While social outreach, branding, and quality content are important elements of content management, there is much more to it. The way to succeed in content marketing is to continuously improve the strategies. This also applies to the approaches used in every content marketing campaign.
Becoming an effective content marketer requires time and energy to devote to each specific task and to produce content assets that would appeal to a targeted audience. That is why we are sharing with you some tips for an effective content marketing strategy for your school.
Identify and understand your target audience
First, you need to answer the “who” question in content marketing – “Who is your audience?”
By looking at your school’s USPs, mission/vision, core values and goals, you will have an idea of which group(s) of people to target. Creating a student persona is a great start. Alternatively, you can do surveys or chat rooms on your website. This will help you get some feedback from your prospects and current students. Furthermore, this information will help you improve the way you create content. In detail, you will be able to identify the needs of your users and help them solve their problems.
Make a content calendar
Creating a content calendar is vital to a successful strategy. Just like an editorial calendar for traditional publication, a content calendar can help to guide your strategy throughout a given timeframe. You can also use this calendar not only to play what you are posting, but also where. Having a multimedia strategy and even including outreach like guest posting and PR is crucial. Consider where different distribution channels will fit well into your sales strategy along the timeline of the following months.
Repurpose content
As you consider distribution, you will want to bear in mind the different purposes that different types of content have. You also need to find out this can affect your marketing. Moreover, think about how you can use various combinations of content to save time and resources. It is completely reasonable and efficient to develop a strategy based on chunks of content that can easily be repurposed through different channels and for different purposes.
Establish a specific direction for your content
Having a specific direction for your content is very important. The list below is not a concrete example, it will definitely vary with context. But it is a good idea to break down content types into different phases of the funnel.
- Outreach: Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn ads, landing page, explainer videos, infographics
- Conversions: Social media, informative blog posts, case studies, quizzes
- Closing: E-mail series, reviews, questionnaires
- Retention: Exclusive offers, whitepapers, e-mails, contests, surveys
Always keep a fresh mindset
One of the key traits of a great content marketing strategist is having the ability to continually problem-solve and learn new things. Content marketing is not rocket science, but it does take some patience, creativity and an analytical outlook. You will need a clear vision of your goals, and you will need to have a plan in place.
At faethe.marketing we have been helping schools to successfully get more students through effective content marketing strategy. So if you are looking to recruit more students for your programmes with minimal cost and effort, feel free to reach out to us.