24 content marketing FAQs that will help you get lift-off

This is for you if you’re thinking about starting content marketing. If you’re here and you’ve started recently, but you’re not seeing any benefits yet, do stay! We’re going back to basics, which might help you iron out your kinks.

Content marketing FAQs

1. What is content marketing?

Content marketing is the strategic planning, production, publication and amplification of brand assets that are relevant to your audience. These assets include everything from pages, articles, books and infographics to podcasts and videos. Human brains love stories and people need information, making content the perfect vehicle for brand equity. And, quality content is Google’s lead ranking factor.

2. What’s the purpose of content marketing?

Its objective is to attract and engage customers and clients, which is why relevance is so important. It’s freely given by brands – and here is the most important rule of content marketing: it’s not used to hard sell products or services. Sometimes it’s given in exchange for permission to send future campaigns, like a subscription to a monthly email.

3. What does content marketing include?

Blogs, features, pages, articles, videos, podcasts, newsletters, magazines, ebooks, books, FAQs, case studies, whitepapers, checklists, slides, cartoons, emails, guides, testimonials, webinars, influencers, interviews, memes, quizzes…

4. Can content marketing improve sales?

Yes! It’s a mid- to long-term marketing strategy though, so buckle up and get comfortable. By its nature, it’s a brand builder – brilliant at communicating values and mission, demonstrating empathy and creating a sense of community. Saying that, I’ve written blogs that have converted to a sales call. The important rule, of course, is that they’re not sales pitches.

5. How long does content marketing take to work?

Seeing results depends on the size of your budget, the frequency of your publishing, your sector, the competition, your website’s domain authority, the size of your social following, the niche of your proposition… I know, this isn’t helpful. However, you should definitely start seeing an audience response after six months – more engagement, more conversions. If you’re not, there’s a problem somewhere. We’ll come to that further down.

By its nature, it’s a brand builder – brilliant at communicating values and mission, demonstrating empathy and creating a sense of community.

6. Is content marketing complicated to roll out?

It doesn’t have to be. You can start small. In fact, this is something I encourage, so you can use it to test and learn before committing more budget. So, you might start with monthly blogs and articles on LinkedIn. In six months, you might think it’s time to scale up and introduce new channels or types of assets. This might be creating slideshows for social, how-to videos and an annual whitepaper. The trick – the foundation for future success – is to get a process in place. In other words, define a workflow and marry your activity to a strategy and content plan.

7. What sectors is content marketing good for?

What isn’t it good for? I’ve written for manufacturing, fostering, SaaS, logistics, marketing, contract packing, home & garden, agriculture, food & drink, healthcare, science tech, pharma, solicitors, personal finance. Content marketing is good for both products and services. It’s good for business, the public sector, and the third sector. It’s good for sole traders, SMEs and big business.

8. Does content marketing need special skills?

Content marketing brings together two areas of expertise – from your marketing team, and from the people at the helm and on the ground of your operations. On the marketing side, the skills are make-or-break. Content marketing needs good organisation, creativity, curiosity and an eye for an opportunity. Depending on the assets you produce, other professional skills you’ll require include copywriting for print or websites, project management, design, social media savvy, audio recording, and so on.

9. Does content marketing need special tools?

You will need ways of producing and measuring your marketing assets. Sometimes this requires hardware (like good microphones) and software (video editing software, a social listening platform). This is another reason I say it’s a good idea to start small. Producing articles and infographics, for example, is easier on the budget. When you’ve got proof of concept – via engagement data from free tools – you can invest and expand with confidence.

Content marketing is good for both products and services. It’s good for business, the public sector, and the third sector. It’s good for sole traders, SMEs and big business.

10. How do I measure the impact of digital content marketing?

What you do to measure your KPIs depends on what and where you publish. Starting out, you might keep your methods of measurement simple. Digitally, this could be website traffic, new website visitors, bounce rate,  social engagement, email opens and click-throughs, subscriptions, sales, abandoned carts and customer lifetime value (CLV). You can also look at keyword performance, heat maps and time on page.

11. How do I measure the impact of printed content marketing?

If your asset is in print, measuring its impact can be done using QR codes (leading them online), competitions, qualitative and quantitative customer research, focus groups, online customer reviews, competition entries, voucher redemptions, and your sales and CLV too.

12. What other metrics can I measure to show content marketing impact?

You can track website domain authority, backlinks, mentions and customer reviews. Of course, a  conversion might not be a sale or brand awareness in relation to your goal. In this case, dig deeper into your CRM and other areas of your business and website. You might experience fewer customer service calls if you’ve produced great content around solving customer pain points, for example.

13. What is a content marketing goal?

Your content marketing efforts will be more effective if you set goals, because you have something to measure against and strive for. Overall, your goals might be increasing brand awareness, generating leads, reduction of bounce rate, and driving website traffic by x%. You can also set goals for individual pieces, like an increase in newsletter subscription or social media followers. Setting goals also makes it easier to produce good content by adding focus to the brief.

14. Do I need to do SEO as well as content marketing?

No. You need content on your website to satisfy some SEO requirements, like keywords and good quality information. You don’t need to have a complicated SEO strategy in place to start content marketing – don’t let this be a barrier. Some technical housekeeping and sector keywords will go a long way without having an SEO strategy in place. A digital copywriter or content marketer will know how to get on with these without much fuss. Search engines, and your audience, are very interested in the quality of your content, so focus on this.

You don’t need to have a complicated SEO strategy in place to start content marketing – don’t let this be a barrier.

15. How do I make sure people will read and engage with my content?

Create compelling content and let it be seen! What will your customers and potential customers want? What do they need? What might they want to share?  Give this to them, freely and joyfully. Your audience insights will supercharge your content. Make your content as good as it can be, let your brand personality shine, build trust, make them want to invest their time consuming it again and again. Distribute and amplify it in the places you know they’ll see it. Get everyone you know to like and share. Maybe do some social boosting. Start from here. Test and learn. Be patient.

