If you want your business or organization to succeed in 2023, setting clear goals and objectives should be at the top of your list. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to content marketing, we will give you insights into 15 crucial content marketing objectives you must prioritize. So read on and get ready for an amazing journey ahead.
The Importance of Aligning Your Content Marketing and Business Goals
Content marketing, when done right, can help increase ROI, while deepening relationships with consumers. By aligning content marketing with your business development goals, you will increase profits. It's important to tie the two together to really highlight how relevant and valuable your products or services are in order for intended audiences to convert into customers.
To accomplish your content marketing and business goals, create content around topics that speak directly to the needs and wants of target audiences, and link this content back to different aspects of your business. For example, showcase product reviews or demo videos that feature results they receive by choosing your company over other competing ones.
Aligning your content and goals will help ensure that the messages you present through content marketing are closely related — and connected — to the larger business goal you hope to achieve.
15 Content Marketing Objectives to Prioritize
No matter how much marketing trends change, one thing always remains the same: Content is king. It has been for years and 2023 will be no exception. Marketers are tasked with creating innovative and engaging content to stay competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
With so many types of content out there — from blog posts to webinars — it can be difficult for businesses to know what objectives to prioritize when crafting content marketing plans.
Keep reading to discover our top 15 must-have objectives every business should tackle for a successful year in 2023.
1. Create Quality Content
Consumers are now looking for content that stands out from the pack and positively impacts their lives in some way. So, content marketing objectives should always focus on creating quality content marketing that is engaging and tailored to the target audience.
How can you ensure that your content is high quality?
Research your audience and their needs: Identify your target audience and determine what type of content they're interested in reading or watching. Then create content that provides actionable advice or tips and is backed up by reputable sources.
● Optimize your content:
Look for opportunities to optimize the delivery of your content. You may decide to break down a blog post into several short videos or create an infographic summarizing a key point.
● Outsource content:
Leverage content from thought leaders and publishers to add outside perspectives into your content calendar. This type of content is often viewed as more objective and provides additional value to your audience.
● Review your content:
Regularly review your content and make updates as needed. Quality content should be continually refreshed to stay relevant and engaging.
By creating quality content that’s tailored to your target audience, you can ensure that your content marketing objectives are met. This will help you increase brand awareness, increase and engage website visitors and, ultimately, generate leads. With the right content strategy, you’ll be able to successfully reach your marketing goals.
NYTLicensing provides content creators a platform to create such content at scale. You can rest easy knowing that no matter who you partner with, the content produced will be of the highest quality. With content like that, your consumers won't just be customers — they'll be lifelong fans.
2. Leverage More Video Content
Video content marketing has been steadily increasing, and creating video content can be a great way to reach a diverse audience. Effectively leveraging video content can increase engagement and higher conversions for your business. To ensure your videos are successful, mix up the language you use to keep them fresh. Spice it up with fascinating facts about your industry, or incorporate humor into topics that might have previously felt too dry, like product features.
3. Build Brand Awareness
If you want to make your mark, it's time to step up your branding and visibility game.
How do you garner powerful brand awareness?
● Make sure that your content is driving brand awareness across the web by leveraging the power of digital marketing — whether it's creating shareable content or using influencer outreach — it all leads back to building your brand.
● Genuinely engaging with consumers and earning their trust will aid in developing meaningful relationships and encouraging loyalty, which is integral to raising brand awareness.
● Don't forget the power of traditional advertising. While digital marketing may be more popular among younger generations, there are still a significant number of people who rely on print media, radio and television to stay informed, so make sure you're taking advantage of all these channels in order to further spread your brand message.
By implementing these strategies and staying consistent with your branding, you'll be well on your way to building an audience that can help to elevate your business.
4. Interact With More Customers Through New Content Formats
There are plenty of creative ways to engage prospects and customers. Interactive content is high on that list because it is an effective way to engage customers and boost your online presence. It’s time to find new and creative ways to add interactivity to your content by breaking away from the regular, run-of-the-mill stuff.
How can you integrate interactive content?
You can also use polls and surveys since it encourages users to share their opinions and provide valuable input.
Additionally, you can consider adding visuals into the mix, like diagrams and illustrations for enjoyable visual storytelling experiences — plus, it has the added benefit of being more memorable, too.
Trying out different content marketing tactics can open the door to new opportunities. Get out of your comfort zone and experiment with different content formats.
