Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness, gain trust and traffic, and convert new customers. If you aren’t leveraging this tactic in 2021, it’s time to rethink your marketing approach and see where you can incorporate content. We’re here to help with some ideas for your 2021 content marketing strategy.

If you’re already implementing a content strategy, keep what’s working for you and improve what isn’t. We know growing businesses may not have the resources to completely reimagine a brand new content marketing strategy. Instead, you can add some new approaches or re-examine old ones. Here are 10 suggestions for ways to better your content marketing strategy in 2021 without stretching your budget.

10 Things to Add to Your 2021 Content Strategy

1. Audience Segmentation

Not everyone who consumes your content wants the exact same thing. By dividing your audience into groups based on where they are in their journey and what they’re interested in that you have to offer, you can create targeted content designed to give people what they like, and avoid sending them what they don’t.

2. Target Your Specific Audiences

To do this, you need to make sure you know your prospective (and existing) customers like the back of your hand. What do they want, what obstacles are they trying to overcome? What makes them happy, and what keeps them up at night? Then, you can understand what exactly they are looking for so you can tailor your content to their needs.

A great way to do that is with keyword research. See what the current demand for your topic is with Google Trends or tools like SEMRush and UberSuggest, and use them to guide what you create.

3. Keep Your Content Up-to-Date

As time passes, content naturally becomes outdated. To ensure your readers will still be gaining something from your content, you have to periodically go through and update information. Start with your most popular posts that are six months old or older, then work your way down.

4. Create Content Based On Your Core Values

One of the most important things content marketing does is build your brand. Your audience gets the chance to develop a relationship with your business. With content based on your core values, you can continue to develop that relationship, showing your audience what is important to you and what their experience with your company will be like.

5. Stay Flexible

As you deploy your updated content marketing strategy, stay flexible. Be ready to receive feedback, measure effectiveness, and make tweaks.

On the whole, content marketing requires adaptability. The digital landscape is constantly changing, and new avenues for marketing are always being created. To stay competitive, you have to keep on top of the latest trends and always be ready to adapt.

6. Conduct a Competitor Analysis

Your competition can tell you a lot about how you can improve your content marketing. Take a look at what they’re doing, see what’s working and what isn’t, and integrate the successful techniques into your strategy.

Google has many automated tools that allow you to take a good look at your competition, and other sites (like UberSuggest mentioned above) do, too. No matter what tool you use, your goal is to see what approaches you can start using for your own business. Don’t steal! Just use it as inspiration to fill in any gaps and create something even better.

7. Create High-Quality Content

Regardless of what kind of content you’re creating, you want it to be great quality. Your audience isn’t going to stick around for boring or unhelpful content. While content marketing is marketing, your primary goal is to build trust and offer value. Whether you’re providing entertainment, education, statistics, stories, or tutorials, your content has to give something generous to your audience.

8. Create a Content Calendar

A lot of content marketers take it one piece of content at a time, reactively instead of proactively. However, this can make it really hard to track the effectiveness of your content and to successfully market it.
Instead, create a comprehensive calendar to track and measure all of your activity ahead of time. Plan out what content you’ll create and when you’ll publish it. With a calendar, you will have a well-thought-out, long-term strategy. Plus, when you work ahead, your content will be ready to go when you need it.

9. Try New Types of Content

If you are able, an excellent way to reach new audiences is with other types of content. There are hundreds of types of content out there, and changing up what you’re producing every now and then will help boost your audience’s interest. It also allows you to keep your content fresh and explore new avenues of content marketing. If you’re only writing blogs, try turning some of them into infographics, or checklists and templates you can use as a lead generator (something you offer in exchange for a reader’s contact information). Usually write long-form think-pieces? Try a listicle, like this want. Whatever you do, make it helpful, switch it up, and let your brand personality shine.

10. Final Thoughts

With a great 2021 content marketing strategy, your business can bring in more leads and convert them into loyal customers.

Want even more guidance on exactly how to execute an effective and impactful content strategy? Download our eBook below.

About the Author

Content Manager and Copywriter Beth McDonough brings nearly a decade of professional writing and editing to the team at &Marketing. With extensive experience in an array of fields that range from entertainment publications to a Fortune 500 energy company, Beth has the ability to produce written content that speaks directly to the needs of a breadth of clients and channel their brand personality into a compelling story.

About &Marketing

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.