To generate high-quality content consistently, you need a steady stream of content ideas, a solid workflow, and—most importantly—a well-crafted content plan. With a solid plan, you can stay organized, execute your content strategy successfully, and ensure you’re creating content that will actually connect with the right people and convert them into lifelong fans. If you’ve never created a plan before (or aren’t sure you’re doing it the right way), you’ve come to the right place. Here, we’ll walk you through the content plan process—and help you avoid common mistakes along the way. 

But first, let’s go back to basics. 

What Is a Content Plan?

In short, a content plan is a way to document the content marketing you want to create—and ensure everyone on your team stays on the same page. 

Why Do You Need a Content Plan?

Good content marketing is strategic and intentional. It also involves many moving parts, from copywriting to design. The better you can plan, the easier it is to… 

• Publish consistently. If you want to build your brand through content, you need to show up for your audience regularly. Publishing a steady stream of content is one of the most effective ways to do that. But if you don’t have a reliable content infrastructure (aka the knowledge and resources to create content), it is very difficult to produce and publish high-quality content consistently. A content plan helps keep everyone on the same page to ensure you hit your deadlines and publish the right thing at the right time. 
• Tell your brand’s best stories. We like to think of content marketing as a unique ecosystem, where every piece of content helps reinforce your brand story. If you’re making content piecemeal, or on the fly, it’s harder to control the quality and message that you’re sending. But with a solid content plan, you can ensure that you’re creating the right mix of content for your audience. 
• Maximize resources. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 54% of B2B marketers say a lack of resources is their biggest challenge. When you know what content you plan to create, you can identify and allocate resources more effectively. In fact, the more you plan, the more mileage you can get from your content. 

Note: What’s most important is actually documenting your plan. That can help you keep track of your content, spot additional content opportunities, and more.

How to Create a Content Plan

Creating a content plan is simple and straightforward (if you know what you’re doing). Follow these five steps to set yourself up for success.  

1) Complete your content strategy.

Successful content marketing doesn’t start with content—it starts with strategy. Before you make your content plan, you need to know what your goals are, who your audience is, how your content will support those goals, how you plan to measure success, etc. If you haven’t established this foundation, your content won’t be very effective. (In fact, you’re almost guaranteed to waste valuable time and resources for little reward.)

This is why it’s important to start with the basics. Use our content strategy guide and toolkit to ensure you have the information you need to build a content plan that is aligned to your goals.

2) Build your content pipeline.

Good content rarely happens when you’re scrambling to create something last minute. Thus, your content plan needs to account for any significant events or dates that you will create content for.

This may include all sorts of notable events, such as:

• Holidays
• Seasonal events (e.g., annual tradeshow)
• Company milestones
• Launches

To make sure these events are on your radar from the start, we suggest building a content pipeline, wherein you document important events for each quarter. (Download our free content pipeline template to do it.) Although you may not be focusing on those events yet, it’s important to have them in the pipeline so you can brainstorm and prepare far ahead of time. 

3) Decide on your cadence. 

How often do you plan to publish? What is a steady, reasonable cadence? This will rely on your team’s knowledge, skills, and ability to create various pieces of content. You may publish daily, weekly, or monthly—it all depends on your brand. What matters most is that you choose a reasonable cadence that you can realistically maintain.

Tip: If you don’t have the ability to create something in-house, outside support can help. See our tips to figure out if you should turn to a freelancer or a content agency.

4) Brainstorm ideas by month.

Every brand’s content needs will be different, but if you’re building your content operation from scratch, it helps to break content plans down by quarter (via your content pipeline), and then by month.

We find it especially helpful to choose a specific topic, set of keywords, or seasonal theme to brainstorm around each month.

Note:  While you can loosely plot these themes out, they shouldn’t be written in stone. Things can (and often do) change. If you’re brainstorming too far ahead, and something unexpected happens, it’ll throw your whole calendar off. Instead, plan 1-3 months at a time.

When it comes time to brainstorm specific content ideas, there are a few best practices to keep in mind:

• Include stakeholders. Don’t leave anyone important out of these meetings. More minds make better ideas. Plus, you don’t want to go back to square one if a stakeholder doesn’t approve of the idea.
• Vet your ideas. Don’t go with your first ideas. Instead, use your marketing personas to vet and prioritize the ideas that will resonate with your audience most.
• Consider the platform. Where does your audience live online, and what type of content do they like to consume on these platforms? This may influence the types of ideas you brainstorm.

Once you have your list of ideas, think about what order you will want to publish them in. For example, if you’re just starting to publish content, you will want to publish your larger, more broad pieces first. 

5) Build out your editorial calendar. 

Now you can use our editorial calendar template to schedule your content. (You may also use a calendar tool like CoSchedule.)

This is where you get into the nitty-gritty content-planning details. Build and schedule a calendar that keeps everyone on track, including all the relevant details like topic, keyword, author, etc. Again, you want to schedule things out far enough in advance that no one is unprepared or blindsided by a deadline. However, this is marketing, and things change (hi, pandemic!). You may need to be flexible and move some content up, or push other content back. 

For more on this, find out how to build a proper editorial calendar.

6) Plan your distribution strategy.

No matter how good your content is, if people aren’t seeing it, it isn’t doing its job. Focus on channels that align best with your goals and have the highest potential reach. For example, if your goal is brand awareness, prioritize channels with high visibility, like social media. For lead generation, use channels like email or gated content on your website. This approach ensures you’re not spreading resources too thin.

• Identify where your audience spends time. That might be LinkedIn for B2B or Instagram for younger audiences.
• Tailor your content for each platform. Segmenting by platform lets you adapt your message and format—using visuals and shorter copy for social media or long-form articles for your blog—ensuring your content resonates effectively with different audience segments.
• Analyze your audience’s engagement patterns to determine optimal posting times. Many platforms have peak engagement times (e.g., LinkedIn during weekdays), which can vary based on industry and audience type. Planning distribution around these patterns will help you maximize visibility and engagement.

For more tips, see our guide to build a distribution strategy that gets the right eyes on your content. 

How to Make Your Content Plan Successful

As you begin to document your plan (and measure the results as you go), we have a few final tips to make sure your content-planning work pays off.

• Optimize your infrastructure. Follow our tips to master content creation and work smarter, not harder.
• Choose the right mix of content. Think of your content as nutrition—your audience needs a well-balanced meal to stay interested (and satisfied). Find out how to serve the right type of content that will keep people engaged.
• Repurpose content. Maximize your content by looking for ways to repurpose content For example, you might break an ebook into a blog post, social media snippets, data visualizations, or even a podcast episode. This strategy boosts your presence across channels without having to create entirely new content. (For more tips on doing this, find out how a divisible content strategy can help you work more effectively.
• Test and tweak. Good metrics are the key to content marketing success because they tell you whether or not your content actually works. Measure your efforts, and use the insights to improve your content going forward.
• Don’t be precious with your content. If it isn’t working and you’re supposed to create the same content next month, mix it up.

Of course, if you need a partner to guide your strategy and content, we’re always here. See our content strategy FAQ, or hit us up directly. We’d love to help you create a content plan that resonates with the people you’re trying to reach. 

B2B marketing is tough. Industries are volatile, there are more decision-makers than ever, and it can feel nearly impossible to stand out in the crowd. Over the last decade, we’ve guided our clients through these pitfalls (and more), and we know what it takes to create great campaigns, produce stellar content, and build winning brands. We also love any chance to showcase our work—and share the insights we’ve learned to help others in the B2B marketing space. So let’s take a look at 10 successful B2B marketing case studies to analyze how we solved each client’s unique challenge, why it worked, and how you can apply the same ideas to your own strategy.

10 Successful B2B Marketing Case Studies

From large campaigns and SEO strategies to experimental formats and standalone pieces of content, each of these projects allowed us to flex our skills and create the best results for our clients. 

1) Blend Increases Site Traffic 183%

The Challenge: Blend, a FinTech company in the mortgage and consumer banking space, needed to scale content and position the brand as an industry expert. Having never focused on SEO, the team approached us to build their SEO strategy from scratch.

What We Did: To build a robust and high-ranking content ecosystem, we constructed a keyword cluster framework targeting Blend’s core audience and adopted a two-pronged approach to tackle those keywords.

• First, we optimized Blend’s core site pages to drive traffic. 
• Then, we created fresh content to expand Blend’s reach.

Collaborating closely with the Blend team, we established an efficient workflow and regular publishing schedule, enabling us to scale content production and consistently support our SEO objectives.

After numerous iterations and over 100 blog articles, Blend achieved significant improvements, including:

• 183% increase in site traffic
• Over 50 unbranded keywords ranking on Page 1
• Site visibility increase from 1.82% to 13.89%

The Takeaway: SEO requires constant adaptation, so it’s important to create a flexible strategy that can evolve as you grow. See our guide to choose the right keywords for your brand, and learn about the latest SEO practices to compete against AI. Although it’s tough to start from scratch, if you target the right keywords with a steady stream of valuable content, you’ll see your rankings improve over time. 

2) Lucidworks’ Interactive Educates Executives

The Challenge: Lucidworks helps companies build AI-powered search and data discovery solutions for employees and customers. To position the brand as a thought leader and provide much-needed education about data, Lucidworks wanted to create a fresh piece of content around the provocative subject of dark data. 

What We Did: Dark data can be a dry and tedious topic. To make it more engaging and captivating, we proposed an interactive microsite that would immerse users in the story—through the metaphor of an iceberg. Using copy, imagery, animation, and interactivity, we guided users into the dark abyss below the surface to reveal the value of dark data. This creative treatment brought the story to life in an unexpected way, becoming the perfect hero piece to showcase Lucidworks’ expertise. 

The Takeaway: Visual storytelling can be a powerful tool, and interactive content is especially enticing. If you’re not sure what types of stories you might tell in this format, follow these tips to brainstorm great interactive ideas.

3) Unbabel Creates a NSFW B2B Campaign

The Challenge: Unbabel is a Language Operations platform that facilitates customer interactions in any language. To grab attention and educate small businesses about the significance of Language Operations, the Unbabel team asked us to craft a bold and edgy campaign.

What We Did: We knew we needed to do something unusual and provocative in the B2B space, so we devised a daring campaign centered around the provocative acronym STFU. Traditionally meaning “Shut the F*** Up,” we reimagined STFU to stand for “Start Translating Fearlessly with Unbabel.” This bold phrase allowed us to convey Unbabel’s key benefits across a variety of formats, including a hero video, e-book, blog articles, social media content, and an interactive game. Not only did this campaign turn heads but Unbabel’s CMO called it one of the most visually compelling campaigns they’ve done to date. Best of all, the fresh messaging strategy positioned Unbabel as a true leader in the space.

The Takeaway: One of the biggest myths in B2B marketing is that it has to be boring. Just like B2C, unique and provocative campaigns can be just as successful. If you’re looking to push the envelope in your marketing, follow these tips to brainstorm edgy and exciting ideas.

4) SAP Creates an Award-Winning Podcast

The Challenge: SAP is a global enterprise software company that wanted to raise awareness about its cutting-edge SAP Leonardo technologies, which include machine learning, big data, and blockchain tech. In a push to move beyond traditional B2B content, they aimed to engage a wider audience through innovative and creative storytelling that could captivate and inform people in an unconventional way. 

What We Did: Instead of the usual types of B2B content (e.g., ebooks or infographics), we developed Searching for Salai, a fictional 9-part science-fiction podcast. This series reimagined the cultural narrative around new technologies while weaving in elements of time travel, history, and mystery. By combining entertainment with education in an audio format, we engaged SAP’s audience in a unique way, successfully reframing the perception of advanced technologies.

The podcast was a big risk; fortunately, it paid off. Searching for Salai garnered two prestigious awards: Best Podcast/Audio Series and Content Marketing Project of the Year at the Content Marketing Institute’s 2019 Content Marketing Awards.

The Takeaway: It’s easy to get used to producing the same type of content, whether it’s blog articles or videos, but experimenting with a different format can give you surprising results. If you’re not sure what that might look like, here are five fresh creative formats to try.

