If you don’t have a content marketing strategy, you’re missing a viable lead generation technique. Here are 5 steps to getting started with content marketing.

1. Determine the primary goal for content marketing.
I know what you are thinking: “We need everything to work as hard as possible and meet several objectives.” In a study we recently conducted, marketers said their number-one challenge is “too many priorities and not enough resources.” But everything in marketing communications works better with focus.

One of the first steps is to determine what the primary goal for content marketing is, and therefore where you should focus efforts. Content marketing can be an effective lead generation technique and has the ability to ensure your company can get found when prospects are in the right mind-set. Here are a handful of goals to consider:

Setting a clear objective is essential to determining a focus for content marketing and the first step in the process.

2. Set a content strategy based on keyword analytics.

Determining topics to focus on isn’t as simple as determining what content you have on hand. A more analytical process typically will result in a more effective approach. Factors for setting a content strategy include monthly search volume for a keyword, difficulty to rank against keywords and accessibility of content development for those keywords. This is where art meets science.

Once the keywords are determined, the goal is to begin building meaningful content around those specific words. Content can be in the form of blog articles, videos, polls, web pages, infographics, ebooks and white papers. It’s important to ensure content has appropriate calls-to-action infused throughout it.

3. Determine how you can tie your content marketing to support social media efforts.
Many marketers are constantly looking for topics to message in social media. Leveraging content in social media can transform these efforts into customer versus company-centric communications. Additionally, integrating social media and search engine marketing can help extend reach and build more visibility for the inbound marketing efforts. Utilizing content marketing in social media marketing activities also transforms these activities into lead generation techniques.

4. Determine key interaction points where content marketing strategies can be grounded in actual prospect behavior.
As the process unfolds, analytics are leveraged to determine the most appropriate follow-up for leads. This behavior-based approach creates a lead pipeline that is tailored and relevant based on individual engagement. Applying behavior to ongoing communications can increase the effectiveness of this lead generation technique.

5. Get an inbound marketing assessment.
It’s important to realize that content marketing is becoming a competitive arena. You need to ensure you are putting all the best practices in place or your content marketing effort might fall short. Get a free assessment. Jacobs & Clevenger offers companies a free inbound marketing assessment (shameless plug). These sessions cover key stats demonstrating why so many marketers are adopting a content marketing strategy, plus we’ll work with you to:

One of the best aspects of inbound marketing is that you gain real-time learnings. As prospects engage with content, these learnings are applied to help generate meaningful and tailored follow-up interactions.

Inbound marketing is a proven winning approach for driving traffic and a viable lead generation technique. According to HubSpot, companies that blog 20 times per month get five times more traffic than those that blog less than four times per month. Our most recent experience actually generated an increase of inbound visits to a website 10-fold within 90 days. And with an aggressive commitment, a marketer can start to see results in 90 days from utilizing this lead generation technique.