5. Cultivate Customer Loyalty
It pays to make a lasting impression. Building customer loyalty requires strategic effort on behalf of the business.
How can you cultivate loyalty?
● Staying authentic in your marketing efforts is key — after all, nobody likes to be bombarded by an onslaught of ads and generic messages. That's no way to foster relationships.
● Reach new customers through brand advocates, provide incentives for repeat purchases made and, most importantly, create meaningful connections with a loyal fan base. Remember, these people will stick with you thick and thin — don't oversell them on unnecessary things, or they'll fly away.
● Engage your customers by creating content that is tailored to their needs. Show them you care by addressing specific questions or inquiries they might have in a timely manner and prioritize customer satisfaction when it comes to product delivery.
● Always remember to thank your customers for their continued patronage — this could be through a physical thank you card, a phone call or an email. A small gesture of gratitude can go a long way in solidifying loyalty.
When it comes to cultivating customer loyalty, remember that it starts with the customers themselves. Don’t take them for granted and they will be your most valuable assets. With patience, dedication and the right strategies, you'll soon have a loyal customer base that will stick by you through thick and thin.
6. Pump Out Content
If you're looking to increase visibility, content is your royal road. Many companies consider designing a content marketing editorial calendar to have visual workflows that help plan out a content strategy; however, creating an abundance of content can be a time-consuming and expensive endeavor.
The solution: Outsource.
You can easily release tons of amazing written pieces without breaking the bank by not relying solely on yourself or your team. Sure, outsourcing content offers obvious advantages like saving time and money, but remember to be able to target other audiences with multilingual content or entirely new perspectives.
NYTLicensing offers strategic content feeds ranging in categories that span from arts and entertainment, lifestyle, science, tech, travel and world news. In addition, you have access to a comprehensive selection of a variety of respected publications, including Harvard Business Review and SUCCESS from Tribune Content Agency. There are multiple media types available at your fingertips, along with use cases and multilingual content.
7. Increase Brand Authority
Executing a successful content marketing campaign involves putting thought leadership at the center of strategy.
A great thought leader is someone passionate about sharing valuable insights and knowledge with their target audience, inspiring them to live a better life. Having respected thought leaders on board as part of your efforts will position you as a credible expert in your field and increase brand authority.
Thought leaders should be used as a resource focusing on genuinely interesting topics, content that stands out from the crowd, and offers real value to readers rather than being promotional. The tone should be witty, engaging and informative, crafted to resonate with readers, while bringing awareness to your brand's accomplishment.
Ultimately, using the right individuals as thought leaders can unlock massive opportunities for your business, while inspiring those within your niche.
8. Improve Search Rankings
Investing in SEO will help you get the most bang for your buck in content marketing. It might cost a bit more than relying on organic search numbers, but it will help take you from being lost in a sea of content to standing at the forefront of your industry — where customers naturally come knocking.
It pays to find an expert who can help evaluate your website’s current performance. Once they've highlighted areas that need fixing, they can help create and implement an effective strategy to ensure your content stands out.
9. Improve Customer Retention Rates
Consumers are the bread and butter of any business, so it's important to keep them coming back. Rapid improvement in customer retention starts with an engaged audience. Creating a loyal subscriber base is crucial to ensure your message reaches the right people. But that's just the beginning — this is only the foundation we need to start building on.
Here are just a few ways you can encourage strong customer retention:
● Keep the conversation active and vibrant by sending dynamic emails that will make your customers eager for what’s next.
● Don’t forget to add value. Customers are looking to be rewarded in some way for their attention and loyalty. That could be through loyalty programs, discounts or other incentives you can offer — whatever works best for your business.
● If you are in B2C, start rewarding customers for their loyalty by offering discounts or freebies. This encourages them to keep coming back and can even help increase the amount they spend each time.
● Create clear communication pathways, so customers know exactly how to reach you with any questions they may have. This encourages them to come back when they need assistance or advice from you.
● Analyze customer data to better understand their needs and preferences. This will help you create campaigns that are tailored to each customer’s individual interests and needs, increasing the likelihood of them returning in the future.
By taking the time to build strong relationships with customers, you can ensure that they remain loyal for years to come. If your business isn’t already focusing on customer retention, now is the time to start — your future success depends on it.