5) Dialpad Gets the LOLs with a Comedic Video Campaign 

The Challenge: Dialpad, a communication software solution provider, needed to effectively launch and promote their new VoiceAI product. This required a robust brand strategy, content strategy, and supporting content to increase awareness and clearly communicate the benefits of their innovative features. They asked us to come up with a creative approach to differentiate the brand and engage their audience in a memorable way.

What We Did: We began by refreshing Dialpad’s brand strategy to clearly define their brand heart (including purpose, vision, mission, and values) and target personas. With this strong foundation, we crafted key messaging centered around the tagline “Make Smarter Calls” to ensure consistency across all touchpoints. To lead Dialpad’s content campaigns, we produced two humorous videos spoofing common challenges in phone calls and showcasing VoiceAI’s unique benefits, such as note-taking during meetings and automating voice communications.

We’re happy to say the videos garnered 300,000+ views and were named Webby Awards honorees in the “Branded Entertainment Scripted” category.

The Takeaway: Creative storytelling only works if you deeply understand your core brand story. If you haven’t already done it, build out your brand messaging framework to identify your tagline, value prop, and key brand story pillars, which will help you create on-brand content that is consistent and cohesive—no matter the format. 

6) ELM Learning Makes a Splash in a Crowded Industry

The Challenge: ELM Learning, an eLearning agency known for its innovative approach combining neuroscience with human emotion, was struggling to stand out in the corporate learning industry. They needed to increase brand awareness, clarify their offerings, and attract higher-quality leads, so we embarked on a strategic branding engagement to highlight ELM’s unique value proposition and creative strengths.

What We Did: We began by conducting extensive competitive research and stakeholder interviews to understand the market landscape and ELM’s unique strengths. This led us to re-engineer the ELM brand around a “people-first” positioning, emphasizing their trademarked NeuroLearning methodology and the positive experiences clients had working with their team.

We then developed a fresh visual identity, revamped the ELM Learning website, and created new brand messaging and a content strategy that effectively communicated the new brand story to the market. As a result of their rebrand, ELM’s opportunity rate increased 60% in the first 30 days of site/brand launch, attracting multiple high-profile enterprise accounts.

The Takeaway: A successful rebrand is not about a new logo and fresh color palette. It requires serious research and strategic decisions to better communicate a brand’s story. If you’re considering a rebrand, here are 7 things to know before you start.

7) Instacart Finds Fresh B2B Revenue with a New Content Strategy

The Challenge: Instacart needed to scale the B2B side of their business by showcasing how their online and in-store technology supports ambitious retailers. To build awareness and expand reach, they asked us to build and deploy a cohesive content strategy. 

What We Did: To increase both awareness and conversions, we bolstered several key parts of Instacart’s strategy. 

To establish a stronger, more B2B-centered presence online, we crafted a robust content and SEO strategy around crucial keywords. This blog content resulted in an average ranking increase of 29 spots.

To further engage their audience as they moved down the funnel, we also designed the Instacart Ads Academy, an interactive learning platform where partners could get certified in ad basics. This helped increase familiarity with Instacart’s offerings and provided valuable education.

Additionally, after analyzing existing sales materials, we reimagined how the sales team could use data to highlight insights more effectively. With this improvement, their 5-point scale sales efficacy rating jumped from a 3.8 to a 4.2.

The Takeaway: A well-rounded content and SEO strategy is the key to B2B revenue growth. Follow our tips to master SEO, brainstorm high-value ideas for your audience, and bridge sales and marketing to create a stronger buyer journey. 

8) Bloomreach’s Paid Media Strategy Surpasses Goals by 30%

The Challenge: Bloomreach, a platform that personalizes the e-commerce experience, sought to build brand equity and increase awareness with new audiences through their first-ever brand campaign. They approached us to develop a comprehensive multi-channel paid media strategy that would effectively maximize their spending across various platforms. 

What We Did: To help them hit their goals, we focused on hyper-segmentation and real-time testing. Utilizing geofencing, historical data, and targeted job titles, we segmented the exact audiences Bloomreach wanted to reach, then partnered with specialized vendors to deploy the campaign across multiple channels (digital platforms, connected TV, programmatic channels, and podcasts).

Through a test-and-learn approach, we continuously improved the campaign’s effectiveness in real time, ensuring optimal results. As a result, we surpassed Bloomreach’s goals:

• Moved 10% of their target account list from ‘unaware’ to ‘aware’
• Garnered 13 million impressions
• Maintained a $10 average CPM
• Secured 429,000 completed audio listens at an average cost of $0.03

The Takeaway: Adopting an agile test-and-learn strategy is a savvy way to optimize spend and improve marketing results across the board. If you’re not familiar with this approach, see our ultimate guide to agile marketing to implement it in your marketing operation. 

9) Directive Turns Dull Data into Engaging Storytelling

The Challenge: Directive, a customer generation agency for tech brands, wanted to position the brand as a thought leader in the SaaS space by transforming proprietary data into a comprehensive report about the most effective paid media platforms. They approached us to create a compelling piece of lead-generating content, leveraging our expertise in data storytelling to make the data both accessible and engaging.

What We Did: Initially, Directive envisioned a static PDF report about which platforms bring the highest ROI. However, after assessing their content and goals, we proposed transforming their data insights into a sleek, streamlined interactive experience (along with a downloadable PDF appendix). By blending data storytelling with eye-catching design, we transformed a large volume of data into a compelling narrative, making it easy and enjoyable for their audience to navigate. Best of all, this approach enabled Directive to track traffic, downloads, and other valuable metrics, helping them understand which content was most impactful for their audience.

The Takeaway: Data storytelling is always gold for marketing, especially if it’s based on proprietary data. To uncover your own stories, look at your internal data, and find out how to translate those insights into interesting content. 

10) Hummingbird Educates with a Fresh Explainer Video 

The Challenge: Hummingbird, a financial compliance platform, struggled to convey their innovative technology to an audience that predominantly relies on manual processes. To educate viewers and generate excitement about the platform’s revolutionary impact on financial compliance, we created a sleek and compelling explainer video. 

What We Did: Our approach to solving Hummingbird’s communication challenge was two-fold.

• First, we aimed to build suspense and craft an engaging narrative about how Hummingbird’s technology combats financial crime.
• Second, we needed to differentiate Hummingbird from its competition and position it as a unique, forward-thinking company.

To do this, we developed a human-centric story that highlighted the tech-led solution. Then, to infuse the explainer with dynamic energy, we used a mixed-media mosaic approach that combined illustration, photography, and animation (inspired by Hummingbird’s existing brand). The resulting video is now a key piece of sales enablement, allowing the team to communicate the product’s benefits quickly and effectively. 

The Takeaway: A good explainer doesn’t just state facts; it uses emotional hooks and visual tools to bring people into the story. To improve your own videos, learn about the keys to a good explainer, and get inspired by these 50 explainer video examples.

How to Master B2B Marketing Yourself

No matter what your industry is, or what unique challenges you face, there are a few key ways to improve your marketing—and make sure you’re growing in the right direction. 

• Start with the right strategy. From goals to metrics, platforms to editorial calendars, it takes a lot to build a functioning marketing machine. Use our free B2B marketing strategy toolkit to build a cohesive strategy that covers every gap and helps you achieve your goals. 
• Tell stories your competition can’t. As AI-generated marketing floods the Internet, it’s harder and harder to stand out against the competition. That’s why it’s important to showcase what makes your brand special. Start with our tips to brainstorm truly unique stories only you can tell. 
• Stay educated. Whether it’s the latest industry news or B2B trends, stay in the loop to keep your brand competitive. You can also subscribe to our Best Story Wins podcast to hear industry leaders’ tips to win hearts, minds, and market share. 

Most importantly, make sure you have the right team to win. Find out more about how to curate the perfect content marketing team, and consider bringing in an expert to fill any gaps. You can start your search with our tips to find the right content agency, or take a look at how we tackle content strategies. 

Regardless, remember that success doesn’t happen overnight. Good content marketing requires patience, experimentation, and diligence. 

Good luck out there. 

In an era when everyone is tired of being talked at and sold to, people crave more genuine connections with brands. They want to know what brands care about, how they do business, who is behind the brand, and more. Ultimately, they want authenticity, honesty, and transparency—the core ingredients of a strong relationship. But how can your brand communicate these things? By telling a strong brand story.

Through the power of story, you can effectively humanize your brand, create connections, and build a lasting community. But telling a strong story requires more than an About page on your website. It’s an ongoing, multi-channel effort that takes thought and effort. Luckily, when you invest in telling your story, you get better ROI, cultivate stronger relationships, and help your brand grow over time.

Of course, this work takes practice. If you’re new to brand storytelling—or not sure what it looks like in real life—let’s take a deep dive into everything you need to know, plus our best tips to do it.

First, What Is Your Brand Story?

Your brand story is, in essence, the story of who you are, what you do, and what you believe—as a brand. Brand storytelling is the act of communicating that story through content.

68% of consumers say that brand stories influence their purchasing decisions.
—The Brand Shop

The more you tell that story at touchpoints across your buyer journey, the easier it is to increase brand awareness and forge stronger bonds with your community.

Why Does Your Brand Story Matter?

As industries become increasingly crowded, and people have more choices than ever, story is the one thing that can help you stand out and maintain a competitive edge. When you can pique people’s interests, bond with them over shared values, or tell great stories that break down barriers between your brand and audience, you make your brand more exciting than your competitors.

But storytelling doesn’t just increase brand awareness; it can have a direct affect on your bottom line. A study by Origin and Hill Holiday found that people spent more on everything from hotel rooms to paintings when products or promos were paired with a story. Similarly, a study by neuroeconomist Paul Zak found that a character-driven story caused people to donate 56% more money to charity.

Perhaps most importantly, consumers actually prefer storytelling to more traditional forms of marketing and advertising.

92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like a story, and companies with compelling brand stories have a 20% increase in customer loyalty.
—The Brand Shop

As much as storytelling benefits your consumer relationship, many brands forget that consumers are not their only audience. Your employees also play a huge role in your long-term success. Your brand story is a fantastic tool that can be used to both attract potential employees and connect with your current employees. This helps you retain the best and brightest people, create a better culture, and drive innovation—all of which are crucial to your business.

The Science of Brand Story

Now, we’ve talked about why brand storytelling is so helpful. But why is storytelling so effective at creating connections? Because it triggers a biological response. Whether it’s a video, a print ad, or a novel, a good story can trigger your brain to release cortisol (the stress chemical) or oxytocin (the feel-good chemical). This makes people feel more invested and connected to whatever story you’re telling. (It also explains why you feel anxious while watching a horror film or happy when the lovers finally get together at the end of a book.)

That said, different mediums and storytelling tools can affect us in different ways. For example, video triggers emotional contagion, a phenomenon where our emotions mirror what we see on screen (again, think of the horror film response). Similarly, when we hear someone speaking, such as a narrator in an animated video, it triggers neural coupling, an experience where our brain activity mirrors what a speaker is saying.

Combined, these factors increase our emotional attachment and recall.

55% of consumers are more likely to remember a story than a list of facts.
—The Brand Shop

But packaging a message as a “story” isn’t the silver bullet solution to all your marketing problems. It isn’t just about seeing images or hearing a human voice; it’s the core story that matters. It needs to be interesting, intriguing, or captivating. To do this well, you need to understand what makes a brand story (specifically your brand story) impactful.

The Keys to a Great Brand Story

How do you know which stories will connect with your audience? Ultimately, it comes down to five specific elements. When you tell stories that fall into these categories, you can set your brand up for success from the jump. 

