Content Branding Solutions for Entrepreneurs
Strategic Content Marketing
a New Book by
Cheri Lucking - Peter Lucking
CHAPTER 2, Introduction - Content Strategy and Implementation Plan
An excerpt from Content Branding Solutions for Entrepreneurs - Strategic Content Marketing. CHAPTER 2, Introduction - Content Strategy and Implementation plan a New Book, eBook, Kindle by Cheri Lucking, and Peter Lucking – Available at Amazon soon!
It is never too late to lay the foundation for your marketing and sales success. Get off to a fresh start with a plan of action, a master messaging road map, with a content creation calendar that creates a content marketing cycle!
Plan your strategic content marketing strategy and implementation plan. A master messaging road map is a master plan that identifies goals and outcomes and the components to hold yourself and team accountable and headed in the right direction.
- Define your USP – unique selling proposition, pricing, and positioning strategy.
- Consolidate marketing materials to streamline the process.
- Consolidate proposal materials and create a more flexible system for getting proposals out efficiently and on time.
- Create prospecting channels to keep new business projects top-of-mind.
- Target seminars to present a well-thought-out strategy to wow your future clients.
- Create a master messaging road map, a master plan to identify goals and outcomes.
- Create a content creation calendar.
- Create strategies to build marketing and sales momentum and with your newly built functional website to use as your 24/7/365 sales manager.
The key to success is to create energy utilizing shared team goals, accountability, defined delivery dates, and expected outcomes.
The Goal is to Create:
- A Strategic Content Marketing Plan.
- A Master Messaging Road Map.
- Content Creation Calendar.
- And a Quarterly Full Circle Marketing Cycle that combines the funnel and flywheel that we call “Full Circle Marketing.”
Let us see how we can create a “Full Circle Marketing” plan to attract new customers, make more money, and stand out from the competition.
Boost Sales with a Full Circle Marketing Plan
In this chapter, we share why and how to create a marketing plan for Small Businesses, Consultants, Start-ups, and Professional Practices. Most importantly, how to create this plan.
Use these tools to show you how-to:
- Set SMART Content Marketing Goals that will stop you from going around in circles.
- Set a Marketing Strategy.
- Build Visual Marketing Plans Efficiently and Effectively.
- Create a Master Messaging Road Map.
- Plan Your Next Breakthrough Marketing Campaign.
- Implement the marketing plan that spreads awareness of your professional skills and expertise to attract qualified core income-generating clients across all media types.
Here we share a simple methodology using a “Cascading Content Marketing Waterfall Strategy” to help you create your full circle marketing plan. Now is the time of year to follow these simple steps to develop your yearly marketing plan.
Expert Tip: A “Full Circle Marketing Plan,” is based on a three-month quarterly cycle.
The Cascading Content Marketing Waterfall is a Tool to help Small Business, Professional Firms, and Consultants Create a Marketing Plan.
Why Create a Marketing Plan Road Map?
Companies and marketers with a documented content marketing strategy are five times more likely to succeed; they are working more efficiently and effectively because they have a plan and defined goals.
Your online marketing plan should include a master messaging road map that will be your strategic and tactical implementation plan for your firm. It should also include business development and sales materials as they interlink, from website development, market leadership articles, and one-sheets.
Your Marketing Must Deliver Clear Messaging and Images that Provides Value that Connects Creating Customer Delight.
What is a Master Messaging Road map?
A master messaging road map is a strategic planning content plan that includes short-term and long-term strategies with implementation methods, and a timeline to bring your brand to life and attract new business.
“Strategy (a Plan) without tactics (an implementation Method) is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu.
Short-term strategies identify essential and easily implemented action items, from SEO to the utilization of both personal and corporate social media that may include advertising and marketing re-targeting.
Putting a long-term strategic plan in place that includes art direction and coaching to refresh your brand, incorporating your marketing materials, is key to your success. Examples include logos, sales one-sheets, business cards, etc., all are flowing into the integrated website and graphic design, video, PowerPoint productions, and presentations.
Expert Tip: Drive more sales with master messaging road map tied to a marketing plan.
What is Marketing?
What is marketing? You may wonder why we ask that question?
Many Professional firms confuse marketing with business development (BD), and sales!
Marketing is identifying your key differentiators, developing your message, and establishing your positioning within your market(s). For example, marketing is advertising, event promotion, website content, and building thought leadership through public relations, outreach, white papers, PowerPoint presentations, webinars, etc.
What is Business Development?
Over the years, we have heard lots of misleading quotes on what Business Development (BD) is from partnerships to sales and hustling.
“Business development is the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.” - (Pollack, 2012)
Long-term value is opportunities and income, prestige, brand recognition, etc., that helps the company to grow and thrive.
