Content marketing is one of the, what I call 3 pillars of a solid website strategy so I want to share with you a handful of what I consider to be the best content marketing strategies on the web. The list is small but the articles are comprehensive so they provide everything you need to get an overview of what to expect to include in your planning.

Content Marketing Strategy is defined by Demian Farnworth at Coppyblogger as a plan for building an audience by publishing, maintaining, and spreading frequent and consistent content that educates, entertains, or inspires to turn strangers into fans and fans into customers.

I like this definition. People seem to be conflicted about defining this concept, even though it’s not a new one and it seems to work well. It simplifies, takes the overwhelm out of it, and shows that content strategy and content marketing strategy are truly one in the same, or at least they should be. The end goal is still the same, just that one makes you feel better about your budget, I suppose.

If you are just getting started creating content, work as a solo-entrepreneur, or don’t have a budget you can get started on a basic level, and that’s OK! Just be sure to add it to your plan to invest a little more in the awesome content you create as soon as you are able.

What Is a Content Marketing Strategy?

Since we’re already checking out Copyblogger’s definition of content marketing strategy, let’s go ahead and read the entire article because Demian’s going to once again simplify this daunting endeavor for you with his 13 Simple Questions to Help You Draft a Winning Content Strategy, a set of comprehensive resources to help you understand your customer’s needs, evaluating the content you already have, and measuring your content marketing efforts (conversion).

I am a huge fan of Copyblogger. This is the resource I used to create my first content marketing strategy and I highly recommend it.

Content Marketing Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide for Modern Marketers

This piece written by Corey Wainwright at Hubspot is a perfect guide to an important part that most articles on this topic leave out, and that’s the fact that content marketing takes manpower, which means you shouldn’t go it alone. Of course if you are a solo-entrepreneur or just starting out you’re wearing all the hats and this article does address that too. Corey goes into depth about what your content team should look like, tools & technology, types of content, distribution, and finally measurement. A MUST read!

There are few good resources (content planning template & guide to organizational structure) that you can download but be prepared to give up some information about your company for it, that’s just how Hubspot rolls.

Build Audience Connection with Content Marketing

Neil Patel & Ritika Puri give a nice overview of different types of content and how you can use them as a relationship building tool, with your audience. They go on to explain how your content marketing can drive referral traffic, which is how KISSmetrics, CrazyEgg, and QuickSprout have always built their organic search traffic. It’s inexpensive and provides fast results, says Neil. You’ll also get a set of 5 recommended metrics to watch to measure your success.

This is an excerpt of their larger Beginners Guide to Online Marketing, if you want to read the entire guide.

The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing

If you are looking for some advanced guidance then QuickSprout has you covered! This is a complete guide, with lots of case studies and step by step instructions throughout the 10 chapters. There’s even a PDF version if you want to take it offline. It’s a whopping 259 color pages so if you want to print it, take it to a print shop and save your money on ink. This is by far the most comprehensive and well organized guide you’ll find online so if you’re ready to take the journey it’s a good one to follow, especially if you want to do the planning part alone. Be ready though, it’s a lot of work, like anything that yields good results.

Perfect Content Marketing: How Content Generates Leads and Sales at Every Step of the Funnel

Russ Henneberry at Digital Marketer outlines the six characteristics of perfect content marketing. Since Digital Marketer bases all of their learning materials on Customer Value Optimization and the sales funnel process, this article is true to that style, putting it in the perspective of customer ascension. What I love about this article is that it explains how to create a plan that inventories your content assets, describes which customer persona each one is for, what type of content it is, media channels it’s designed for, and what ascension path it should lead to so that you can easily align your content marketing with your business goals and objectives. He provides lots of case studies and a spreadsheet template to get you started on the content inventory.

There it is, my favorite posts on the web for Content Marketing Strategies.  I hope that it helps you create your own strategy or at least answers some questions for you on the topic.

If you have an article you’d like to share feel free to post it below or let me know if you found this information useful.