1. It’s meaningful. Everyone is dealing with content shock. A million brands are vying for attention, hopping on whatever bandwagon their competitors are on. Thus, too many brands are focused on what they want to create (or what other brands are creating)—and not on what people actually care about. If you want to tell a good story, it has to be interesting and relevant to the people you’re trying to reach.
2. It’s personal. You can tell all sorts of stories. They can be entertaining, educational, or inspirational. But people need to feel personally connected to them. This is important not just to pique interest but to draw them into the story. How does your brand improve their life? Why should they take the time to invest in this story? Remember: If there is no place for someone in your story, there’s no reason for them to pay attention to it.
3. It’s emotional. A strong brand story is all about stimulating emotion and empathy. It’s not just about what you do but how you affect people. Sure, your software may automate emails, but it’s ultimately making people’s lives easier and stress-free. That’s the emotional hook of the story. If you can trigger that emotion in the first paragraph of a blog or the first few seconds of a video, you will have them hooked. 
4. It’s simple. One of the most common mistakes in brand storytelling is trying to say too much. It’s far better to tell a very simple story and maximize emotional attachment than bombard people with different stories. You could tell a story about large-scale problems facing the healthcare industry, but showing how these issues affect a real patient gives the story a singular focus and makes it easier to connect to. In short, focus on one person or one problem at a time so you don’t confuse or distract your reader.
5. It’s authentic. When you share your brand story, people should know it’s your story. That means being open, honest, and transparent. It means letting your personality shine through.

You also need to be consistent in your storytelling so that people can not only identify but trust your content.  

How to Tell Your Brand Story

Whether you’re telling the story of how you built your business or the story of how your product improves people’s lives, there are so many ways to connect with people across the buyer journey. Here, we’ve outlined the steps to help you create stories that accurately reflect your brand—and align to your long-term goals.

Step 1: Document your core story. 

One of the biggest barriers to telling your brand story is not really understanding your own brand—who you are, what you do, what you care about, and why it matters. Without this clarity, it’s difficult to tell the right stories in the right way. So, before you start brainstorming ideas, it’s important to go back to basics. 

• Define your Brand Heart. Use our free guide to identify your core principles (purpose, vision, mission, and values), so that you understand what your brand is really trying to achieve.
• Articulate your brand messaging. Consistent messaging is crucial if you want to tell your brand’s story. Use our brand messaging framework to articulate your tagline, value prop, and brand messaging pillars. (Those pillars can be a great source to brainstorm unique stories.)
• Know your target demo. If you haven’t done it before, follow our guide to create personas.

Once you have a clear idea of who you are and what you’re trying to do, then you can begin to examine the stories that will help you communicate that. 

Step 2: Brainstorm brand story ideas. 

No matter your product, service, or industry, you have an interesting brand story. (In fact, you have a few.) Sometimes you just need to take a step back and look at your day-to-day business. We find there are often many great stories that are waiting to be told—brands just don’t always know how to uncover them. 

When you’re trying to come up with ideas, we find it helpful to brainstorm around specific aspects of your brand. We like to ask ourselves a few questions to help jumpstart these ideas. 

1) Who Are You?

You aren’t a faceless corporation. A real person (or people) started your brand. Real people work in your office, make your product/service, and run your social media. Putting a face to your brand is one of the best ways to cultivate a connection, so consider ways you might peel back the curtain to show people who you are, what your culture is like, and what you care about. (This is what we call your showcasing your employer brand, and it is a great way to engage potential employees.) 

This type of content is especially fun to create because it offers a chance to inject your brand personality—think of things like behind-the-scenes spotlights, employee showcases, favorite things, etc.

Example: For our 10-year anniversary, we told our brand’s origin story and wrote about the biggest lessons we learned in that time. 

If you want more inspiration, you can also experiment with these ideas to showcase your culture on social media. 

2) What Do You Do? 

Think about the product or service you provide. There are many ways to talk about or showcase these highlights beyond traditional sales materials.

Are there unique features that make your product particularly useful or effective? Are there surprising ways people have benefitted from your service? With a little creativity, you can create interesting content that showcases your brand in exciting ways.

Note: Telling a brand story that starts with a challenge or problem is a smart way to do this because conflict creates a bit of stress or intrigue. If you can show your product as the “hero” and provide a satisfying resolution, your story can also provide feel-good oxytocin. Explainer videos are an especially popular way to tell these types of stories. (If you want to see this in action, see our roundup of 50 creative explainers.)

Example: We helped Hummingbird share the story of how they’re making financial compliance sexy with a sleek animated explainer video that highlights their tech-led solution. 

3) Who Do You Do It For?

Think about the people you want to help. These are the people whose business you’re trying to win. Why do you care about them? How do you want to help them? Think about not only what you do but how it improves people’s lives. For example, if your app helps people book vacations easily, it’s ultimately so that you can help people truly relax and enjoy life.

People want content that educates, entertains, inspires, or even celebrates them. (Remember relevancy!) So think of brand story opportunities that incorporate them into your brand story. For example, you might make your brand the helpful sidekick in a customer’s story (“This brand’s comfy shoes helped me cross the finish line!”). Or you can use things like personal anecdotes as storytelling tools. 

Example: We collaborated with Charles Schwab to create a mini-documentary series about female investors. This helped combat the stigma that investing is a men-only game, while encouraging everyday women to “invest like a woman.” 

4) Why Do You Do It?

No matter your product or service, whether you’re a tiny startup or an established brand founded a century ago, there’s a reason you exist—and, most likely, a higher purpose. If you’re a home security company, you protect property to give people peace of mind. If you’re a granola bar company, you provide healthy treats to nourish people’s bodies.

Using content to share or fulfill this larger mission is a great way to both promote your brand and show people what you really care about. Think about ways to tell stories about your Brand Heart (purpose, vision, mission, values) or the causes you care about. 

Remember that this type of content can be especially helpful for your recruiting efforts.

Example: We helped Dropbox increase their brand perception 7% by creating a storytelling strategy to attract talent away from top competitors. By promoting Dropbox’s core belief (“We believe the world can work better”) through interactive experiences, video, and social content, we showcased Dropbox’s culture and connected with a larger pool of applicants. 

If you want more examples to do this well, here are 10 brands that put their values front and center in their content. 

5) How Do You Do It?

Much like your mission, people want to know not just why and what you do but how. Telling a brand story that provides visibility into your product, production, or process can be especially impactful.

Do you use a unique technology? Are your materials sustainably sourced? Do you use an innovative manufacturing technique? This type of content both educates and provides insight into the way you run your business, providing the transparency that people crave. (FYI, beyond the B2B or B2C sphere, this type of storytelling is particularly effective for nonprofits.)

Example: Our annual report for the Telluride Arts council in Telluride, Colorado, shows donors how their funds were allocated across community initiatives. Annual reports can be dry and dull, but telling a simple story that highlights the work in a clear and meaningful way, along with clean and compelling visuals, is much more effective. 

6) What Does Your Future Look Like?

Think about ways to talk about how your brand is evolving, what you’re working toward, and how you plan to grow into the future. Sharing these types of stories generates excitement, and invites people into your brand story. 

Plus, when people know you’re invested in their future, they’re more likely to build a long-term relationship with you.

Example: In this motion graphic, JetBlue explains the steps they’re taking to offset carbon emissions and adopt fuel-saving technology, demonstrating their commitment to making air travel better for the planet. 

One last tip: If you’re not sure what type of brand story might resonate with people, map your buyer’s journey. This helps you see what types of messaging people need to hear at each stage—and can help you identify gaps in your brand storytelling. You can also take a look at these 15 awesome examples of brand storytelling for more inspiration. 

Hopefully, having brainstormed around all of these topics, you’ll have a list of story ideas to comb through. If that’s the case, you’re ready to move on to the next step. 

Step 3: Vet your ideas.

It’s easy to get carried away with cool, creative ideas, but if they aren’t an authentic extension of your brand story, they won’t help your brand. That’s why it’s important to have marketing personas that clearly detail your audience’s wants, needs, and emotional drivers. The sweet spot of brand storytelling is where your brand story and their interests overlap. 

Hence, when you’re coming up with brand story ideas, ask yourself:

• Why do I want to tell this story?
• What’s my unique angle?  
• What value will this provide to my personas?
• What will they take away from this?

Example: Course Hero is an online learning platform that helps students access course-specific study resources contributed by a community of students and educators. To help their audience learn more effectively, they asked us to translate the complex material of classic novels into easy-to-digest study guides. This infographic series empowered students to learn while positioning the brand as a helpful resource. 

Step 4: Choose the right format.

The most important goal for every piece of content is to communicate your brand story as efficiently and effectively as possible. Therefore, choosing the right format is vital. You might get caught up in trying to produce the flashiest, trendiest types of content, but this is a disservice if it doesn’t fit your story. (In some cases, it can seriously detract from the story.) 

Identify the best format for your story before you dive into content creation, as the format will influence the way you craft copy. 

Some of the most popular storytelling formats: 

• Articles
• Case Studies
• Data visualizations
• E-books
• Explainer videos
• Infographics
• Interactive infographics
• Microcontent
• Motion Graphics
• White papers
• Video

Example: Happy Money is a personal loan company that empowers people to take control of their finances. To engage their Millennial audience on social, they revamped their strategy by focusing on three core brand story themes: financial education, wellness, and mental health. By transforming these stories into colorful, eye-catching content (including motion pieces), they were able to grab attention, provide value, and reinforce their brand story with every post. 

Step 5: Craft a narrative. 

Once you have your story idea, you need to hone in on the angle and construct a compelling narrative that captures people’s attention. Research has found that people are particularly attracted to a familiar narrative structure. So let’s go back to English class for a second. Remember Gustav Freytag’s pyramid? A great brand story crafts a narrative that follows that arc—and ends with a resolution (or solution—ideally, your product). 

(Interestingly, a Johns Hopkins study examined popular Super Bowl ads and found that the most popular ads weren’t those that were the silliest, most outrageous, or most hilarious. It was the ones that followed a familiar dramatic arc.)

Regardless of your story, think of ways to take your readers or viewers on a journey. Some of the most popular ways to do that:

• Problem/solution
• Before/after
• Tutorials
• Underdog stories (think of a small mom-and-pop business disrupting an industry)
• Personal stories 

Case studies are a great storytelling tool, and they are even more effective when they fit a narrative arc. See our tips to tell the most compelling story in your customer success stories. 

Step 6: Add your branding.

Every piece of content should accurately reflect your brand, from the way it looks to the words you use. And while branded content shouldn’t be overly branded (e.g., a million logos slapped everywhere), people should know who it was created by. Thus, make sure your content reflects your brand story in: 

• Personality, Voice, and Tone: Don’t know what your brand voice is? It sounds like your company conversations, Google chats, and water-cooler jokes. Follow our guides to find your voice and personality if you haven’t clearly articulated this before. Also, once you complete a draft of content, give it a second pass for word choice and such. These are the easiest ways to color up your content.
• Visuals: Your visual language is the aesthetic experience of your brand. Everything from your logo to color palettes can affect how your content is interpreted. Whether it’s a brand video, infographic, or interactive, a consistent, on-brand visual language creates a cohesive experience. Follow our step-by-step guide to build a powerful visual identity.

That said, maintaining consistency in your content can be a challenge if you have multiple content creators working for you (whether in-house or outsourced). It can be helpful to create brand guidelines to keep everyone aligned, or check out our tips to keep your content on brand.

Step 7: Share your brand story. 

Once you’ve completed a piece of content, you don’t want to be the only one talking about it. Encourage your people to share your story by making it easy to do so. Publish to your blog or email list, test your social sharing buttons, optimize your content for SEO, etc. 

For more tips on how to get eyes on your content, find out how to choose the best distribution channels, and check out our ultimate guide to paid media.

Look for More Ways to Grow and Experiment

Telling your brand story isn’t a one-and-done thing. Figuring out which stories resonate is an ongoing task, especially if you’re just starting out. As you continue to experiment, focus on setting your team up for success at every stage.

• Document your content strategy to keep your team on the same page. 
• Use our handy content marketing ideas template to brainstorm 30 brand storytelling ideas in an hour.
• Find out how to optimize your content production process to produce high-quality content consistently. 
• Make sure you’re tracking the right metrics to gauge success. 

And, of course, don’t be afraid to bring in support if you need it. Whether you’re stuck on strategy or having trouble getting content out the door, a creative agency can be a huge asset. Follow our tips to find the right creative agency for you, or holler at us. We’d love to help you tell you bring your brand story to life. 