Markets are clearly defined, but with the global economy selling worldwide has become a trend. For example, a friend of ours bought a “must-have product” from a Facebook ad, thinking that it would be delivered tomorrow per the Amazon model. Six weeks later, it arrived on a slow boat from China!
Relationships that build trust and rapport lie at the foundation of the Funnel, Flywheel, and of course, Full Circle Marketing. The building, managing, and leveraging of relationships rely on trust, respect, and mutual benefit. Relationship building is at the core of Business Development, from partners, customers, employees, to the press.
Business Development is not a get rich quick scheme; it is a consistent long-term goal that changes with the times.
SMART Thinking
Let us begin by working smarter to reduce the time it takes to make decisions, and help you focus on results.
Image Source: SMART GOALS © Content Branding Solutions | contentbrandingsolutions.com
- Set SMART Content Marketing Goals
Specific
Get targeted, be specific. Answer the simple question of HOW or WHERE?
- Increase your blog traffic by XYZ
- Grow your following by XYZ
- Be the speaker at XYZ conferences this year
Measurable
Specific goals must be measurable.
- Present as a speaker at XYZ conferences.
- Increase targeted website traffic by 50%. Measure it with google analytics.
- Reach XYZ downloads of our White Paper.
- We will measure the success of an article by the number of contacts that XYZ makes.
Actionable
Tie every goal to action. Be accountable. Just like an NFL team’s “two-minute drill,” content marketing needs to orchestrate an intricate strategy of actions to get results; this is the plan.
As content marketers, we need to address the “How: (Action) behind the “What” (Goal), do not forget the “Who,” your core income-generating target.
For example:
- Create one new lead-generating content asset each month that has correct SEO to attract new qualified clients and potentially grows your email list.
- Advertise and promote your whitepaper on LinkedIn to target audience groups.
- Review your SEO keyword strategy by Mid-January and improve as needed to maximize website traffic. Review quarterly.
- Depending on Small Businesses, target market advertising on Facebook can be useful. The Wooden Wish is an example.
Realistic
Be realistic, how many New Year’s Eve resolutions make it to March? It is important to dream and set achievable goals that will push our abilities.
How do you know what is realistic? Gather the team. Look at last year’s numbers and the overall direction your market area is headed. Did you achieve last year’s goals? Evaluate what is realistic, flexible, and attainable.
Timely
Set a deadline, a delivery date for your objectives. Naturally, you do this process for all your projects. Marketing for your firm should be no different.
Take the time to create goals that are specific, measurable, actionable, and realistic with a “Time” for delivery.
For Example:
- Our Thought Leadership white paper will go out in the first week of each quarter.
- Our Thought Leadership knowledge piece on Sustainable content will go out in the third week of each quarter etc.
Your Website is a Cost-effective 24/7/365 Sales Prospecting Machine Working for $0.16 Per Hour - $0.32 Per Hour
(based on a $7K – $14K website with a life cycle of 5 years).
Why Not Make It Pay for itself-100 Fold?
You will notice one consistent trend. All these actions from Sales, Marketing to Business Development and Thought Leadership pieces that attract, converts, and delights your customers by answering the concerns and needs lie at the foundation of a business’s success and relies on content.
Your Website relies on fresh content, be it in words, images, or graphics to communicate your message and increase your online ranking.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Content lies at the center of your marketing, sales, services, and business development. That is why creating a strategic content marketing plan with a master messaging road map on a content creation calendar with a quarterly marketing cycle is so important.
CHAPTER 2. From the book Content Branding Solutions for Entrepreneurs - Strategic Content Marketing Contains the following sections:
- Content Strategy and Implementation Plan.
- Boost Sales with a Full Circle Marketing Plan.
- SMART Thinking.
- Creating Your Strategic Content Marketing Plan.
- A Step-by-step Process To Set your Marketing Goals.
- Tools to Develop Your Promotion Strategy.
- Life Cycle of Social Media Content to ROI
- Content Conversion Strategy.
- Marketing Assets Content and Materials.
- Tips for Creating Your Marketing Budget.
- Seven Secrets to An Effective Content Strategy.
New Book Release COMING to AMAZON pre-order visit ContentBrandingSolutions.com
CONTENT BRANDING SOLUTIONS for ENTREPRENEURS
Strategic Content Marketing
Content Branding Solutions for Entrepreneurs - Strategic Content Marketing is The A-To-Z Guide to Content Marketing by Cheri Lucking and Peter Lucking
Test Your Knowledge. Take our Content Marketing Quiz to Test Your Knowledge and Create Your Plan for Strategic Content Marketing.
Content Branding Solutions for Entrepreneurs – Strategic Content Marketing – This book is for Entrepreneurs, small businesses, and professional firms. The book shares branding, content strategy, and implementation, activating your brand, website development, thought leadership, creating brand awareness, email marketing, social media and much more – Coming Soon on Amazon
Order Content Branding Solutions for Entrepreneurs at AMAZON
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