The 8 Content Marketing Goals That Are Critical to Your Business

If you’re running a business, having a content marketing strategy is key to success. Why? Because it helps ensure your content is working towards your overall business goals. Plus, today’s customers are bombarded with choices, and if you want them to pick your product or service, you need to have great content that cuts through the noise. 

Not sure where to start? Check out our list of eight goals for any successful content marketing campaign. These tips will help you create content that resonates with your audience and drives conversions.

Why Alignment With Content Objectives Is Crucial

Here are some benefits of aligning your content marketing campaigns and strategy goals between all relevant stakeholders within the company: 

• Smooth Collaboration: When all relevant stakeholders are aligned on the content marketing goals, they can easily collaborate on the campaign.
• More Accurate KPI tracking: Having all stakeholders involved in goal-setting will help ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding measuring success. As a result, you’ll be able to track your key performance indicators more accurately and make adjustments as needed.
• Employer Advocacy: With a more holistic view of content marketing, it will be easier for relevant stakeholders to share the content in their networks. 
• Increased ROI: By ensuring that everyone is working towards the same objectives, you can avoid duplicate efforts and maximize the return on investment for your content marketing campaigns.
• Improved decision-making: When all stakeholders are brought into the decision-making process for content marketing, you’ll be able to tap into a wealth of knowledge and experience. This will lead to better decisions about what content to create, how to distribute it, and what strategies to use for long-term success.

The 8 Critical Goals of Content Marketing

Now that we’ve defined content marketing and discussed its importance, let’s dive into our eight critical goals for a successful content marketing strategy.

1. Increase Brand Awareness and Recognition

One of the primary goals of content marketing is to increase brand awareness for your business. After all, if people don’t know your company exists, they can’t become customers or clients.

Creating high-quality content is one of the best ways to get your name out there and attract the attention of your target audience. Think about the relevant content that will help you achieve these marketing and business goals. 

For example, if you’re looking to increase brand awareness for a new product launch, you might create blog posts or social media updates leading up to the launch date. Or, if you want to raise awareness for your business in general, you might create thought-leadership content that showcases your company’s expertise.

No matter what type of content you create, you aim to get it in front of as many people as possible. So be sure to promote your content across your channels, from your website and blog to social media and email. You can also use paid advertising to amplify your reach and ensure your target audience sees your content.

One company that has successfully used content marketing to increase brand awareness is Coca-Cola. For example, in 2016, they launched their “Taste the Feeling” campaign, which featured a mix of print, TV, digital and out-of-home advertisements. The campaign was designed to underscore people’s emotional connections with Coca-Cola products.

This strategy raised brand awareness, as the “Taste the Feeling” campaign garnered over 278 million online views.

And it helped Coca-Cola boost its sales by 3% in the first quarter of 2017. By creating high-quality content that resonates with its target audience, Coca-Cola has effectively built awareness for its brand and increased its bottom line.

2. Generate More Qualified Leads

Generating leads is an important goal of content marketing. Businesses can attract potential customers and convert them into leads by creating compelling and engaging content. While some customers may immediately commit to a product or service, others may require more nurturing before they are ready to make a purchase.

Businesses can develop targeted marketing campaigns to move leads through the sales funnel by collecting data from each interaction with potential customers. Effective content marketing can thus result in increased sales and revenue for businesses.

One of the best ways to generate leads is to create gated content, meaning people have to give you their contact information to access it. For example, you might create an eBook or whitepaper and require people to fill out a form with their name and email address before they can download it.

You can also use lead magnets, such as free trials or coupons, to entice people to sign up for your email list. Once you have their contact information, you can follow up with targeted emails that will move them further down the sales funnel.

3. Build Brand Loyalty and Trust

Fostering brand loyalty is essential for any business that wants to build a lasting relationship with its customers. After all, why would someone continue to buy from a company they don’t trust or feel loyal to?

As a content marketer, you have the opportunity to help build both of these things through the stories you tell and the experiences you create. Loyalty is often built through shared values and everyday experiences, so tell stories highlighting these things.

For instance, if you’re marketing a sustainable fashion brand, you could tell stories about the people who make the clothing and how they work to reduce their environmental impact. On the other hand, if you’re marketing a new kind of workout gear, you might share stories about how it’s helped people achieve their fitness goals.