10. Improve the Quality of Content
Many make the mistake incontent marketing of focusing on quantity. But content marketing is about quality above all else. So before publishing any article, take the time to ensure that your writing is as clear and concise as possible. Likewise, ensure your ideas are thoroughly articulated and use visual aids, if possible, to bring your points home and keep readers engaged.
Be sure to continually ask yourself: Is this content worth your readers’ time?
11. Track Your Leads
Successful marketing with lead generation is all about having the right tools and strategies. The best way to understand who your buyers are and what kind of content they respond to is to track where your website traffic is coming from.
Here are a few ways to track your leads:
● Use Google Analytics: This highly customizable tool gives you the ability to track important campaign metrics from start to finish. It will tell you where your leads are coming from, what they’re doing on your website and which campaigns are driving conversions.
● Set up conversion tracking: Using code on your website or through other services like Google Ads, you can track the performance of your ads and campaigns. Set up conversion tracking to measure when a lead has taken an action on your website, such as filling out a contact form or making a purchase.
● Monitor customer activity: Use customer relationship management (CRM) software to collect data from customers and build up profiles. Track customer behavior, including website activity, product purchases and email opens, to get a better picture of your customers’ preferences and interests. To get the most out of lead generation, know where your leads are coming from and make sure you lead them somewhere valuable.
12. Create Educational Content
There is tremendous power in having an educational content strategy. Educating customers is a key component of customer satisfaction, and to make sure your clients stay happy, regular education about your product or service is vital.
Below are a few ways you can cultivate customer education:
● Offer tutorials, webinars and seminars to educate customers about how to use your product/service.
● Publish blog posts or articles on a regular basis that explain the basics of your product/service.
● Create FAQs, infographics and other visual aids to help customers understand how to use your product/service.
● Utilize video tutorials to show customers how to use your product/service step by step.
● Host a customer feedback session to gauge what customers want and need from your product/service.
● Send out newsletters or emails with helpful tips or tricks on how to maximize the use of your product/service.
By educating customers, you can ensure that they understand how to properly utilize what you are offering and get the most out of it. This will not only increase customer satisfaction, but also help them stay loyal to your brand.
13. Automate!
Automate the basics like uploading content, scheduling social media posts, and creating email newsletters and other marketing emails — which will free up your time to produce dynamic and engaging digital stories that captivate customers.
Whether you have an in-house or freelance writing staff, setting up some automated processes around content creation will make your life much easier.
14. Drive Social Engagement
Understanding the differences between social media and content marketing will help drive your overall social engagement. Stand out with unique content that grabs the attention of your target audience.
● Create memorable campaigns and lift your brand from the competition. This will help you attract an increasing number of prospective followers and also strengthen customer relationships through genuine connections.
● Social media can be used as a platform to showcase your personality.
● Storytelling in your business is a secret weapon. It is an attention-grabbing and interactive way to reach users on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. Share the backstory of your product or service, behind-the-scenes stories, customer success stories and so much more.
● Don't be afraid to ask your followers to engage with your brand. Whether that's through asking questions, participating in polls or simply liking and sharing posts, it can help you reach a larger audience and increase engagement on your page.
With these strategies, you'll be able to build a loyal following who will share your content and ultimately drive meaningful engagement with your brand. That's exactly what social media is all about — get creative and have fun with it.
15. Diversify Your Content
Whether a blog post or an email, mixing it up and diversifying your content is key to keeping yourself engaged with prospects.
Here's how you can diversify your content offerings:
● Mix up your content types: Try using different media forms like newsletters, podcasts, videos, images and infographics to keep things interesting.
● Change up the topics: Branch out from the same topics and try covering more in-depth research or analyzing trends in your industry to provide valuable insight for readers.
● Personalize content: Engage readers with personal stories and anecdotes that make it relatable.
● Try new methods: Incorporate audience polls and surveys to get feedback on topics or ideas you’re writing about.
By diversifying your content, you can keep yourself engaged in the creative process while also providing value for your prospects. So, go ahead and mix it up. You never know what amazing content you'll come up with next.
Final Thoughts
Setting goals is the best way to ensure success when it comes to content marketing.
But why stop there?
When you choose NYTLicensing as your content outsourcing partner, you'll have trusted, professional sources providing everything from topic ideas to creative solutions. That's a recipe for success, no matter what kind of content you need. With your main goals in place, our range of services can make creating a powerful content strategy for any industry or niche easier than ever before.