According to Gartner’s Annual CMO Spend Survey, average marketing budgets have fallen 15%. Now, marketers have to do more with less—with more pressure than ever. Worse, marketing is a never-ending carousel of tasks, from content creation and strategy to distribution and reporting. How do you handle them all when you have a small marketing budget? Luckily, we’re here to help you maximize your budget and make the most of the resources you have. 

7 Strategies to Work with a Small Marketing Budget

We’ve been in the game for over a decade, and in that time we’ve helped our clients clean up their messy marketing, optimize their infrastructure, and create repeatable processes to improve efficiency, so we know how to hack our way into working smarter, not harder—and getting better results. If you’re looking for ways to improve your market (even with a small budget), here are seven successful strategies you should try ASAP. 

1) Put AI to use.

One of the best things about AI is its ability to automate or absorb tedious tasks that eat up time. When you’re struggling to solve big-picture problems, you don’t need to waste precious brainpower on this type of labor. Instead, consider ways you can implement AI at every level of your marketing organization to save time and build a better brand experience for your customers. Whether it’s A/B testing subject lines, synthesizing data, brainstorming ideas, or outlining content, there are so many ways AI can boost your marketing. 

Tip: AI marketing is overwhelming for a lot of people, but you just need to know how to apply it. Find out more about the 30 ways AI can help your marketing, use these 75 prompts to build an AI-driven strategy, and see our ultimate guide to AI to learn more about its applications. 

2) Choose the right tools.

AI tools are the hot new kid on the town, but there are many additional tools that can help you streamline your work, outsource labor, and create content (especially when you have a small marketing budget).

We’ve experimented with a variety of tools for a variety of tasks over the years, which has empowered our team to work quicker and more efficiently. 

Check out our tool roundups for:

• Blogging
• Branding
• Content Creation
• Content Strategy
• Content Marketing
• Copywriting
• Ebooks
• Employer Branding 
• Infographics
• AI Marketing

Tip: To avoid making your whole team go through the learning curve when working with a new tool, it can help to assign a small team to become proficient and build out a handy user guide. This makes it easier for everyone else to adopt it. 

3) Use a divisible content strategy. 

Any content takes time, energy, and resources to produce, so you want to maximize every new piece of content you create. A divisible content strategy is one of our favorite ways to do this. 

With this approach, you create a hero piece of core content intended to be broken into smaller content pieces and formats, such as blog posts, social media content, infographics, or quotes. These smaller pieces can delve into different aspects of the core content, present the info in a different package, or start different conversations with different audiences.  

Most importantly, this approach helps you expand your reach, maximize resources, and create a larger volume of content with less investment.

Tip: To do this effectively, you need to carefully plan out each piece of content before you create it. This means you start with a more detailed outline for the core content, then identify what content you will flesh out into supporting pieces. For a more detailed guide on how to map this content, find out more about how a divisible content strategy works. 

(BTW, you will also want to periodically refresh and update your core content to make sure it’s relevant.) 

4) Repurpose and recycle existing content. 

While a divisible content strategy hinges on the creation of new content, you probably have a ton of existing content that can be reimagined, recycled, repackaged, or repurposed for use. (Again, anytime you’re investing in content, you want to make the most of it.) 

Comb through your archive to find pieces you can update or, even better, translate into different formats to expand reach across channels. For example, you might…

• Convert a blog post into a video or podcast episode. 
• Turn a series of tips into a video series. 
• Turn your ebooks into eye-catching infographics. 
• Turn presentations into interactive slideshows. 
• Turn old blogs into a fresh ebook.

Tip: Data storytelling is always a good way to gain credibility and enhance any piece of content you create. Find out more about how to repurpose data visualizations throughout your content.

5) Turn your team into content creators.

There is so much untapped talent in your company—outside of your marketing team. Not only should this talent be used but it should be celebrated and spotlighted. If you are struggling to create content (thanks to a small marketing budget), get support from people outside the department. 

• Who are the experts developing your product/service?
• Who has a unique perspective on the industry?
• Who extracts interesting insights from your data?  
• What interesting conversations have salespeople been having?

There are plenty of opportunities to translate their thoughts into interesting, relevant, and even newsworthy content. 

Tip: You can certainly recruit people to write articles for you, but there are also low-effort ways to turn their thoughts into high-quality content. 

• Do an expert Q&A via email.
• Record a podcast conversation with a thought leader. 
• Ask your team for their best tips on a specific subject and publish them as a roundup. 

For more tips, see our guide to turn your coworkers into content creators.

Additionally, although thought leadership is great, you can also use other employees to showcase your brand’s culture. (This is a great way to humanize your brand to potential customers and potential employees.) See our guide to culture marketing, and try these ideas to showcase your culture on social media.

6) Experiment with agile marketing. 

There’s nothing more frustrating than wasting money on campaigns that flop. (We know this firsthand.) That’s why we’ve been experimenting with an agile marketing approach that relies on simple test-and-learn experiments to gather market insights.

By deploying these simple, constructed experiments, you can better adjust your spending, optimize your content, and improve your campaigns—with better results. 

Tip: Allocate a portion of any paid media spend to agile campaign testing. For more detail on how to implement this strategy, see our guide to agile marketing.

7) Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC)

In addition to your own internal resources, your own audience can be a great way to generate low-lift content that increases engagement. This can take many forms:

• Polls
• Quizzes
• Contests
• Tips
• Customer Success Stories
• Social Takeovers

You can also piggyback off of content you’ve already created by encouraging your audience to create their own version, add their perspective, etc. 

Not only does this reduce the amount of content you have to personally create but it gives you a chance to build stronger connections with your community. (For more ideas, find out how to incorporate UGC into your content strategy.) 

How to Improve Efficiency Overall

We hope you can incorporate these tips into your existing marketing practice, but remember that maximizing your budget is, ultimately, about maximizing your investments of everything: time, money, and energy. A few more things that might help: 

• Optimize your production process. See our guide to improve your end-to-end process and produce content as efficiently as possible. 
• Improve your brainstorms. Prompts are a great way to get your creative wheels turning. Use our content brainstorm template to come up with 30 ideas in under an hour.
• Create more sales enablement content. If you can bridge marketing and sales to collaborate on sales enablement content, you can help close more deals. Find out what type of sales content you can invest in (beyond presentations) that can transform your sales process.

That said, if you’re doing the most but still getting subpar results, you may have a larger content strategy issue. If you need any expert guidance, consider bringing in the right partner. If you need a good agency, see our tips to find the right content marketing agency or find out what it’s like to work with us. 

Either way, one of the best ways to work smarter is to experiment more. Whether it’s trying a new tool or testing a new strategy, be flexible. Use what works and forget the rest. And if you stumble across any life-changing marketing hacks of your own, our inbox is always open.

If you’re a content marketer, you have one job: to create content that wins people’s hearts and minds—and turns them into lifelong supporters of your brand. It isn’t easy, especially when you need to create quality content consistently (and within budget), but it’s a whole lot easier if you have a blueprint to keep you aligned with your long-term goals. This is why all good content marketing starts with a good content strategy. It’s also why so many content marketers struggle. 

56% of marketers do NOT have a documented content strategy.
—Content Marketing Institute’s 2023 Enterprise Marketing Report

That means the majority of marketers are working off of some vague strategy—or winging it entirely. Either way, this lack of planning shows in brands whose content isn’t cohesive, whose ideas don’t resonate, and who struggle to gain footing. Why, then, do so many marketers keep flying blind? Because creating a content strategy can be intimidating—and there are plenty of excuses to keep you from doing it. 

• You’re too busy shipping this week’s content. 
• You’re too focused on next month’s product launch. 
• It’s too late in the quarter. 
• You just don’t have the resources or knowledge to do it correctly. 

We get it. But, ultimately, crafting a content strategy is some of—if not the—most important work you can do, no matter how big or small your brand is. And, hey, you don’t have to do it alone.

We’ve helped brands of all sizes, across all industries, craft the content strategies they need to connect with their audiences and move people along the path to purchase. Along the way, we’ve learned what makes a bad content strategy, what makes a good one, and what makes a freaking great one. And now, we’re ready to pass that knowledge on to you. 

Here, you’ll find a step-by-step guide containing our best tips, tricks, tools, and templates to create a strong content strategy that will set you up for success. If you’re undertaking this work for the first time (or looking to revise your current strategy), we hope this guide will give you the confidence you need to get your content on the right track. Ready? Let’s go.

What Is a Content Strategy?

It’s pretty simple. A content strategy is a documented plan that outlines your content marketing goals and helps you identify the stories and experiences that will help you achieve them.

Why Do You Need a Content Strategy? 

That’s pretty simple too. Without a content strategy, you’re basically taking shots in the dark, creating piecemeal content that isn’t as effective as it should be, and working off of hunches instead of solid data. At the end of your campaign, quarter, and annual cycles, you can’t even evaluate your success because you never had a strategy to begin with. 

Conversely, with a well-crafted strategy you can…

• Make better decisions. Being able to actually “see” your strategy lets you spot potential issues, trim the fat, and visualize your entire content ecosystem. It also allows you to record hypotheses and assess them once you have your results.
• Keep everyone on the same page. Communication is more efficient with a documented content strategy. It helps everyone working on your content—both internally and externally—know exactly what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, how they’re doing it, and why it matters. This empowers your team to take more ownership, contribute better ideas, hesitate less, and produce better work.
• Stay accountable. With a content strategy, you can test your ideas, plan and schedule deliverables, measure and monitor results, and maintain momentum in a tangible way.
• Improve your resource and budget allocation. This is one of the biggest benefits of a documented content strategy. You can plan well ahead of time and determine the best way to get the most value from your resources. It can also help you keep a handle on your budget—or justify the need for more budget. 

In short, with a content strategy, you can work with more clarity and less craziness. 

What Makes a Good Content Strategy?

Just because you have a content strategy on paper doesn’t mean it will help your brand. There are plenty of content marketers who have a content strategy yet struggle to a) bring it to fruition or b) see actual results. 

If you want your content strategy to succeed, make sure it’s…

• Tailored to your goals. The only thing worse than having no content strategy is having one that isn’t aligned to your larger goals. When that happens, your strategy will be ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. The best strategies use every element of content marketing in service of the larger goal.
• Comprehensive. The whole point of content marketing is to create a relationship with people through consistent, quality content. But it takes a lot of moving parts to make good content happen on a regular basis. A good strategy is built to keep your editorial calendar full of fresh, interesting ideas—with the infrastructure in place to bring them to life.
• Flexible. Your strategy is a blueprint, but it isn’t set in stone. If something unexpected happens, or you realize things aren’t working the way they should, you should be able to adapt as necessary.

Remember: The best content strategy is built for your brand, crafted around your capabilities, and designed to help you tell the best stories possible.

What Does a Content Strategy Include?

We break the content strategy process into three main phases: Discovery, Planning, and Creative, with specific tasks assigned to each.

Tackling your strategy in this order lets you build a totally aligned strategy, from your high-level goals to your final execution.

How to Create a Content Strategy

It takes time, focus, and energy to document your strategy, but don’t get overwhelmed. It’s a little effort with a huge reward. Again, we’ve seen brands make every content strategy mistake in the book (and made a few ourselves), so we know what works and what to avoid. 

What we’ve outlined here are the basic steps that any brand can follow to create a solid but flexible content strategy. This process will guide you through three distinct phases, covering both the high-level thinking and practical/tactical elements to consider for each. At the end, you should have a strong and actionable plan you can hit the ground running with.

That said, we know that each brand has unique needs, so you can adapt this framework accordingly. You may even have some of these components documented already, which is fine if they are up to date, but it’s still important to follow the process in sequential order. This ensures that every aspect of your strategy is aligned and optimized to get you the best results possible.  

Before you start, download our free Content Strategy toolkit, which includes the templates you need to work through this process.

Note: Make sure you have the right stakeholders involved from the beginning—and that you get their approval at every phase. Keep in mind that there are many other people involved in the execution of your content strategy as well, including your sales team, technical wizards (Web & CRM), designers, copywriters, etc. While not everyone may need to be involved in every meeting for content strategy, consider how your strategy decisions will affect your team.  