In both cases, you’re giving your audience a reason to feel loyal to your brand. Trust, on the other hand, is built through transparency and consistency. Be clear about who you are and what you stand for, and be consistent in the messages you share.

In addition, with content marketing, your company may host a giveaway or a contest, offering your consumers the opportunity to win a reward and, as a result, celebrate your customer base.

Customer loyalty and trust are essential for any business that wants to thrive in the long term. As you achieve this, your audience will come to trust you as a source of reliable information.

4. Garner More Web Traffic With Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Websites are much like storefronts; the better they look, the more likely people will come in. But, of course, there’s a little more to it than that. Just as you wouldn’t put a store in the middle of nowhere, your website also needs to be easy to find.

One way to do this is to use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. SEO involves using keywords and other strategies to improve your site’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). This ensures that your website comes up near the top of the results when people search for keywords related to your business.

You can also generate traffic by advertising your website on social media or through pay-per-click ads. And, of course, one of the best ways to drive traffic to your site is by providing high-quality content that people will want to read and share.

By creating informative and exciting content, you can encourage people to visit your site – and, hopefully, take action once they’re there.

5. Increase Social Media Engagement

Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are great places to connect with potential and current customers.

But, of course, social media isn’t just about broadcasting messages; it’s also about engagement.

As a business owner, you can use social media to start conversations, answer questions, and build relationships. This is done by creating content that is shareable and by engaging with people who comment on or share your posts.

Of course, social media engagement isn’t just about talking to people; it’s also about listening. Keep an eye on what people say about your brand, and use that information to improve your content marketing plan.

Equally important, be consistent with your tone and voice on social media. This will help people to feel like they know your brand and will make it more likely that they’ll engage with your content.

6. Boost Engagement With Potential and Existing Customers

Engagement is key to content marketing success. After all, what’s the point of creating all this content if no one is reading it?

There are a few different ways to measure engagement. One is simply looking at how many people visit your site or open your emails.

But you can also measure engagement by looking at things like how long people are spending on your site, what kind of interactions they’re having (Are they commenting on your blog posts? Sharing them on social media?), and whether or not they’re taking the actions you want them to take (subscribing to your email list, downloading an eBook, etc.)

Increasing engagement can be challenging, but it’s worth it. People who actively engage with your content will be more likely to remember your brand and buy from you in the future.

There are a few different ways to increase engagement:

• Host webinar
• Develop an email course
• Create a contest or giveaway
• Create vlogs or podcasts
• Develop an interactive piece of content (like a quiz or poll)
• Encourage social sharing
• Include images and video clip
• Use short paragraphs, subheadings, and bulleted lists to make your content easy to read.
• You could include a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your blog posts or in your email newsletters, asking people to take specific action.

By increasing engagement, you can encourage people to keep coming back for more – which can ultimately lead to increased sales and conversions. Existing customers will be more likely to buy from you, and new customers will be more likely to become long-term fans.

7. Boost Sales and Revenue

A content marketing objective should be to boost sales and revenue. The sales team should be able to use the content created to engage potential customers, provide detailed information about the product or service, and compel them to make a purchase.

The content should be designed to increase website traffic and conversion rates using a mix of SEO keywords, creative writing, and attractive visuals.

By working closely with the sales team, content marketers can ensure that the right message is communicated to potential customers at every stage of the buying journey. In turn, this will lead to more sales and revenue for the company.

To achieve these objectives, content marketers must first understand the sales team’s needs and align their goals with the company’s overall objectives. Only then can they create compelling content that resonates with potential customers and drives conversions.

8. Educate Current and Potential Customers

Content marketing goals should also include educating customers (current and potential customers) about your products or services. This is done by creating helpful and informative content that covers the topics they’re interested in.

For example, if you sell software, you could create blog posts that teach people how to use it or create video tutorials that show them how to get the most out of your product.

You could also create an eBook or white paper that covers a specific topic in depth. This would be especially useful for people considering purchasing your product or service, as it would give them a better understanding of what it is and how it can help them.

By educating your audience, you’re not only helping them to make more informed decisions, but you’re also building trust and credibility.

Conclusion

Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.

The most successful businesses take a long-term view of their content strategy, mapping out goals and KPIs they want to hit for months and years.

By setting concrete, measurable goals for your content marketing efforts, you can ensure that your hard work pays off in spades down the line. What are some of your own content marketing goals? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

FAQs