As the year winds down, companies start thinking about how to approach their content marketing strategy and what the content marketing calendar should look like. But here’s the truth: marketers shouldn’t use the new year as an excuse to rethink their marketing approach.
There’s never a wrong time to determine if your content marketing strategy needs an update. And if something is wrong with it, waiting for a new year or fiscal year to address the issue isn’t ideal.
Time is of the essence. Make the most of it and determine if updating your content marketing strategy suits your organization. Let’s go over some thoughts to consider.
Change in Business Climate
The content you put out there should reflect the current business climate. Whether the economy is slowing down or revving up, organizations should share content that is in line with the future growth of their industry.
Potential leads are looking at your marketing efforts to find solutions for their business in real-time. If business is slow, they aren’t going to seek content that emphasizes where to spend more money and take risks. They will want content about achieving more with less and finding dependable marketing solutions.
Blogs are a great way to pull in leads when business is good or bad. The longer a blog exists, the better the search ranking and the higher web traffic it gets. And it never hurts to update one by adding keywords, updating links, and including more content.
Change in Trends
Trends can change drastically from the beginning to the end of the year. All you have to do is look back at 2020 to realize how true that statement is. Even 2023 is a good example with the unsteady future of X (formerly Twitter), Threads launching, and Instagram gaining traction.
When it comes to any type of content, I’m hesitant to jump right into trends. I might play around with some ideas, like different ad types on social platforms, email design, website design, and social media content, but I like to get a better understanding of the trend before I jump right into it. Before pursuing content trends, businesses should ask themselves these questions:
- Does my organization have the capacity to pursue this trend?
- Will this trend help my organization’s short-term or long-term goals?
- Does this trend appeal to my organization’s target audience?
- Can my organization make this trend relevant without trying too hard?
If your business can answer yes to all of these questions, it’s worth considering a trend. If not, it’s probably best to skip it and determine what might work best for you instead.
Change in Priorities
At any point, an organization’s direction could shift based on based on changes in priorities. A company could start investing more in sustainability practices, pause hiring, launch a new product or service, target a new industry, or reinvest in company culture.
All of these changes can impact the content your company shares across all marketing platforms because this concept blurs the lines between marketing and public relations. Chances are, your organization may want to be perceived differently, and content should reflect that.
For instance, when a business is launching a new product or service, companies may invest in awareness so that when a potential lead is ready to move forward, your new product or service is the first one they think of. This is a big reason why I’m a proponent of inbound marketing because building relationships with potential and current clients through relevant and insightful content is a great way to gain trust, engagement, and business.
Chances are, this blog appeals to you because you’re looking for a content marketer to support your business. When you’re busy handling the bigger picture issues your organization faces, I can be the short-term or long-term support you need for strategizing, creating, and managing content.
AFJ Digital 