content marketing plan – Halona Black

Entrepreneurs often work very long hours — particularly in the beginning stages of their business. You find yourself not only responsible for serving your customers, but all the stuff that goes on in the back office as well. You are doing the marketing, the accounting, you’re going to network events, etc. The work never ends. As a result, you may be thinking about shortcuts that will help you to get more done in less time. Marketing is often one of those things that can be systemized to save you time.

Your blog is a marketing tool that many healthy brands either love or hate. If you’re a prolific writer, blogging may be right up your alley. Non-writers would rather scoop their own eyeballs out with a melon baller than to write something that other people will read.

Blogging is an important marketing activity because it builds credibility and it helps potential paying customers find you during online searches. However, as an entrepreneur building your healthy brand, you may feel like using pre-written content — or PLR (private label rights) content — is the way to go.

What is PLR content?

PLR content is pre-written blog posts or articles that can be sold to business owners to use on their blog. The same content can be bought by anyone who has the money to pay for it. It’s sort of like going to Macy’s to shop for a blouse. You may purchase a blouse you like, however it doesn’t mean you have exclusive rights to that blouse. Others are free to purchase a copy of that same blouse in Macy’s stores all over the world.

Just say no to pre-written content

When it comes to content for your blog, you want to make sure that the content you use is original. Why? For starters, one of the purposes of a blog is to differentiate you from others who may do similar work as you. Second, each blog post you write is another opportunity for search engines to rank you using certain keywords and phrases. The better quality of the content, the higher your chances of being ranked on the first few pages of Google’s search function. How will Google know that your blog posts on liver detoxification are quality if you and 100 other coaches used the exact same blog posts?

If you absolutely need to use PLR content for your blog, you can use it to inspire your own original blog posts. Don’t just copy and paste the material and slap your name on it.

Alternatives to PLR content

My advice is to avoid PLR content for your blog at all costs. If you really want to have a successful blog, you have to make the space blogging in your marketing calendar. Some tips to help you find the time to blog are:

Decide how often you want to blog. Once per week? Five times per week? What matters most is that you are consistent.
Look for guest bloggers. If your blog has a bit of a following, you may be able to attract quality guest bloggers who can write relevant content for you during the times you are too busy to write something for yourself.
Hire someone to write for you. Partner with a profesional writer who knows you and your business.

Have you ever used PLR content on your blog? What would make blogging on a regular basis easier for you?

New and established healthy brands alike find themselves in an ongoing cycle of marketing their services. Customers are no longer paying as much attention to traditional advertising and are now looking for information to solve their problems. That is why content marketing has become so popular.

Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing content to attract your target customer to your services or products. If you want to use content marketing for your healthy brand, don’t do what many companies do and just start writing random blog posts with no focus. You need a strategy. Here are 5 questions you need to ask yourself before creating your content marketing strategy.

#1 What are your business goals?

Sounds strange, but many healthy brands don’t have any business goals at all beyond sell more stuff. You know the old saying: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The same can be said with content marketing. Pinpoint what your business goals are before spending any time on creating content strategy. Do you want a 10% increase in sales? Acquisition of 10 new clients? Launch a new product? Once you have identified your goals, think about a time frame. Your healthy brand may choose to forecast 3 months into the future while others are looking at one to two years.

#2 What do you know about your customers?

Your customers are the reason you’re in business. So it is imperative that you do a little research to find out why they choose to buy from you, or at least why they are interested in your company. If you already have an email list, try creating a survey of 5 to 10 questions inquiring about their experiences with you. If they have made a purchase, why did they choose your company over others? If they have NOT made a purchase as of yet, what is holding them back?

#3 How did your customers find you on the internet?

Do some keyword research to figure out how your customers and enthusiasts found you on the internet. You may already know this intuitively, however using tools like Google Keyword Planner can give you some insight into the various combinations of how people phrase their questions. The latest Google search algorithm updates emphasize the use of natural search language and longtail keywords. Here is an example of keywords vs natural search language for an ayurvedic herb company:

Keyword: ayurveda, herbs, ayurvedic herbs, bulk herbs, wholesale, Portland OR
Natural language/longtail keywords: Who sells ayurvedic herbs in bulk in Portland, OR?

#4 What kinds of content do your customers need?

Once you know what kinds of questions your customers and enthusiasts are asking, and you know the words they are using to find you on the internet, you can now start to brainstorm the kinds of content your customers need to make an informed choice about your brand. Here are some content ideas to get you started:

Education or training – How can you teach your customer to need and want your product or service?
Discounts or coupons – How can you use this to lure customers in to try new products and services?
Thought leadership – How can you reframe old ideas about your industry and bring more people into your “tribe?”
Giveaways – Can you offer people a mini experience representative of what you offer?
Testimonials – How can you use the experiences prior satisfied customers to your advantage?

#5 What is the best way to meet your content needs?

Now that you’ve done all the prior work, you can now figure out how to take your content ideas and figure out what is the best vehicle to deliver your message. Is it a series of blog posts — either on your blog or elsewhere? Is it a well researched white paper? Is it an e-book? Is it a presentation that can be displayed using Slideshare or Prezi? Is it an infographic?

Content marketing can be simplified with the proper guidance. If you are a new or established healthy brand seeking support for your content marketing, I am available for consultations and creating content.

What’s the hardest part about creating a content marketing strategy for your healthy brand?

Tag: content marketing plan

The Truth About Writing Original Blog Content