Businesses around the world are utilizing the power of content marketing to connect with their target audience, establish their brand authority, and ultimately drive success.
However, it's important to note that content marketing cannot guarantee immediate sales or overnight success. It takes time, effort, and consistency to see significant results.
In this article, we will discuss what content marketing can and cannot do, and what you can expect within the first 90, 180, and 365 days.
The first 90 days: Laying the foundation
During the initial three months, it is crucial to lay a strong foundation for your content marketing strategy. Take the time to understand your target audience, define your brand voice, and establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 28% of B2B marketers consider their organization extremely or very successful with content marketing. Here are the strategies they swear by:
Developing content strategies can feel like a never-ending guessing game, trying to understand your audience, set objectives, measure impact, document plans, and ensure everyone is on the same page. Setting up a content strategy doesn't have to be complicated. Consider these six questions:
- Who is your target audience?
- What topics or content pillars are you focusing on?
- When is the best time to reach your audience?
- Where does your audience spend their time online?
- Why is this content essential for them?
- How do you go about creating and managing the content?
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By consistently publishing high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and aligns with your strategy, you can expect to see an increase in website traffic and audience growth during the first 90 days.
Keep these key performance indicators in mind:
- Content quantity: Consistently publishing content allows you to gather valuable data and analytics that can be used to refine your content in the next stages.
- Content quality: Assess performance using metrics like bounce rate, time on page, and scroll depth.
- Website traffic: Track increases in visitors, paying attention to traffic sources.
- Audience growth: By consistently delivering high-quality content that resonates with your target audience, you can attract new followers and retain existing ones.
90-180 Days: Implementing your content strategy
In this stage, focus on building momentum and expanding your reach based on the insights you gathered in the previous step. Diversify your content types—blog posts, videos, infographics—and leverage various distribution channels to amplify your message. Engage with your audience on social media, respond to comments, and analyze data to refine your strategy continuously. Repurpose your best-performing content from the first 90 days.
Tip: Using marketing automation software can simplify the process, save time, and help you deliver targeted content that resonates with your audience.
What to expect at this time? Your content will start to rank higher in search engine results, driving organic traffic to your website. This increased visibility will ultimately lead to more leads and conversions for your business.BTW, content marketing generates 3x the amount of leads compared to traditional marketing, and costs 62% less!
Keep these key performance indicators in mind during the first 180 days:
- Conversion rate: Track the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
- Lead generation: Measure the number of leads generated through content downloads, newsletter sign-ups, etc.
- Engagement metrics: Monitor social media engagement, such as likes, shares, and comments.
- Channel-specific metrics: Dive deeper into social media analytics, email click-through rates, and other channel-specific data.
84% of B2B marketers report that the biggest challenge while measuring content performance is integrating/correlating data across multiple platforms. With StoryChief, you gather all content analytics in the same place where you create, distribute, and optimize content. Try it free.
180-365 Days: Scaling and optimizing for optimal results
In the next phase, it's important to scale your efforts by continuously optimizing your content. This involves refining your strategy, experimenting with new ideas, and staying up-to-date with industry trends. To do this effectively, consider performing a content audit to identify any gaps in your current content and areas for improvement.
What to expect by this time? By the end of the first year, your content marketing efforts will have paid off in spades. If executed consistently, you'll have built a loyal following of engaged readers who eagerly anticipate your next piece of content. Your brand will be top-of-mind for potential customers, and you'll have established a strong online presence that sets you apart from your competitors.
Here are some areas to optimize:
- Top-lead-generating content: Evaluate your top-performing content that generates leads and identify opportunities for enhancement. This could involve optimizing your SEO, expanding distribution channels, updating the lead magnet, or updating editorial content to keep it fresh and relevant.
- Top traffic content: Analyze the sources of top traffic that are not generating leads. Explore ways to improve conversion rates by optimizing landing pages, refining calls-to-action, or implementing lead capture forms.
- Content gaps: Assess any untapped potential in your content that can attract new audiences. Identify areas where you may need to create new content to fill gaps in your existing strategy.
During the 365 days, there are several key performance indicators (KPIs) to watch out for as you scale and optimize your content marketing efforts.
- Conversion rate: Measure the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
- Lead generation: Measure the number of leads generated through content downloads, newsletter sign-ups, etc.
- SEO performance: Evaluate how well your content ranks in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords or topics.
- Content performance analysis: Continuously analyze data on individual pieces of content to identify top-performing articles or assets that generate leads or attract high levels of engagement from readers.
Stay on track with a central Content Marketing Platform
Whether you're looking to improve your content marketing, boost SEO efforts, or streamline project management, StoryChief covers every aspect of your content marketing operations.
StoryChief eliminates the need for various tools such as email threads, Google Docs, spreadsheets, GatherContent, CoSchedule, Hootsuite, Buffer, manual copy-pasting to CMS, AI writing tools, SEO tools, and analytics tools.
With a centralized content operations platform, you can:
- Craft your tailored content strategy - in minutes instead of weeks - by tapping into company insights, target audience data, and competitor analysis.
- Consolidate your marketing campaigns, team members, and clients in a single location, saving time and increasing productivity.
- Collaborate efficiently within your team, simplifying feedback procedures and obtaining fast approvals for your content.
- Make data-driven decisions and optimize your content strategy by using actionable insights from a central analytics dashboard.
- Improve your organic content visibility and generate more traffic and leads with strategic content tailored to your target audience.
“We've seen some incredible growth over the last year alone, and that's due in no small part to our SEO and our content. StoryChief has been a pivotal tool in this journey.” - Maria Barbera, Vice President Marketing, Doorloop
