Whether you’re starting out with content marketing, changing your marketing strategy to focus more on your customers or planning your next lead generation campaigns, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. You’ll probably have a mile-long list of projects that you would like to tackle, such as new white papers, launching a blog or creating some educational videos. However, how do you know which of these projects are the most important and will have the biggest impact on your business?
Here are three techniques that you can use when prioritizing your marketing projects:
- Look into the Future
No, you don’t need a crystal ball to see what lies ahead. However, you will need an Excel chart. Make a list of all of the events that are coming up in your organization. These can include product launches or updates, trade shows, seminars and anything else that may be important.
Once you have this chart, you can determine which events will require custom content. For example, is your CEO speaking at a major conference, and would you like to share a video of her speech on your blog? Do you need case studies to support a new product? Identifying these events can help you keep your marketing on track.
- Mind the Gaps
Be sure to consider every stage of your sales cycle and look for areas where you are lacking content. For example, do you have lots of content for late-stage leads – such as product comparison charts and datasheets – but not enough content to educate potential customers who are just beginning to explore their problems? Or do you have tons of social media content but not enough premium content to get members of your social communities to opt in to your list? In B2B, the sales cycles are long, so you may want to focus on developing content that keeps leads engaged throughout the entire sales process.
- Fix the Ugly
Another strategy is to identify the areas where your marketing can see the greatest improvements. Is your website dated and failing to convert customers? Have you been promoting the same white paper for the past three years? Addressing your biggest marketing embarrassments can give you some quick wins … and make you feel better.
If you try some of these strategies and still feel overwhelmed by the amount of content that you want to create, remember that you don’t need to do everything all at once. Even a few changes in your marketing can lead to big results.
What about you? How do you prioritize your content marketing and lead generation efforts? Feel free to share your comments below.