Phase 1: Discovery

Before you start planning for the future, you need to hit the pause button, take a step back, and reassess what you’re currently doing and why.

Step 1: Review Your Business Goals

Purpose: Review your high-level goals to ensure you create a content strategy that helps you achieve them. 

When a content strategy doesn’t work, it’s usually because it’s misaligned to a company’s larger goals. Thus, step one is going back to the basics: who you are, where you play, how you compete, and what you’re trying to achieve. You may think you already know this information, but it’s always helpful to revisit it with fresh eyes. 

How to Do It

Review any documentation related to your business strategy.

• What are your business goals? 
• What’s your position in the marketplace? 
• Who is your competition? 

Note: Understanding your competition is especially important to help you differentiate through content. When you can identify messaging gaps in your industry, and then fill those gaps (or communicate more effectively than your competition), you’ll create the strongest connections with your target personas. (Find out how to complete a competitive analysis if you need to refine your competitive landscape.)

At this stage, you will also want to review the core elements of your brand strategy, which includes your:

• Brand Heart (purpose, vision, mission, values)
• Brand Messaging (tagline, value prop, messaging pillars, etc.)
• Visual Identity (logo, colors, typography, etc.)

All three elements must be reflected in your content strategy if you want to tell stories that effectively communicate who you are. (If you haven’t documented these elements, follow our Guide to Create a Brand Strategy.)

Step 2: Do a Content Audit

Purpose: Identify what your content ecosystem currently looks like, what’s missing, and how you can improve.

A good content strategy is comprehensive, cohesive, and intentional. That means every piece is made for a specific reason and tied to a specific goal. The problem is that most teams worry about quantity over quality, focusing on hitting their day-to-day deadlines more than making a real impact.

This tunnel vision results in content marketing that’s inconsistent, imbalanced, and ultimately ineffective. The first step to remedy this is to take a holistic look at your content with a proper content audit. By looking at the type of content you’re creating, what messages you are or aren’t sending, what’s working, and what isn’t, you get the insights you need to build a cohesive strategy and tell stories that really connect with people. 

How to Do It

To conduct a proper audit, you’ll be reviewing a sample of the content you (and your competitors) put out into the world. In general, that content tends to fall into five main categories. 

To complete this step, use the Content Audit Template and see our Guide to Conduct a Content Audit. 

Step 3: Review Your Tech Stack

Purpose: Get a snapshot of the tools, technology, and resources you currently use.

Your content marketing operation can be complex, requiring many tools and a solid digital infrastructure. These tools can be very helpful, but they can also be redundant. It’s important to audit your existing tech stack before you build your new strategy for several reasons. 

1. You may find opportunities to cut costs or consolidate (e.g., you’re paying for something you’re not using, or using one thing for a task that can be performed by something else).  
2. You can identify ownership, track subscription status, etc. to ensure your team always has what it needs. 
3. You can identify things you will need (e.g., if you plan to create more videos in the future, you’ll need editing software). 

Additionally, now that AI has arrived on the scene, there are more and more tools to help you tackle just about every part of marketing, including:

• Customer Segmentation and Targeting
  
• Personalization
  
• Chatbots and Virtual Assistants
  
• Predictive Analytics
• Marketing Research
• Brainstorming
• Content Creation and Optimization
  
• Design
• Email Marketing Automation
• Social Media Management
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Ad Targeting and Optimization
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Voice Search Optimization
• A/B Testing and Optimization 
• Fraud Detection and Security
• Competitor Analysis
• Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

You may want to consider adopting new tools—or research the new AI capabilities your existing tools may have integrated (as many are constantly updating their offerings). This doesn’t mean that these tools have to replace you, but they can help drastically improve your productivity, reduce menial labor, and help your team work more efficiently.

37% of marketers say they aren’t using their technology to its full potential.
—Content Marketing Institute’s 2023 Enterprise Marketing Report

How to Do It

Use the Tool & Tech Stack Template to list the technologies and tools you use to create, host, and distribute your content across channels. This includes things like your…

• Website and web analytics
• Content scheduling and publishing platforms
• Blog
• Social media platforms and tools
• Content Management System
• Proprietary data collection and storage
• Social listening tools
• Audience profiling tools
• SEO tools
• Design and charting tools
• Marketing automation
• Email marketing
• Customer relationship management software
• Paid media platforms and software
• Landing page builder

Note: Depending on the tools you use, some of these may overlap. 

Questions to Ask

• Do your tools cover your needs?
• Do you have duplicative tools that can be consolidated?
• Does everything function properly? (Look out for zombie subscription charges from past employees, vendors, etc.)
• Do you have a good user experience? 
• Is automation working correctly?
• Do all the people who need access to platforms have it, and not more than necessary?
• Does every platform have someone in the organization who’s proficient in using it?

Remember: Supporting your team’s needs is vital to executing your content strategy. That said, although some tools can help you work more efficiently, we know it can be overwhelming to adopt multiple at once. In that case, we recommend having specific people or teams test and experiment with new tools, then share their findings to see if they can benefit the whole team.

Phase 2: Planning

Now is the time for you to examine your content marketing ecosystem and document how you will approach each element. You’ll be detailing the who, what, when, where, and how of your content operation. This will ensure you’re equipped to execute the content strategy and use your resources as efficiently as possible.

Not only will this work make your content more successful but it will make it easier to collaborate with content creators outside your organization, such as a content agency.

Step 4: Document Your Content Strategy Goals

Purpose: Define measurable goals that keep your team accountable.

Your entire content strategy exists to help you achieve your goals. Naturally, you need to clearly articulate what those are—and make sure everyone on your team understands what they are too. This is especially important; every decision your team makes about content, from copywriting, to design, to distribution, will be influenced by these goals.

We often find that weak strategies can be traced back to weak goals that are either too vague or too broad. To be successful, you need clear goals that you can measure. 

How to Do It

In this step, you’ll document three things:

• Content strategy statement to explain the big picture of what you’re trying to do. 
• Objectives that clearly define your content strategy goals.
• Key Results that help you measure your objectives. 

To work through these exercises, use our Content Strategy Goals Template. This document will help you summarize your entire strategy succinctly so that everyone understands what you’re trying to do. (You cannot proceed until you have these goals articulated and agreed upon.) It will also act as your North Star, guiding your decisions and keeping your team aligned in every way. For more details, see our guide to document your marketing goals. 

Questions to Ask

• What discrete task do you want content to accomplish? How does that break down into objectives and key results?
• Which objectives take priority?
• What other important considerations will influence how you approach your goals/solutions?
• How will you define vital elements, such as a lead?
• How do your content marketing goals support your larger business goals?

Your goals are truly the foundation of your entire content strategy. Take the time to get them right.

Step 5: Identify Your Personas

Purpose: Understand who your audience is, what they’re interested in, and how you can serve their needs. 

To create compelling content, you need to know who you’re trying to connect with, and how your content can best serve them.

• What do they care about?
• What motivates them?
• What problems do they need solved?
• What would make their lives easier? 

By identifying your audience’s demographic/psychographic traits and distilling them into unique personas, you can better understand each group’s unique needs and come up with content ideas that will really resonate with them. 

How to Do It

It’s smart to start with 3-5 distinct and detailed personas. Use the Personas Template, and follow the step-by-step details in our Guide to Create Personas. 

Step 6: Map Your Customer Journey

Purpose: Identify what people need to hear at each stage to make sure your messaging is consistent and effective. 

You need to deliver the right message, in the right place, at the right time so that you can move people along the customer journey. Thus, it’s important to map your customer journey from start to finish. 

Having completed your content audit, you will probably already have spotted some gaps in your messaging. But revisiting your journey will help you ensure that you are telling people what they want to hear at every stage. 

62% of marketers struggle to create content that appeals to different stages of the buyer’s journey.
—Content Marketing Institute’s 2023 Enterprise Marketing Report

How to Do It

Use our Customer Journey Template, and follow our Guide to Map Your Customer Journey.

Questions to Ask

• How will prospects and customers be nudged along the journey?
• What signals help identify someone in a particular stage of the journey?
• Where in the journey will your strategy focus?
• At what point will you bring in the sales team to close the deal?

The more seamless your customer journey is, the more effective you’ll be.

Step 7: Determine Your Measurement Approach 

Purpose: Identify the Key Performance Indicators that will help you quantitatively measure your success. 

Your content strategy is worthless without a way to measure your success. The better you measure, the more you can test, tweak, and readjust your approach. Thus, knowing your success metrics for each stage of the customer journey is crucial. 

How to Do It

You want to get a strong sense of how your content strategy is performing, but you don’t have to track and measure every single metric. To figure out what to measure, refer to your OKRs. Which available metrics are relevant to your key results? Those are the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that will help you identify if you are moving the needle on your objectives. Additional metrics can also provide helpful insight, but KPI matter most. 

Questions to Ask

• Which available metrics are your KPI?
• How are they mapped to your objectives and key results?
• What does each KPI say about the success of your campaign or strategy?
• What are the benchmarks for your industry? 
• Should you be comparing your KPI to those, or should you focus on historical data from your company’s performance? 

For more tips, see our Guide to Use Metrics in Your Content Strategy.

Step 8: Choose Your Channel Mix 

Purpose: Identify what channels will help you reach your personas.

Your content can only work if it gets in front of the right people, but with so many options it’s hard to know what will help you make the most impact. There’s a lot that goes into your decision-making here, which is why having very clear goals is so important. 

How to Do It

To choose the best channel mix for your content strategy goals…

• Think about your personas. Think about where they spend the most time, which publications they read, which social platforms they use, what times they’re most active, etc. 
• Remember your OKRs. You’ve set your objectives and key results as a form of guidance throughout your strategy work. If your primary objective is around building a pipeline of leads, what channels are best suited to help you do that?
• Think about your content formats. Different types of content are better suited for different channels. If video tutorials are a big part of your content mix, consider how that may influence the channels you target. 
• Prepare your media buys. How will you distribute across your earned, owned, and paid channels? This may include anything from internal emails, to out-of-home buys, to influencer outreach. These are important to budget in terms of cost and lead time.

Questions to Ask

• How are you going to reach people (owned, earned, paid)?
• What channels will help you meet your determined OKRs? 
• What media mix will be most effective? 
• How can you leverage new channels, more channels, or use your existing channels differently? 

For more tips to help your content get maximum exposure, see our Guide to Choosing Your Distribution Channels, and see our steps to build a solid distribution strategy. 

Step 9: Create Your Content Pipeline

Purpose: Get a high-level view of your content priorities and opportunities.  

Now that you know what you’re trying to do, who you’re trying to reach, and how you’re going to reach them, it’s time to bring your strategy to life. However, before you plan what exact content you’ll make, you need to identify the major goals, milestones, and events you will need to build content around for your next year, based on your OKRs. This helps you plan ahead, anticipate your needs, allocate resources, and work more effectively. 

How to Do It

Remember: A good content strategy is solid enough to guide you but flexible enough to adapt if things change. Use our Content Pipeline Template to build out a year-long view, with important elements broken down by quarter, such as: 

• Business Milestones
• Product Launches
• Priorities
• Major events/relevant holidays (e.g., annual tradeshow or Hanukkah)

This way you know your biggest priorities are accounted for as you plan your upcoming content, but you can still shift things around if you need to. 

Step 10: Assign Workflow & Governance

Purpose: Clarify roles and responsibilities to make sure your team functions as efficiently as possible.

If you’re working with a large budget, you may have a department full of people to help execute your content strategy. If you’re working for a scrappy startup, it might be you and a few freelancers. The good news is the size of your team doesn’t matter. 

To create good content, you just need a team that is aligned, organized, and focused on the same goal. (This is especially true if you’re working with outside vendors.) Everyone needs to understand the workflow and who’s responsible for what. As long as you’re covering all the right content marketing roles, you’ll be surprised by how much you can get done with a little coordination up top. 

How to Do It

At this stage, you want to assign roles and responsibilities to your team to both empower people to have ownership over their work—and make sure that everyone is working together effectively. For example, if your PR team wants to be involved in brainstorms to steer you toward the most promotable content ideas, you’ll want to make sure they’re in the loop from the jump.

