In part one we touched on the value of research and the process of the planning stage. In this we will look closely at the consumer process from exposure to sales, we will also touch on what type of content should you be posting so we identify high-value content.

Exposure is when people first see your content, the first point of contact with your brand. This can be organic or paid. The best way to push out your content to new people organically is to take advantage of the algorithm. Understanding how the algorithm works and what kind of content it pushes out goes a long way. For example, Instagram favors Reels in its algorithm when suggesting content to new accounts this means Reels will be more likely to be promoted as a suggested post rather than a feed post. Keeping this in mind, it’s best to plan your content strategy to include plenty of short-form video content like Tik Toks and reels, making sure we are focusing on trends and trending sounds to make the most of the algorithm.

Once you’ve reached your audience you should be connecting with them through high-value content, which falls under the following categories:

Educational:

This is the content that teaches your audience about your product or service. Not just about what you do – but why they need it and how they can use it to enrich their lives. The more educational your content is, the more valuable it is. For example, gyms can create educational content in the form of posting healthy recipes or workout routines. This kind of content will help their customers hit their fitness goals, adding value to the services they provide and showing their audience or potential clientele how to maximise their facilities.

Entertaining:

Entertaining content can be anything from a funny meme to a trending video. It’s usually content that causes some sort of emotional reaction – preferably a positive emotional response but any response can be useful creating TWO entertaining content not only gives your business a sense of personality but it’s also a lot of fun for your team to participate in!

Engaging:

Engaging content has the specific goal of encouraging your audience to react. Social Media allows you to have a two-way conversation with the consumer, by inviting the consumer to speak back to you, you can maximise your engagement. Ask for your audience’s opinions through questions or polls are a great way of doing this. “Pineapple on pizza? Yeah or Nah?”  read more about audience interaction: Interactive Marketing: Why it’s Beneficial for Any Business

Once you’ve established your audience, it’s time to nurture it. Aside from consistent posting, the best way to nurture your audience is to stay top of mind. The more customers hear from you, the more they’ll remember you! The easiest way to do this is through Instagram stories. 67% of people say that they have become more interested in brands after seeing them on Instagram stories (Meta). Stories open the door to a range of content options that may not be so appropriate for the feed. As stories are a more casual form of posting, they’re an awesome opportunity to show your brand’s personality, a little bit of personality goes a long way.  You could also your stories to repurpose content that performed well on another platform. Sharing it to your Instagram story is a great way to get more out of your content and make good content go further. EDM’s are another great way to nurture your audience, sending your audience branded messages directly to their inbox. Being able to speak directly to your audience is one of the strongest ways to build trust with your customers, email marketing is the most effective way to do this. With a strong content strategy, you can make your EDM and social media efforts work together in harmony to support each other and deliver a consistent message to your audience.

After the customer has found your page and been re-exposed to your content, again and again, the last step is to close, this is where the viewer makes contact and becomes a customer. Tagging your product in posts or showing off your services in a story is a great way to engage with your customer during the final stage of your content plan. Another way to make sales is through link in bio. Adding a link to your bio allows the customer to easily find your website and products.

Now that we know the process of how to create a strong digital content strategy, Part 3 will teach us why it’s important that you build a digital content plan.