your audience, such as funny memes or lighthearted how-to guides. 

Relationship-building refers to anything you write or produce using the goal of building relationships with your readers/viewers/consumers, such as guest blogging posts for other websites (which I would advocate should be avoided at this point in your career).

It’s important for every marketer who wants to become a machine that they understand these three main types of content because each type has its own unique purpose within the realm of digital marketing strategy. 

For example: It wouldn’t make sense for an SEO expert selling SEO services online via email marketing campaigns if all they did was create informative emails about their service offerings; however it would make complete sense if they created entertaining emails instead!

Step 6: Create A Content Creation Calendar For Your Blog And Social Media Channels

Creating a content calendar is the first step to becoming a content machine. You need to know what you’re going to publish, when it will be published, and where it will be published.

A simple Google Docs spreadsheet can do the trick if you don’t want to invest in a tool like CoSchedule or Hootsuite (which are great tools). 

Just remember that having all of your content in one place makes it easy for others and yourself! to see what’s happening at any given time.

Using your calendar:

Keep track of deadlines so there are no surprises come launch time! Don’t forget about holidays either; many businesses shut down during these times so make sure those dates are accounted for on your calendar.

Plan ahead by scheduling emails and posts weeks before they go out so people can engage with them before their arrival date! 

This gives readers some time to digest whatever information was included within the emails/posts themselves too; giving readers more than just one hour per day might seem impossible but don’t worry because…

You’ll never have trouble finding something new again thanks t he power afforded by tools like Hootsuite (https://hootsuite .com/) which lets users manage multiple social media accounts from one dashboard interface perfect for anyone trying t o keep up with multiple blogs/websites/etcetera simultaneously

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Step 7: Find The Right Blogging Tools & Resources To Ease Your Workflow

You’ve already decided on your topic, researched it, and written your first post. Now comes the part where you actually publish it. 

And if you’ve done all this before which I’m guessing you have because you’re reading this article you know how much time and energy can be wasted in the process of getting a blog post out there.

The problem is that most people use tools like WordPress or Medium to create content for their blogs, but these tools were never designed for that purpose they were built for writing articles and sharing them on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. 

That means there are usually extra steps involved when publishing a post from those sites: formatting text using HTML (a coding language), uploading images manually (or through an external tool), checking things over again before hitting “publish”…the list goes on and on!

But by using the right tools at each step along the way especially when creating new blogs posts you’ll find yourself saving time while simultaneously improving your overall workflow as an online marketer.

Step 8: Optimize Your Website For SEO

Optimizing your website for search engines is the eighth step to becoming a content marketing machine. Now that you’ve created content and built up your audience, it’s time to make sure that when people search for what you offer, they find you.

This is an important part of content marketing because if someone searches Google looking for “best coffee shops in Vancouver” and they see your coffee shop as one of the top results on page one, they’re going to click on it. Maybe even more than once! 

That means more traffic and conversions for you – all from optimization efforts that took minimal effort on your part.

So how does SEO work? And how do I optimize my site? It’s true that this subject can be very technical but there are lots of resources online about getting started with SEO if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself (and I recommend hiring out at least some of these tasks).

Step 9: Run Paid Search Campaigns on Google AdWords, Bing Ads & Facebook Ads

You’ve put in the hard work to create amazing content and now it’s time to reap the benefits. Paid search platforms like Google AdWords, Bing Ads & Facebook Ads enable you to find new customers by paying a fee every time someone clicks on your ads.

Here are three things to know about paid search:

Google AdWords is the most popular paid search platform. It can be used as an incredible resource to drive traffic and conversions or as a way to test out keywords for organic SEO campaigns (which we will discuss later on).

Facebook Ads is one of the best ways for businesses that sell products or services through their website (and not just social media) because it allows you to use targeting options that allow you to market directly to people who have already shown interest in your brand. 

For example, if I ran a local business selling jewelry from my store downtown, I could target women within 5 miles who are engaged in wedding planning activities like looking at wedding blogs or attending bridal shows with specific keywords related to “wedding jewelry” or even “engagement rings.”

Step 10. Use Email Marketing To Engage With Your Audience

Email is still the most effective way to reach your audience, and it can help you improve customer engagement in a variety of ways.

Use email to introduce your brand to new customers. If you’re just getting started with content marketing, or if you have a new product or service that hasn’t been on the market for long, use email to introduce yourself and let people know what they can expect from working with you. 

Don’t forget about personalizing this message by including information about where they live or what industry they work in you want them to feel like this message is coming from someone who cares about them!

Use email to build a relationship with existing customers. Once people are familiar with what you do (and how awesome it is).