Use the Workflow & Governance Template to identify who will be involved at every stage of content creation and what role they’ll play. This includes both your internal team and external (if you’re working with a freelancer or content agency). 

Questions to Ask

• Who is involved in these efforts?
• What responsibilities does each person have?
• How are people meant to work together?
• Who owns the project?
• Who decides who handles new initiatives?
• What stakeholders need to approve/review initiatives?

Naturally, the more people who are involved, the more likely things will slip through the cracks—especially if you’re working with an outside team. To make sure that doesn’t happen, here are 7 tips to keep everyone inside and outside your company aligned. 

Step 11: Know Your Tools

Purpose: Equip your team with the tools they need to do their job—and get the most out of those tools.

Content marketing takes work, but it can be a whole lot easier if you have the right tools. If you’ve done a thorough discovery, you probably already have an idea of what tools you want to ditch or what tools you want to experiment with. Remember that different types of content may require different types of tools. If you plan to experiment with something new—say, interactive infographics—you need the capability to execute it. 

How to Do It 

Luckily, there are so many resources to make marketers’ lives easier, and more are coming out each year. Use our Tech Stack & Tools Template to identify what you’ll be using. And if you want more resources to help you work smarter, check out our tool roundups for:

• Brand Identity
• Content Strategy
• Content Creation 
• Content Marketing
• Copywriting 
• E-Book Design
• Employer Brand
• Infographics

Going forward, review your tools quarterly to make sure you’re using everything you’re actually paying for.

Phase 3: Creative 

By this point in the process, you should have a clear picture of your goals and your infrastructure. Now it’s time to identify the creative that will help you bring this strategy to life. 

Step 12: Brainstorm Campaigns

Purpose: Create content that tells a cohesive story in support of a specific goal. 

Publishing content is not the same as implementing an effective content strategy. (And if you’ve been getting lackluster results, you know this firsthand.) Naturally, you don’t want to sink your time, energy, and resources into things that don’t really help move the needle. But with the work you’ve done, you now have the information you need to come up with effective creative campaigns that support your goals. 

During this step, you’ll craft campaigns mapped to the content planning work you’ve done so far. While you may prioritize one type of content category over the other (e.b., Educational content vs.Talent content), you need to know how each will play a role in your strategy. 

How to Do It

Use our Marketing Campaign Template to craft campaigns that support your larger goals. A few things to keep in mind as you work through the template:

• Brainstorm the right concepts. Good content marketing isn’t about creating content; it’s about providing value. Focus on your personas and give them what they want, whether it’s education, entertainment, or inspiration. (Here are 7 ways to know if your ideas provide true value.) If you’re hitting a creative wall, try these 9 content marketing prompts to get your creative wheels turning.
• Know your messaging. Identify your key talking points to ensure you’re telling a consistent story across all content. (Use our messaging framework if you need to do some work there.)
• Choose the right format. The medium is just as important as the message. Check out our Guide to Visual Content Marketing to learn more about the benefits of each type of content format. 
• Identify your keywords. What are your top keyword opportunities? How will you optimize content around keywords? Are your publishing platforms optimized for SEO? For more, see our Guide to Find the Right Keywords for your content strategy. 
• Identify your budget. To determine how much programs will cost, we typically work with one of two numbers: quarterly or annual budget, or a quantified marketing goal such as “2,000 leads this year.” You can use logic and formulas to work backward from a marketing goal and create an estimated budget.
• Don’t come on too strong in your content! Know the difference between content marketing and sales material, and make sure you’re sending the right message at the right stage of the customer journey.

For more tips, see our Guide to Run a Successful Marketing Campaign, and find out how to make the most of your content by using a divisible content strategy. 

Step 13: Build Your Editorial Calendar 

Purpose: Maintain a steady publishing cadence.

Publishing consistency is one of the keys to a successful content strategy, so it’s important to keep your team on track with an organized editorial calendar. Whereas your content pipeline is a larger overview, an editorial calendar is a granular view of your content. Whether you publish daily, weekly, or monthly, using a calendar will ensure you can budget in the right amount of time and, most importantly, stick to your deadlines. 

How to Do It

There are all sorts of tools you can use to create your editorial calendar: Google Sheets, CoSchedule, etc. If you’re just starting, use our Editorial Calendar Template to start scheduling your content. 

• Identify your publishing cadence. Will you publish daily, weekly, or monthly? We find it helpful to schedule content by month. You don’t have to be overly prescriptive. (Again, a good content strategy is flexible and adaptable based on a brand’s changing needs.) But it helps to understand what your volume and cadence will look like.
• Include holidays and social events. These are important to note ahead of time as well, as they can interrupt publishing (e.g., Christmas) or inspire content ideas or brand tie-ins (e.g., the Oscars). Bookmark a tool like Forekast, an online calendar that compiles every major holiday and event that may be relevant to your content calendar. If your industry experiences seasonal trends (e.g., retail), make sure those changes are accounted for too.

You always want to brainstorm ideas far ahead of time so you don’t get stuck in reactive mode throughout the year.   

Questions to Ask

• How often will you publish?
• How much content will you publish?
• How will you organize content for campaigns? 
• How will you determine how to publish and promote each piece of content?
• Who will own each kind of content?
• What formats will you create? 
• Is your calendar aligned to the “life calendar” of your target personas? 

Once you’re ready to start creating your content, use the Content Brief Template to kick every project off. For more tips, see our guide to create an editorial calendar. 

How to Put Your Content Strategy to Work 

Congrats. Thanks to all the work you’ve done, you can proceed confidently into content creation and do it better than ever. As you put this content strategy to work, there are a few more ways to make sure you succeed from the jump. 

• Optimize your content creation process. There are a ton of moving parts when it comes to creating stellar content, and it can get more complicated depending on the type of content you’re creating. Follow our Guide to Master Content Creation, which features our best tips on brainstorming, copywriting, designing, publishing, and more.
• Follow best practices. There’s good content, and then there’s great content. No matter what you’re creating, there are plenty of small things you can do to enhance your viewer’s experience. See our tips to improve your copywriting, design, infographics, and data visualization.
• Create appropriate timelines. Sticking to your deadlines is crucial to keep your content calendar full. Give yourself enough time, especially if you’re undertaking more labor-intensive content like interactives or video. Most importantly, get approvals at every stage of content production. This prevents you from having to make last-minute edits that will throw things off.
• Craft an effective distribution strategy. To maximize your reach, follow our Guide to Craft a Distribution Strategy That Works.
• Find the right vendors. You may need to outsource some work or bring in an extra hand to complete a project. If so, do your due diligence to bring in the right creative partners. Start with our tips to find the right creative agency.

You can also check out our tips to decide whether you should create content in-house or outsource it. 

Above all, remember that content strategy is part art, part science. The more effectively you track your results and gather insights from your data, the better you can refine your strategy. Even if you’re not as successful as you hope to be off the bat, you’ll learn more, get better, and adapt quicker, improving your results over time. 

The truth is your strategy isn’t set in stone. A good strategy is a blueprint, not a permanent document. Your brand’s goals will shift and change over time, and your content strategy will evolve accordingly. For this reason, we recommend revisiting your strategy quarterly—or when significant events or changes occur that may affect it. 

We know, of course, that everyone gets stuck from time to time. If you don’t have the resources, patience, or energy to tackle content strategy on your own, we’re happy to chat about how we can help you dig deep, uncover your most interesting stories, and turn them into a smart content strategy that works.  

If you want to tell strong stories that reach the right audience (and convert them), you need a cohesive content strategy that is tied to clear goals—and optimized to support them. Essentially, you want to create a holistic content ecosystem that spans your buyer journey and gives your audience exactly what they need to move from one stage to the next. But how do you create that content experience? Do a content audit on your own brand, as well as your competitors, to understand what you’re doing right, where you’re missing out, and how you can improve overall.

What Is a Content Audit? 

A content audit is the process of taking a critical look at your content marketing, as well as your competitors’ content, to gauge how you’re presenting your brand to the world, how you stack up against the competition, opportunities to improve, etc. By reviewing your content as a whole (and comparing it to others in your space), you can get a bird’s eye view to realign your marketing, fill missing gaps, craft a more effective strategy, and gain a competitive edge.

The Biggest Benefits of a Content Audit

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it a hundred more times: When you’re working on your brand day in and day out, it’s easy to get tunnel vision. (We know this because it happens to us too.) We all have blind spots, especially if you’re deeply immersed in your brand, so it’s important to take a step back to see the bigger picture, get a sense of the competitive landscape, and assess whether the content you’re creating connects to your larger goals or not. That’s why a content audit can be so beneficial to spot opportunities to win and work more effectively. 

1. Identify best-performing content. According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 57% of B2B marketers cite creating the “right” content for their audience as one of their top challenges. What is the “right” content? The content that your audience is most likely to gravitate toward. This is why it’s important to regularly assess your top-performing content, break down why it was so popular, and translate those insights into new content that is just as successful.  
2. Spot gaps in your content marketing. According to CMI, 54% of B2B marketers say differentiating their content is one of their biggest challenges. With the advent of AI-generated content, differentiation will be harder and more important than ever, and a content audit is one of the most helpful ways to find opportunities to differentiate. Whether it’s filling the content gaps your competitors have missed, tweaking the type of content formats you create, or revising your value prop to stand out, the more you know about how your competitors are positioning themselves through content, the easier it is to stand out. 
3. Repurpose content. Across the board, marketers are being asked to do more with less. (According to CMI, 58% of B2B marketers cite a lack of resources as their biggest barrier to successful content creation.) Content creation is an investment, so you need to get the most from every piece you create. A content audit helps you get a solid picture of the content you already have—and can inspire you to repurpose, reuse, or remix that content in even more effective ways.
4. Get more inspiration. Although your competition may be dropping the ball in some areas, they’re likely knocking it out of the park in other areas. A competitor content audit always generates fascinating insights and can even inspire you to adapt some of their tactics. For example, they may have created an impressive tool or a successful series of funny videos that delivered a strong message. You don’t want to copy them, but their creativity can activate your own creativity (and maybe a little competitive streak). 

Trust us, although a content audit takes time, it is an important pursuit that will generate real ROI.

How to Do a Content Audit

Whether you’re a new startup with very little content or a legacy brand with thousands of pieces in your archive, don’t worry. Here, we’ve broken down the step-by-step process—along with a free downloadable template—to get the insights you need without spending days of your life digging through your archives.

You can use the same template and steps for your competitor audit as well. (BTW, as you work through these templates, you don’t have to write a novel for each answer. Keep your answers succinct, simple, and clear.) 

Note: You may be a new startup with very little content, or a legacy brand with thousands of pieces in your archive. Either way, don’t worry. Here, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process to get the insights you need—without spending days of your life digging through your archives:)

Note: You’ll repeat the following steps for both your own content and your competitors’ content. We recommend completing your own audit first, then doing your competitor audit. 

Step 1: Gather your content.

Blog articles, social posts, explainer videos—every brand creates a variety of content across channels and across the buyer journey. This content generally falls into five main categories. 

1. Brand: This is content about a company specifically (not its product), such as the Brand Heart (purpose, vision, mission, values), events, news, etc. Some of this content may be internal-facing only; some may be external. 
2. Talent: This is content about a company’s employer brand, company culture, etc. 
3. Editorial: This is content meant to educate, entertain, inspire, or demonstrate brand expertise or thought leadership, such as articles, guest posts, infographics, blogs, industry-related content, etc.  
4. Product: This is more informational content related to products or services, such as sales materials, demos, explainer videos, or educational content.
5. Performance: This is tactical content used to drive a specific KPI, such as landing pages, CTAs, PPC, etc.

The good news is you don’t have to review every single piece of content you or your competition has ever created—just a sample for each category. 

Auditing Your Own Content

Pull a sample batch of 5-10 pieces of your most recent and successful pieces of content per category.

