Content is king. Your entire business will be built on content, and the ability to communicate to prospects and convert leads to regular visitors and buyers. This is why you have to be great at your content marketing game to win. Your industry’s market will also determine the success of your business, and the level of awareness you can produce out there. While everyone has a long list of what works and what does not work, certain tips will always work. This article presents 10 working tips you can use to build your content marketing strategy, and how to start your plan.

1. Know your audience

Your content marketing strategy will never work if you do not know your audience and the kind of content they like. The goal is to produce content for your audience, and to engage them. Here is where you need analytics and feedback, to know the topics your audience likes the most, and to win at your content marketing game, you should consistently produce this kind of materials.

Content is highly important if you are seeking opportunities for expanding internationally. If you look to access new markets and attract a new customer base, you need a strong content strategy. While at it, if you are still in the initial phases and don’t know how to start your expansion journey, contact a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), such as Global PEO, or other providers, that will help you with issues related to international employment.

2. Write relevant content for your audience

Now that you know your audience, you have an idea of what they love and will be willing to share. The next thing to do is to give them the content they love and do this consistently. Patience is a scarce commodity on the internet and your leads will move on to the next available page once they do not hear from you again.

3. Be original

Much more than the content you put out there, originality is what sells best. The majority of followers your business and brand will get will depend on the originality of your message and your brand. So be original. Creativity is the way to go with your content marketing goal and here is the catch: people will always stick around when you have useful information for them and not just any kind of readily available materials on the internet.

4. Research and know your competitors

You may have heard the adage “learn the game and beat them at it.” In content marketing, it pays to have a list of your top five competitors and leaders. Understand what they publish, why people like it, and then adopt the same strategy without losing your originality.

5. Have a calendar/plan

You may be tempted to call it a to-do list, but this is far much more than that. You must map out a plan and a follow-through calendar. Here are two reasons why this is important:

1. You stay organized with your content marketing,

2. With a content calendar/plan, you will stay consistent.

6. Measure success

You cannot succeed without knowing what’s working for you and what’s not. Being able to measure success will help work more on your strengths and this is what you need for a successful content marketing campaign. A good tool to use is Google Analytics.

7. Get on social media

The truth is, most of the leads you will have will come from social media. With over 4.5 billion people and more than 50% of the world population on one social media platform or another, you cannot achieve much success if your marketing plan is not social media savvy.

8. Mix up your content

Do not constrain yourself to a single plan – mix things up. Someone said “variety is what makes life beautiful”, so you have to have a mix of infographics, text, photos, and videos. Allow your audience to relate to them all.

9. Reuse your best content

Popular site medium.com uses this tip effectively; they regularly throwback articles from writers that got the best engagements occasionally. It’s the “evergreen content” that can keep you audience engaged.

10. Set goals

Whether raising brand awareness, driving traffic to your website, or becoming the authority in your field, you have to set your goals right from the start. Ensure you set a goal, this way you will know when you are on the right path.