Send them important announcements through email that include links back to related blog posts on your website so that they stay up-to-date on industry news without leaving their inboxes!

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Step 11. Use Social Media To Spread Awareness & Build Relationships With Customers And Users Alike

Social media is the perfect platform to spread awareness, build relationships, and engage with your customers and users alike. You should leverage social media to:

Share your content across various platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Post images, videos, and links that are relevant to what you’re trying to sell. 

And don’t forget about using the right hashtags! They’ll help people find you on these platforms much easier than just posting stuff in a vacuum.

Engage with your customers directly through customer service channels like Twitter or Facebook Messenger (which can also be used as live chat). 

If people have questions about something you’ve posted or want more information about one of your products or services, this is where they’ll reach out and it’s your chance to show off how awesome you are by responding quickly and providing helpful answers!

Build relationships with both current customers who might become advocates for your brand down the line (by engaging them) as well as potential new leads that may come from those interactions (by providing value). 

The goal here should be establishing trust between each party involved; otherwise, there won’t be much incentive for anyone involved in future interactions either now or later on down the road when someone else might need help making purchasing decisions.

So they can refer them back over again too (which would make sense given all this effort put into building rapport beforehand).

Step 12. Create Share-Worthy Visuals Using Canva & Other Online Graphic Design Resources

In this step, we will show you how to use Canva. If you’re looking for other tools that can help you create graphics and visuals, check out our list here.

Create your visual using the Canva editor. You’ll see that there are tons of different templates available in a variety of formats (image, video, social media). 

Select one and customize it with your text and images! It’s really easy to do: just drag them into place or resize them using the handles on each side.

Once your image is done, save it as either a JPEG or PNG file on your computer so that you can upload it somewhere like Facebook or Instagram later on (both require JPG files).

Step 13. Get Help On Fiverr And Upwork

You can hire freelancers to do the boring stuff that you don’t want to do, like finding and purchasing stock photos or handling customer service questions. There are a variety of ways to find candidates on both websites, but here are some tips:

Search for keywords in your industry (such as “content marketing”). It’ll narrow down results so you’re only seeing relevant people.

Look for their portfolios and check out their work history. Do they have experience in your niche? Have they done anything similar before? Is it good enough quality that you’d be comfortable paying them?

Don’t forget about Google Images! You can search for free images from Google Images instead of paying someone else for them. Just make sure that if there’s any text on the image, it’s properly licensed (and free).

Step 14. Repurpose Older Content Over Time To Save Time And Money Rather Than Starting From Scratch Every Time

If you have older content that still has value and is still getting good traffic, you can repurpose it into newer versions of the same content. For example, let’s say your blog post about how to use your phone for photography got 10,000 views. 

You can take that information and turn it into a 2-minute video tutorial on YouTube or an infographic with pictures from the image search results that show up when people search “how to use my phone for photography.”

This strategy will save you time because you don’t have to start from scratch every time you’ll already have written some or all of the original web page and it will save money if there are costs associated with creating new forms of media.

Conclusion

Once you’ve chosen the type of content you want to produce, now it’s time for some research. Find out who your audience is and where they are congregating online. 

This will help determine what types of content to create as well as how often you should be publishing new articles or videos (or whatever mediums you choose).

Further Reading

Here are some additional resources to help you dive deeper into building a successful content marketing machine:

HubSpot: Tips to Build a Marketing Content Machine

Short Description: Explore HubSpot’s expert insights on constructing a powerful marketing content machine that drives engagement and growth.

Buffer: 37 Tips and Resources for Building a Fine-Tuned Content Marketing Machine from the Ground Up

Short Description: Buffer provides a comprehensive guide with 37 practical tips and resources to help you establish a finely tuned content marketing machine.

Entrepreneur: The 13 Tools You Need to Build a Content Marketing Machine

Short Description: Discover the essential tools recommended by Entrepreneur to efficiently build and manage your content marketing endeavors.

FAQs

How can I start building a content marketing machine?

Building a content marketing machine begins with defining your target audience, setting clear goals, and creating a content strategy that aligns with your objectives.

What role does automation play in content marketing?

Automation tools help streamline content distribution, social media scheduling, and email campaigns, allowing you to focus more on creating quality content.

How do I measure the success of my content marketing efforts?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, engagement metrics, lead generation, and conversion rates can gauge the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy.

What are some effective ways to generate content ideas?

Engaging in keyword research, analyzing competitor content, conducting customer surveys, and staying updated on industry trends can inspire fresh and relevant content ideas.

How do I ensure consistency in my content marketing?

Creating an editorial calendar, setting publishing schedules, and maintaining a cohesive brand voice across different platforms contribute to maintaining consistent content delivery.