The problem with most content marketing strategies is that they place content as king. But, content isn’t king, and this is why …
It isn’t to say creating quality, relevant content isn’t important. It is. Without this you have nothing, but even if you create the most high-impacting content around, it means little if nobody sees it (or if the right people don’t see it at the right time).
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As such, content isn’t king; distribution is.
But, you’ve heard this already, which is why you place so much focus on social media, email marketing, bookmarking sites and all that jazz. This is the wrong approach to take, and in this article I will show you why.
So, if you want a content marketing strategy that will help you dominate your industry and ensure you remain top of mind at all times, listen up.
This is the content strategy I have used to dominate your Facebook feed in recent years, and it’s how I will continue this domination across other platforms. This is not a difficult strategy. This is not an expensive strategy. In fact, it will probably save you a lot of money.
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It’s a four-part process that will change how you communicate with your audience forever, and it begins with …
Step 1: Validate your ideas.
You can validate your content and ideas in many ways. Personally, I use my Facebook profile and a segment of my email list, but you could use video, LinkedIn or other social media platforms. What matters is that you validate your ideas, so you uncover what your audience wants (and what best engages them).
You see, people need to know something, but as Chris Brogan, CEO of Owner Media Group, says, “You need to hide the carrot in the cake.” This means not everything will hit home, even though the message itself may be perfect. You need to experiment, and keep things short and simple: short-to-medium form Facebook posts, videos, livestreams and whatever else allows you to get your ideas across. Create a lot, and create it often.
And then … analyze.
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I personally create all this initial content, but have my team analyze it for what’s working. From here, a single member of my team creates a content plan and develops these ideas so we can …
Step 2: Create a single piece of content.
At this stage, my team comes back with a content plan for the weeks and months ahead. We know this content is going to be a home run with our audience, so now is the time to create a detailed piece of content.
Personally, I record a training video that dives into a single topic in greater detail. For you, this may involve writing an article or guide. The point is you now have a bunch of validated ideas, so it’s time to create an in-depth and high-value piece of content that will blow your audience away.
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This is an important piece of the process, because although I recommend you use your team to manage much of this strategy, there is only so much they can do. You need to bring your A-game when creating this in-depth piece of content, because then someone in your team can …
Step 3: Repurpose and expand your reach.
At this point, one of my team takes this completed training video and repurposes it in various ways. Part of this includes editing the video and getting it ready for YouTube, but it also involves splitting it into several shorter videos for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
This is what a lot of people do, and this is where a lot of people stop. But, to make this content strategy work, you need to repurpose this core piece of content into other in-depth, high-quality pieces like:
- An article you submit to a publication like this
- A blog post for your personal site
- A guide, blueprint or additional resource
- A series of content-driven emails
- Social media images and quotes
In short, you need to take this single piece of content and repurpose it into as much content as possible (so long as it’s relevant and provides high value). Once you have a locker full of valuable content ready to share, you’re ready for the final step.
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Step 4: Promote and dominate.
Finally, you are ready to promote and dominate your industry.
But, before we go any further, let me say that what works for me may not work for you. The point here is to provide your audience with the right message, at the right time and in the right place. So don’t just copy me, think about your audience and where they are (and what they need).
For me, this includes:
- A lot of Facebook activity (as this is where I dominate)
- Promotional emails
- Social media (Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn)
- YouTube (both organic and paid advertising)…
- Messenger Bot funnel
Not only do we heavily promote each video on YouTube, but every article we publish on sites like this. We blow things up during the first 48 hours to drive momentum, and then take this to the next level with Facebook Ads, YouTube Ads and Google Ads.
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This bit is easy, and you already know this because you’ve read a million articles about promoting your content. The secret to domination comes when you drive everything you promote back to the lead magnet you created specifically for this piece of content. This is where your unfair advantage lies, because you place your audience into a specific funnel that feeds them with more relevant and high-quality content.
When I share this content strategy with my entrepreneurial friends, they often resist. Like them, you may assume this is both costly and time-consuming. But, like them, you would be wrong, because a single member of my team takes care of 90 percent of this (and completes one to two pieces each week).
This is the content strategy I have used to dominate your Facebook feed in recent years, and this is how I’ll do the same everywhere else.