It’s a new quarter which means it’s time to set new goals, tweak your strategy, and brainstorm new marketing plans for 2016.
Think of your content marketing plan as a roadmap that directs you towards your target destinations over the short and long-term. Look at your roadmap and determine how far you can go before you need to stop and refuel. Those fuel stations are the benchmarks for your short-term and long-term marketing goals. You can measure your rate of success based on the awareness, the attention, and the leads you acquire along the road to your pre-determined fueling stations.
To simplify the journey in 2016, look back at the numbers from the routes travelled in 2015 and decide whether to follow a similar route or take the road yet to be travelled.
How should you adjust your marketing plans in 2016? Well one area that you might want to review is where your brand and your content fit into the marketing funnel itself, particularly if you work within a B2B organization.
In a recent episode of Whiteboard Friday, Moz’s Rand Fishkin discussed how B2B marketers should target the marketing funnel with content compared to their B2C cousins. According to Rand, B2B marketers incorrectly attempt to target multiple categories of the marketing funnel with each piece of content.
This tactic is often ineffective in B2B marketing as content that is primarily meant to boost awareness is unlikely to improve conversion rates. The difference between the upper funnel and the lower funnel is more profound in B2B marketing than it is in B2C.
Make sure your marketing plan includes content that expands the reach of your upper funnel and also leaves room for separate content that drives more of your audience towards a purchase or conversion in the lower funnel. Content that provides advice, outlines best practices, or discusses marketing trends will help you move towards your upper funnel goals that are typically more achievable in the short-term. Content that demonstrates the unique value of your product or service can help you achieve more long-term goals by offering an exclusive experience for your audience that should boost the number of users who make the switch from interest to purchase.
Another change that will impact marketing plans in 2016 is how the average user searches for solutions to their inquiries. Just like high-speed internet in the 1990s increased the consumption of online information followed by the rise of mobile search in the late 2000s, the emerging “micro-moment” is changing consumer behaviour yet again.
A “micro-moment” is when searchers find relevant and helpful content that allows for an easy transition from interest to intent. When people conduct a search for information via Google or through social media, they want to be directed to content that provides immediate value and instantaneous solutions.
The traditional consumer lifecycle followed a similar path to the marketing funnel from prospect (awareness) to suspect (consideration & comparison) to consumer (conversion) and finally advocate (retention). It typically takes time and repeated interaction with your brand for a member of your audience to complete the lifecycle and become a loyal customer.
However, thanks to smartphone technology, we have access to more information than ever before in the palms of our hands, and we want answers to our questions right away. Micro-moments are simplifying the consumer lifecycle by allowing us to immediately find products or brands, complete a quick competitive analysis, and decide whether to learn more or move on.
Make sure your marketing plan recognizes this shift in consumer behaviour and includes easy to find solutions. You can begin planning for these moments by probing through the most popular searches conducted by consumers on your own website, and supplying value-added content that meets those needs with real solutions.
How are you planning for 2016? What will you include as part of your content planning strategy? Let us know on Twitter or share your tips on our Facebook page.