• Successful = top-performing content per your analytics (e.g., highest traffic, conversions, engagement, etc.).
• Recent = content from your last year or two. (While you may have a decade-old post that generates tons of traffic, you want to know how your current efforts are working.)

Frankly, you can pull as many samples as you like, but 5-10 is a healthy amount that won’t overwhelm you. If you create a variety of content formats (e.g., infographics, videos, e-books), include a variety of those most successful pieces too. Your goal is to get a representative sample that will give you a sense of how you’re communicating in each category. 

Note: If you don’t have that much content, or don’t have content in every area, that’s OK. Pull what you have. 

Auditing Your Competitor’s Content

Pull a similar batch of content. To figure out their most popular/successful content, look at their most popular content on social, content that outranks you in SEO, etc.

Depending on the focus of your content strategy, you may want to focus on particular categories (e.g., their editorial content vs. their talent content). That’s up to you. Just make sure you have a healthy selection of content from your top three competitors. (Again, you can audit as many competitors as you like, but your top 10 are your most relevant.)  

Step 2: Review one category of content at a time. 

It can be overwhelming to pull insights from 25-50 pieces of content at a time, which is why we recommend focusing on one category at a time and documenting your collective observations. This way you can compare insights from category to category, instead of piece to piece. 

Start with your first category (e.g., Brand). Review those 5-10 pieces, and answer the template questions about your observations.

• What stage of buyer journey is it made for? Your content strategy should have a healthy mix of content that spans the buyer journey. If you’re overly focused on one stage, you may need to fill in the gaps across the journey.
• What persona does this content speak to? If one persona is targeted more than others, your content strategy may need to prioritize content for a neglected group.
• Does content come in a variety of formats? Depending on your channel mix, you may want to expand your strategy to include more types of content (think articles, video, infographics, interactives, etc.).
• Does the content reflect brand voice/personality/visual identity? Would someone be able to identify your brand’s content at a glance? Remember: Consistency is key.
• Is there a clear CTA? Do viewers have a clear next step? Is it tailored to the persona?
• What does the most successful content have in common? Consider things like topic, format, etc.
• What channels are used to promote? Is this content well-suited for your distribution channels? Are there other channels to consider?
• Any notable observations? Document anything that stands out to you (good, bad, or interesting).

Step 3: Look for trends across categories. 

As you review each category, look for common threads, inconsistencies, messaging gaps, etc. These will shed light on your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. 

For example, you may create quality content on a variety of interesting subjects but your CTAs are weak. You may find that your copywriting is great but your design is lackluster. Or you may find that your branding is inconsistent across formats.

Step 4: Repeat the process for your competition. 

In reviewing your competitors’ content, you will likely see even more opportunities to fill the gap, outrank, and outshine them. You will also probably notice areas where you’re falling short. For example, they may be publishing much more often than you or creating much more in-depth posts that outrank you. 

It can be frustrating to shine a light on these weak areas, but they can also serve as inspiration. 

Step 5: Craft your takeaways. 

Having reviewed the insights from your own content audit and your competitors’, you should have the information you need to improve your content strategy. 

To make these items actionable, document your biggest opportunities for improvement in…

• Personas
• Buyer Journey
• Messaging
• Topics
• Formats
• Distribution
• Other

How to Put Your Content Audit to Use

Now that you’ve done all that work, you’re ready to build a content strategy that gets real results. For next steps…

• See our guide to improve your content strategy. 
• Revise your customer journey to make sure you’re saying the right thing at the right time.
• Follow our guide to create strong personas that help you connect with the right people.
• Find out how to choose the right metrics for your content strategy. 

And if you need a partner to help you build a strategy (or execute the one you have), find out more about what we do, and what you’ll get when you work on content strategy with us. 

From AI to analytics, content marketers have more tools to succeed than ever before. But you can only get the best results if you’re working with a solid content marketing strategy from the start. 

Having been in the content marketing game for well over a decade, we’re often surprised to see the same problems plague our clients, whether they’re smaller startups or Fortune 500 behemoths. 

• They aren’t aligned around the same goals. 
• They struggle to understand their audience. 
• They don’t create effective content. 
• They can barely get any piece of content out the door.

The problems go on and on, but once we dig into their content marketing operation, we generally find that these problems stem from one, or two, or five things that are wrong with their core content strategy. 

Luckily, some of the biggest problems can be solved by the simplest fixes—and we can give them to you. So, whether you’re dealing with recurring challenges or one big blocker, here’s how you can break through and get back on the right track.

How to Fix the Top 15 Content Marketing Strategy Mistakes

If you’re guilty of one (or all) of these common mistakes, don’t get down on yourself. We know about these firsthand because we’ve been guilty of them too. But we also hope you’ll right these wrongs, put our tips to work, and come out on top with your next killer case study. 

Mistake 1: Not Documenting Your Strategy

If you’re working with a small team, small budgets, and a long to-do list, it can seem inconvenient to stop and document your strategy. But keeping it “in your head” doesn’t do anyone any good. 

Only 44% of enterprise content marketers have a documented content strategy.
—Content Marketing Institute

This is a sad statistic, but it’s not surprising, as we see too many clients come to us without a clear strategy on paper. It’s also no surprise that they struggle to work effectively or get the results they want. But the #1 thing you can do to completely transform your marketing is document your strategy. (Trust us, by tweaking our strategy on paper, we increased sales 160%.)

The fix: Download our free content strategy toolkit, then grab your core team, dig into your historical data, and work through the steps in our guide to create a content strategy. We’ve perfected the process to ensure you walk away with a solid, cohesive strategy that will help you achieve the goals you want.

Mistake 2: Working Without Personas

If the content you create isn’t collectively moving you toward your goal, it’s not the content’s fault. Oftentimes, weak content happens because you don’t know who you’re trying to create content for. 

The #1 challenge B2B marketers face is creating the right content for their audience.
—Content Marketing Institute

We harp on this all the time—and for good reason. 

• Who is your audience?
• What do they need?
• What do they care about?
• What motivates them?

It’s important to do the footwork to get inside your audience’s minds so you know how to tailor your content to them. 

For example, when Dropbox asked us to help revamp their employer brand, we dove into audience insights to understand how to position the brand to potential employees. With a revised campaign, we were able to help Dropbox increase brand perception 7%. 

The fix: Talk to your potential customers, ask questions, and get inside their minds. (If you’re not sure who your audience is, here’s how to find them.) Once you have a clear picture, you can use our guide to create personas and ideal customer profiles. Going forward, anytime you have a content idea, use your personas/ICPs to vet your ideas or refine them to make them more compelling. 

(BTW, personalization can do a lot to make your audience feel seen. Find out how to use AI to add more personalization throughout the buyer journey.)

Mistake 3: Content Isn’t Tied to a Goal

Too much content out there is total fluff, overly salesy, or completely random. There’s no cohesive story or supporting message. To be truly effective, every piece of content should directly map to a goal.

The fix: Follow these tips to set clear, measurable goals that will get results.

Mistake 4: Not Including the Right Stakeholders from the Beginning

You might be excited to hit the ground running with your strategy, but a content marketing operation requires a lot of people—and they all have different opinions and perspectives. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve made it to the finish line with a project, only to be sabotaged by a barrage of last-minute adjustments from late-stage shotcallers.

41% of B2B marketers cite workflow issues/content approvals as a key challenge when creating content.
—Content Marketing Institute

Feedback is not a problem inherently, but when people drop in with their opinions in the final stage (having often not reviewed the project goals), content often gets watered down or altered so significantly it no longer serves its original purpose. 

The fix: Build solid timelines with built-in review stages. Don’t go on to the next stage of production until you have sign-off from all relevant parties. (If you’re not sure who needs to be involved in what, here’s what an ideal content marketing team looks like.)

Remember: It’s important to get overall strategy buy-in from higher-ups before you even start to create content. The more you can involve people in the vision, the easier it will be to get the budget for that new video or design time for those social ads.

Mistake 5: Making Scattershot Content

This is probably the number one problem we see when brands pursue content marketing. They may get excited about a certain project or format, but their overall content is created and published inconsistently. 

54% of B2B marketers struggle with creating content consistently, and 44% struggle with creating quality content.
—Content Marketing Institute

While a one-off piece might work if you’re lucky, you need a cohesive content plan that provides true value to your audience regularly.

The fix: Instead of publishing piecemeal content when you can get around to it, break your strategy down into content campaigns centered around a core message or theme. Use our brand messaging framework to make sure you’re tailoring the right message for each audience.

Mistake 6: Trying to Do It All Yourself

Year after year, marketers are asked to do more with less. Whether it’s a shifting economy, industry issues, or company challenges, marketers are always having to tighten their belts.

55% of B2B marketers are working with the same budget (or a decrease).
—Content Marketing Institute

This means you have to be as smart as possible with your time and your budget. Fortunately, as AI technology has come on the scene, there are more ways to increase your productivity and reduce your workload by employing AI tools to help in everything from content creation to automation. 

A lack of resources is the #1 challenge facing B2B marketers today. But 72% have begun to use generative AI tools.
—Content Marketing Institute

The fix: Review your tech stack to see what tools you’re using, and what tools you might add to the mix. (Here are 50+ content marketing strategy tools to help you work more effectively, plus 30 AI hacks to work more effectively.)

Mistake 7: Not Measuring or Not Measuring Correctly

This is one of our biggest pet peeves, and we see it over and over (even in our clients). You can’t make any clear progress if you have no benchmarks—and you certainly can’t demonstrate your ROI if you don’t track your results. 

The fix: Try this 3-step process to choose the right metrics for your goals, and double-check that you have the correct infrastructure in place to measure. (Trust us, we have spent more time than we’d like on the phones with reps to get the right tech on our site.)

Mistake 8: Refusing to Change

When you’ve put the work into a content strategy, it’s frustrating to change course halfway through when you realize it’s too unrealistic. But if there’s anything we’ve learned in the last decade of marketing, it’s that things change—and they change quickly (hi, pandemic!). 

The fix: It’s important to review your strategy regularly to ensure it aligns with your current goals and market conditions. A good strategy provides a firm foundation with the flexibility to scale. If you prefer to run lean, consider taking a moonshot approach to crafting a strategy. We used this to tweak our own content—and increased our leads 78% in 6 months.

Mistake 9: Missing Easy Opportunities

It’s easy to get tunnel vision when you work on your own brand day in and day out. (Again, we’re guilty of this too.) But it’s important to take a critical look at not only your own strategy but your competition’s strategy too. We can’t tell you how many times a simple competitor audit has surfaced surprising insights into areas a client can easily make a play.

The fix: You should always be looking for gaps to fill in your content strategy, as well as easy plays to get visibility. Start with our guide to find the best keywords to target (including low-hanging fruit your competitors aren’t targeting). You can also conduct a content audit to identify gaps in your own marketing mix, as well as subjects your competitors are covering.

Mistake 10: A Weak Production Pipeline

Content marketing takes a lot of work, but without the right resources, skills, or infrastructure to produce it, it’s nearly impossible to create quality content consistently. But if you have a clear division of labor and a streamlined workflow, you can achieve incredible results. 

For example, by optimizing workflow, we were able to help Course Hero produce 600 infographic study guides over three years. This helped them provide a massive library of guides to their audience and build a reputation as a trusted resource. 

The fix: Having made just about every mistake in the book, we know how to avoid the major pitfalls in content creation. See our guide to optimize your content creation process and work more effectively at every stage. 

Mistake 11: Not A/B Testing

This goes along with ineffective measuring. Your goal is to move away from guesses and hunches and look for more concrete answers by testing your hypotheses. You think blue is the right color for that button? You might be surprised to see that red is the real winner.

For example, when Teach For America asked us to deploy a paid media campaign to recruit new teachers, we embarked on a strategic testing campaign optimized for learning and iteration. Through this approach, we were able to eclipse their goals 124%.

The fix: Even if something is working, it might still be improved. Look for opportunities to tinker, tweak, and test wherever you can. (AI can be a big help here.) 

Mistake 12: Not Aligning Content With Your Journey

The strongest content marketing strategy delivers the right message, to the right person, at the right time. Unfortunately, too many marketers create content that is too generic or too granular. It’s no surprise that they can’t easily move their audience from one stage to the next. 

