3 A’s To Transform Your Content Marketing Strategy

Modern marketers face a host of responsibilities as the need for quality content shows no sign of slowing down. They’re making more content than ever and with more competition than in the past. The challenge to capture an audience’s attention is real, and it spans a growing field of platforms. Content marketing teams need strategies to make their work more effective, efficient and far-reaching. 

It’s no secret that content marketing is a powerful tool, driving higher conversions than traditional marketing. But the strategies that made content marketing so exciting initially don’t stand up against the growing challenges marketers face. They don’t account for the vast growth of social media and the sheer volume of content available. Researching keywords and experts and then writing scores of blog posts in hopes of satisfying capricious search engine algorithms is not only time-consuming and tedious but also offers no guarantee of engagement with your audience. 

Marketing needs a new plan of action that recasts content as a relationship with your audience, instead of an unceasing burden on marketers; prizes quality over quantity; and finds what works then makes the most of it. Think of these three A’s — access, amplify and attribute — as that new action plan.

Implemented separately, these principles can improve your marketing. But used together as an amplified marketing strategy, they have the power to transform your work, realign your team and save you time and energy.

At the center of that strategy? A great conversation that intrigues your audience and provides a springboard for captivating content across social channels.

See More:5 Mistakes Marketers Should Avoid While Creating Content for Sales

Access: Get Your Team on the Same Page

According to a recent Accenture studyOpens a new window , 50% of more than 1,000 marketing executives surveyed from around the globe said they have more content than they can manage. And only 19% of marketing leaders responded that their objectives for creating new content are clearly established. 

Without a coordinated focus, marketing teams end up wasting time and resources. Work ends up redundant or inconsistent, and the team struggles to communicate because they lack clear goals and a shared hub of information.

Strategic alignment solves the problem of access, ensuring team members across departments can communicate, focus on the same goals with the same customer data and eliminate duplicated efforts. That consistency ensures your content strategy fits into broader marketing and sales plans. 

Amplify: Maximize the Value and Life of an Idea

If you start with a great conversation that feeds your audiences’ interests, you can tease out more pieces of content from that one session. But what does that kind of scalable content look like? Start with a podcast.

As the audience for podcasts grows across the U.S. — weekly podcast listeners increased by 17% over the last year, according to Edison ResearchOpens a new window — now is the time to rethink the way you’re creating content. 

Here’s an example: You identify a subject matter expert who can speak on a topic that interests your audience. Rather than researching and writing a series of articles or blog posts from the perspective of that subject matter expert, why not schedule a conversation you can use to generate content? Capturing that conversation is just the first step. 

Use the transcript of that podcast for a series of blog posts or newsletters that send readers back to the full conversation and your website if they want more. Break out the best moments as audio or video clips to embed into email campaigns or use as social media posts. And just like that, you’ve created an array of content with one seamless message, all grown from an authentic, meaningful conversation developed to satisfy the curiosities of your audience, not the unending demand of a search engine algorithm. 

Attribute: Use Better Metrics To Identify What’s Working

So you have your team aligned, you’re sourcing content from great conversations and wringing out those elements across multiple platforms. How can you tell what’s making an impact so you can run in the direction of your audience? You need a reliable way to measure the response to your content. If you determine what people are reading, watching and listening to and pinpoint what’s drawing them to it through better analytics, you can build on what’s working. 

You need metrics that help you understand what engages your audience: What are they sharing and commenting on, and where are they spending the most time? The answers to those questions lead back to better content with repeatable results that maximize the reach of your industry’s best and most respected voices. 

See More: How Marketers Can Address Inefficiencies Within Content Creation

Bring the Focus Back to Quality Content

An amplified marketing strategy grounded in the three A’s can help you:

• Consolidate your data
• Align your team’s goals and knowledge
• Let the experts speak for themselves
• Use those conversations to fuel meaningful content 
• Measure the impact of that content
• Repeat your success

Greater access leads to amplified content, with results that can be attributed specifically and repeated. An amplified marketing strategy centered on great conversations reprioritizes your audience without creating more work for you, so your team can focus on quality. 

As a content marketing professional, how are you making your work more efficient and far-reaching? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

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