Yes, your content marketing strategy needs all those elements

As a real estate brand that wants to stand out in the market, you’ve wisely decided that it’s crucial to build a content marketing strategy.

Once you start developing a content marketing strategy, you will discover that numerous moving parts need to be managed to ensure that the final output, your marketing initiative, is successful.

Building your content marketing strategy may seem daunting, but if you have the guidance of a content expert, you can rest assured that you can develop an effective action plan that will help you achieve your marketing objectives.

Why do you need a content marketing strategy?

Creating content without a plan can lead to poor (or zero) results once it’s out in the wild. It can come across as vague, generic or repetitive to the audience, which can turn them away from your brand.

Consistency is key to succeeding in real estate marketing. Developing a content strategy can help you build consistency by ensuring that every initiative you release falls under an overarching theme or topic. It also ensures that each content piece you share complements one another, amplifying your key messages to your audience.

A well-documented strategy can also help the reader in tracking and monitoring the performance of their marketing efforts, allowing them to identify which areas need improvement for future endeavours.

5 elements your content marketing strategy should include

There are five main components that an effective content marketing strategy should have. We break it down in this section and explain why each one is crucial to develop a successful content marketing strategy.

1. Build a content framework

Think of your content framework as the skeletal system of your content marketing strategy; your framework provides structure while ensuring that every component in your strategy is well-connected to each other.

Your content framework should include the following:

Goals – It’s important to keep the end in mind when you start developing your framework and strategy. Defining your marketing objectives will help you produce a clear, actionable plan for achieving them.
Audience – Having a buyer persona will inform how you create your strategy, and it will ensure that your content initiatives effectively address your target customer’s needs and pain points.
Content type – You need to identify what types of content you need to create for your audience. If your target customer prefers reading long-form content, you must prioritise blogs in your strategy. If your target customer is a visual learner, they may engage more with videos and images, which you will need to incorporate in your strategy.
Distribution channels – If you have a good understanding of your target audience, you will know which platforms to target for distributing your content initiatives. Depending on your marketing goals, you can assign different types of content for specific channels (i.e. images and short video clips on Instagram and long-form social posts on LinkedIn).
Workflow management – Once you’ve identified the types of content to be produced, you can assign the workload to your partnering agency or the corresponding team members in your marketing department.

2. Create a shortlist of key messages

It’s important to develop your key messages at the planning stage of your content creation process. You can distil your brand story through key messages, allowing you to crystallise business information and articulate business differentiation. Your key messages serve as a reference point in creating content marketing initiatives.

Having an overview of your proposed content initiatives for a three-month or six-month strategy will allow you to check if your key messages are well expressed and that the content isn’t repetitive.

3. Brainstorm your lineup of content ideas

A content strategy will encourage you to build a lineup of content ideas that you can schedule for content creation months in advance.

Preparing a lineup of ideas ensures that you launch cohesive marketing campaigns and that all your content pieces relate to each other and amplify your key messages.

Staring at a blank sheet of paper and trying to come up with ideas can seem daunting. The first step is doing your research.

This can help take the load off as you generate fresh content ideas. You can take inspiration from many different sources online. You can start by checking reputable industry-related digital publications and look at the latest trends and events. From there, you can create content that discusses these topics while ensuring that they echo your key messages.

Looking at industry reports and statistics can help you generate ideas that are backed up by data. In Story League’s case, one key statistic we always come back to is this:

“63% of people could remember stories, but only 5% could remember a single statistic.”

Stanford professor Chip Heath’s insight about the power of stories has enabled us to create numerous blogs on how storytelling is a crucial tool in content marketing.

4. Develop a platform plan and posting schedule

Your content framework should enable you to identify the distribution channels you need to use for your content initiatives, but developing a platform plan will ensure that you know which types of content to post in specific channels.

You can use your communication channels effectively by researching your target market’s online habits and preferences and getting expert advice from content experts. This works best alongside a posting schedule, which will help you build consistency as a brand and encourage audience trust and loyalty.

A rudimentary example of a weekly platform plan and posting schedule includes:

Monday: New blog posting on the website
Tuesday: LinkedIn text post about the new blog
Wednesday: Instagram post featuring the new blog
Thursday: LinkedIn video post about the new blog
Friday: Facebook text post about the new blog

You need to monitor the online activity of your target audience so that your posts are uploaded during the “prime time” when your ideal customers are active online.

5. Identify the content metrics to monitor

It’s crucial to have content metrics so that you can track the performance of your campaigns once they’ve been launched online.

According to SEM Rush, there are three types of metrics that you can use to assess the performance of your content marketing:

User behaviour metrics – Behavioural analytics will give you a clear idea of how your audiences are interacting with your content on relevant channels, such as your website and social media platforms. Examples of metrics under this category include pageviews and the total number of new and returning users.
Engagement metrics – This will tell you how much your audiences are interacting with your content. Examples of metrics under this category include likes and shares, comments and mentions.
SEO outcome metrics – Monitoring your SEO can help you increase brand awareness and visibility online. Examples of metrics include organic traffic, backlinks and keyword rankings.

These metrics will give you a holistic overview of the overall performance of your content marketing strategy, allowing you to hone in on key areas for improvement or development.

Creating a content strategy may seem daunting at first, but it can make a huge difference in your marketing initiatives. Partnering with a content marketing expert can ensure that you effectively complete each component of your content marketing strategy.

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