16. Who should write my content?

Some SME founders, MDs and Head Boffins love to write. This is the deal: if you can write with structure and flair, get blogging! Still, I recommend getting a professional copywriter to proof-read, edit and optimise it. Honestly, it will add so much value and make it the best it can be. Failing that, get someone to proofread it for you and give feedback. Alternatively, a copywriter / content marketer can produce content in collaboration with your topic experts. This is generally a quicker process that fosters better results, and a solid solution for founders, MDs and boffins who also love to talk.

17. Who on my team should be involved in content marketing?

As above, your copywriter should work in collaboration with your experts. They can interview the expert, see helpful research material, and check the facts and flow of the draft. After this, your expert will approve the copy (as well as someone else having final sign-off). Content also enriches social strategies (organic and paid), PPC, SEO, and UX. So if you have anyone representing these disciplines on your team or in your contracted agency, they should be in on the action.

18. How do I make sure my content marketing production is efficient?

Like anything, when content marketing isn’t efficient, it can become a black hole of time and money. Structure is essential – getting a workflow in place, creating a content calendar, making sure everything is aligned to a documented strategy. Engage with the best content specialist your budget will allow – they will produce a better piece of work faster than a junior and will also be able to strategise and develop opportunities on the fly too. In addition, you could calculate your ROI to make sure your content marketing is giving you value for money. I’ve never found the need to do this, nor has any client I’ve written for. The impact has always lit its own beacon in the other data – in the clear response of the audience.

19. How do I create a content marketing strategy?

Your strategy doesn’t have to be complicated or lengthy – a Word doc or Google Sheet; a PowerPoint or Slides presentation if you’re feeling snazzy (or need to present it to the board). It will  be informed by your business information strategy, audience insights and personas, competitor research. Data from keywords (SEO and PPC), sales, and any audience demographic data will help you put a strategy together. If you’re already doing content marketing or your site is content rich, you’ll need to do an audit and briefly report on its findings. If you don’t have a documented copy style guide, you might include this as an action point.

Structure is essential – getting a workflow in place, creating a content calendar, making sure everything is aligned to a documented strategy.

20. What should I include in my content marketing strategy?

At top level, you’ll document your goals, timeframes, the channels you’ll use, the types of content you’ll produce, and your budget. You’ll also set out how you will measure successes and failures (both in the name of learning and refining your activities). You can also draft a workflow and decide what the approvals and sign-off process will be. If you’re reporting on the findings of a content audit, it might be worth noting if this content will continue to be used, repurposed, refined or, in extreme cases, disposed of. A content strategy isn’t the same as a content plan, so you don’t have to worry about what you’ll write when.

21. How do I create a content marketing plan?

This might also be called a content schedule and it deals with the day-to-day creation and publication of your content. In the practical sense, I use a spreadsheet to plan a gantt documenting topics or themes for 6-12 months ahead. Then I build a bespoke calendar in a spreadsheet that suits my way of working. There are paid-for platforms that can create and track content – and report on it too – in spectacular and effective ways. A spreadsheet is quite acceptable. I favour Google Sheets because it’s so much easier to drag and drop, if you need to shuffle your plan, than MS Excel. Spreadsheets are also accessible to everyone.

22. What information should I put into my content plan?

My content plans, built in spreadsheets, have various columns. For each piece, I draft titles and summaries, and record where I will get the information, what type of content it is, what resources I might need, any SEO keywords, where I plan to publish it and how it will be amplified or distributed. I log its deadline, production status, and the date it was last touched. I sometimes make a note of important awareness days. I also create a separate tab for ideation. Depending on what you want to achieve, your content plan will accommodate the entire funnel and different types of content, including long form and short form. Building it is a fun jigsaw puzzle (Minecraft, or that one with all the baked beans). Maintaining it (refining as you go) is a satisfying (if intense) Olympic-standard Tetris marathon.

23. Where can I get images to use in content marketing?

You could design your own header images, mastheads, infographics and so on using free software like Canva. You can find royalty free photos on websites like Unsplash and Pexels (check permissions and I do think it’s good practice to credit the photographer). Use your own photographs, if they’re well-framed and sharp. Digital images should be small in size for a website. If you have the budget, and you’ve got a robust content plan in place, you might have a photoshoot done to prepare several months’ of unique images. If you do use product imagery, it will be subtle – because we know that content marketing isn’t about selling.

Depending on what you want to achieve, your content plan will accommodate the entire funnel and different types of content, including long form and short form.

And finally…

24. How can I improve my content marketing?

Quality is essential to content marketing, and incorporates relevancy and consistency. If it’s going okay but could be better, look for ways to improve quality, relevancy and consistency – and make your content fly. Is this a good time to experiment with new formats and channels? And perhaps get more skills training, or bring in freelance support? (See what I did there?)

If something’s going wrong, hunt it down and fix it. Check your tone of voice, your topics. Are you publishing regularly? Are you amplifying on the channels where your audience will see it? Is the format appropriate for audience and channel? Looking deeper, are you writing strong headlines? Are you offering them other places to go when they’re done consuming this piece? Is your content worth being consumed – it is worth five or 25 minutes of their time? If they’re not consuming your content, whose are they filling up on? Do or commission a content audit. Look at the data, and tweak your practices, workflow and plan accordingly. Refresh key pieces. 

And don’t be disheartened if your content marketing isn’t flying yet. It’s (usually) not a quick win, it’s a robust marketing practice that supports brand resilience. It might feel as head-rushingly graceful as a bird when it does fly but, trust me, it will be as tough as a jumbo jet.