48% of B2B marketers struggle to align content to different stages of the journey.
—Content Marketing Institute

The fix: If you want to be successful, you need to understand your audience’s needs at each stage, then choose both the messaging and format that will best speak to those needs. Start with our free template to map your journey and key messaging, then assess how to make great content for every stage of the buyer’s journey.

Mistake 13: Not Matching the Message to the Format

Different audiences crave different types of content formats, which are often influenced by channel. Whether it’s ebooks, infographics, or short-form video, it’s important to deliver your message in the right package.

B2B marketers cite case studies, video, and thought leadership articles as the top three most effective formats.
—Content Marketing Institute

The fix: Understand which types of formats are best for different types of storytelling. See our breakdown of 13 types of content—and how each can help you achieve a different goal. 

Mistake 14: Not Maximizing Your Content

It takes so much time and energy to make great content, yet many marketers publish it once and let it gather dust for eternity. This is a huge opportunity missed.

The fix: Identify opportunities to repurpose and reuse content. For example, an e-book can easily be spun into a few blog posts and an infographic. Learn how a divisible content strategy can help you do this.

Mistake 15: Playing It Too Safe

True, you don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken. But never mixing it up breeds stagnation—and that’s creative death for your content strategy. Also, as brands become more and more homogenous, it’s increasingly challenging to stand out in the crowd. That’s why something you need to try something edgy from time to time.

For example, we collaborated with Unbabel to create the edgy “STFU campaign.” This NSFW approach turned heads and helped the brand make a big splash.

The fix: Even if you don’t have a huge budget, challenge yourself to try something different, whether it’s a different format or a different way to ideate. If you want more tips to stand out, try these ideas to come up with bold campaign ideas. 

How to Strengthen Your Content Marketing Strategy

Ultimately, the key to a strong content marketing strategy is the ability to test, tweak, and adapt as you go. For that reason, we recommend reassessing your strategy quarterly to make sure you’re still aligned to your goals. In the meantime, continue to educate yourself, optimize your process, and look for ways to work smarter. If you need a few more tips to do that…

• Use these 100+ content marketing tools and resources to help you create better content.
• Try even more tips to overcome your content marketing problems.
• Find out how to make creative content that tells your brand story.

And if you still need some help, don’t be afraid to bring in some experts. You can follow our tips to find a good content marketing agency, or hit us up.

We’re not gonna lie; content marketers took a bit of a beating this last year. As the economy tanked, algorithms changed, and AI came out of nowhere, it was an adventure (to say the least). But with a new year ahead, it’s time to take a step back, clean house, and refocus your efforts. 

Luckily, whether you’re rebuilding your entire strategy or looking to enhance what you already have, there are a lot of things you can do to improve the way you work and the results you get (especially if you’re one of the 58% of content marketers struggling with a lack of resources).

That’s why we’ve compiled this handy list of 20 things you can do now to help your 2024 turn out a lot better. 

How Content Marketers Can Make 2024 Better

Whether you’re a two-person marketing team or a massive department, tackling these to-dos (to whatever degree you can) will help you work smarter and more effectively next year.  

1) Revisit your Content Strategy. 

A lot of things can happen throughout the year that shift your strategy in one direction or another. A product launch, a company change, a surprise announcement—these are all things that need to be immediately addressed, but they can also nudge you a little off course. 

It’s important to build a content strategy that is both solid and flexible, as you will inevitably need to adjust throughout the year. But starting the new year with a documented strategy is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. 

Tip: To make sure you have everything you need, download our free content strategy toolkit and guide to get it on paper. Additionally, you shouldn’t only review your strategy at the end of the year. Get into the practice of reviewing it once a quarter to make sure your team’s efforts are on track. 

2) Make sure your goals are measurable. 

We’re still shocked by how many content marketers don’t document their content strategy—especially their goals. Without articulated goals, you have no North Star to work toward. And if you do have goals, but they are vague and not easily measurable, it’s even more difficult to prove your success. (Without that demonstrated success, when it’s time to ask for more budget or buy-in on future projects, it will be that much harder to justify your ask.)  

Tip: To get your goals on paper, see our free guide to set goals you can actually measure. 

3) Measure the right things. 

Although your goals should be measurable, you don’t need to measure every single thing. (That’s a great way to paralyze yourself with data.) Focus only on the most insightful and relevant data—and make sure you have the infrastructure to gather it. 

Tip: See our guide to choose the right metrics for your content strategy to identify the best things to measure.

4) Audit your tools. 

With so many tools available, marketers have plenty of support—especially now that AI is on the scene. But success relies on choosing the right tools for you. 

• Is everything working the way you need it to? 
• Are you using everything consistently?
• Are there more efficient tools available? 
• Is there something you’ve wanted to experiment with?

A proper audit will help you identify areas where you may be wasting your budget or can use what you have more effectively. 

Tip: If you’re not sure what tools you might add to your arsenal, check out these 100+ tools and resources to improve your content marketing.

5) Spend your remaining budget. 

The end-of-year accounting mantra is always “use it or lose it.” If you haven’t used your whole budget, it’s time to spend it. Whether you want to create some seasonal content or experiment with a new tool (as we just mentioned), make the most of your remaining budget to help you hit your goals. This is also a good time to try something bold or experimental, especially if you have the budget to burn.

Tip: If you’re looking for opportunities to spend your budget, here are 10 ways to use it up.

6) Ask for more budget—the right way. 

Budget is always a touchy subject, especially in these last few years. But if you can demonstrate a solid need, you may be surprised by the results. Whether you want to create more content next year, expand your team, or invest in some additional support, you simply have to approach your ask strategically.

Tip: Try these tips to get more budget next year.

7) Take a day to look at what your competitors are doing.  

If you want to know how to strategize for the new year, it’s good to catch up on what other people are doing (or have done) well. You may find some good inspiration in their sites or social feeds (or realize that you’re creating content that is a lot better than theirs). Either way, knowing what competitors are doing will help you strategize effectively. 

• Did your competitors do anything particularly unusual or unique this year?
• How does their content compare to yours?
• How are you positioning yourself differently?

Tip: To help you assess your competitors, check out our competitive analysis template. The questions outlined can help you document the similarities and differences you find. That said, you can also find inspiration from people outside of your industry. For example, find out what B2B marketers can learn from film directors.

8) Check in with inactive contacts.

In the spirit of “out with the old, in with the new,” it might be time to let go of some ineffective practices—and contacts. After all, content marketing isn’t about quantity; it’s about quality. Also, most marketing automation software charges by the number of contacts, so cleaning out unengaged subscribers can be cost-effective.

Give people an opportunity to stay or go with a simple check-in email. 

• Use a distinct subject line like “Still want to keep in touch?” or “Are we breaking up?” 
• Emphasize that you love sending stuff their way, but acknowledge that you want to be respectful of their time and energy.
• Include two buttons: one to stay subscribed and one to unsubscribe.

Tip: Chances are your inactive people won’t open the email, in which case you might want to check in with them once a quarter or twice a year. (We count inactives as people who haven’t opened an email in 2 months.) 

9) Check in with engaged subscribers.

Naturally, you want to provide the best experience for the people who are happy and willing to stay with you. Use this time to check in and send well wishes. (The holidays are a great excuse for this.)

• Let them know you appreciate their support this year. 
• Ask for feedback/ideas about how you can help them or provide the content they need.
• Tease exciting things you have in the works. 

This is a great excuse to stop “marketing” and remind people you’re here for them and care about providing real value. 

Tip: You might also want to send a recap or roundup of your best pieces of content. 

10) Check for broken things. 

There are all sorts of things that can detract from your brand experience, and it’s often the little things that can turn someone away or diminish your brand in their eyes. Broken links, 404s, buttons that don’t work—these are exasperating for both the user and the marketer. (We know this firsthand, as we’ve found broken links—or links to the wrong resource—on our site more times than we’d like to admit.)

If you have some extra time as things are winding down, take a day to double and triple-check landing pages, contact info, ads, functionality, and all those other seemingly small (but very big) things. 

Tip: Use tools like broken link checker, and test your page speed to flag any loading problems.

11) Clean up your own inbox. 

Content marketers are absolutely inundated with content, and clocking into an overwhelming inbox is not the best way to start your day. Feel free to go on a merciless unsubscribing spree to clear up your brain space and consume only the content that is actually valuable to you. If you have a “someday I’ll read this” folder with articles that are a year (or two) old, either take this time to read it or clean it out. 

Tip: To make life easier, see this roundup of tools that can clean up your inbox for you. 

12) Subscribe to one new publication or podcast.

Once you’ve done your cleanup, search out new sources of inspiration. You don’t even have to subscribe—you can bookmark if you prefer. Again, the content you consume should always offer value. New ideas and inspiration are incredibly helpful to spark your creativity, which is probably waning as we head into the holidays.

Tip: We’d recommend subscribing to Column Five’s Best Story Wins podcast, where we interview industry experts who are winning hearts, minds, and market share. We also love the thought leadership the Content Marketing Institute puts out. 

13) Hold a postmortem. 

When you’re working on content marketing day in, day out, it’s hard to take a step back and look at your efforts as a whole. That’s why it’s helpful to do a proper review of this year’s marketing to identify what worked, what didn’t, and where you have the biggest opportunities to improve. 

• What were the most and least successful pieces you published?
• What did the most successful pieces have in common?
• What subjects did people gravitate toward?
• What formats worked best?
• How can you improve or experiment going forward? 
• What content gives you the most ROI (e.g., e-books, articles, infographics, videos)?

While it’s easy to find flaws during this process, remember to celebrate everything your brand has accomplished, too. Even if you took a risk that didn’t pay off, you still tried something new. 

Tip: See our guide to conduct a content audit.

14) Flag content to repurpose or reuse.

If you want to get more mileage from the work you’ve already done, look for low-lift ways to get fresh eyes on older content. You can repurpose that content into a different format or boost a campaign to increase visibility. This is especially helpful if you had a particularly successful piece of content. 

Tip: Going forward, find out how to use a divisible content strategy to maximize everything you create. 

15) Share your end-of-year findings with other teams.

If this isn’t common practice, be vocal about what your department has been doing. This level of transparency is good for your company culture, helping other departments understand what exactly it is you, uh, do here. 

For example, we create a quarterly report to track our progress, share our wins, deconstruct our fails, and keep people in the loop about what we’re doing. At the end of the year, these reports give us a holistic snapshot of our content marketing success—and help us get buy-in when we have ideas that involve people outside of the marketing department. 

Tip: Coworkers in other departments can contribute to all sorts of great marketing, especially when they know what you’re trying to achieve. Follow our tips to turn them into content creators. 

16) Optimize your content creation process.

A good content machine doesn’t work without the infrastructure to support it. Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can improve. Reassess your entire production process to identify pain points or inefficiencies that can be fixed in the new year. 

Tip: See our guide to optimize your content creation process at every stage of production.

17) Poll your audience about what they want to know more about. 

You have a whole year of content planning ahead of you, and sometimes you’re just plain out of ideas. In addition to your postmortem, ask your audience what they want to see directly. You might send out a poll in your newsletter or ask a daily question on Instagram. (When we did this last year, we got great insights on the content subjects and formats our audience prefers.)

Tip: No matter the subject, your content should tell a strong brand story. Follow these prompts to brainstorm better stories that will connect with your audience. 

18) Pick one new thing to try. 

You don’t have to massively overhaul your content strategy to see better results overnight. (It’s unlikely you have the time or budget to do so anyhow.) But short, simple experiments can give you valuable data to improve your work. Whether you want to try a new format or storytelling style, incorporate one new thing into your content strategy for next year. 

Tip: If you want to get out of your head, try our quick exercise to brainstorm 30 ideas in an hour. This can help you come up with different ideas, angles, or takes that you may not have thought of otherwise. Then, once you’re ready to bring those ideas to life, see our guide to run successful campaigns.

19) Think about ways to simplify your buyer journey. 

One of the biggest saboteurs in modern marketing is noise. People are facing an endless stream of content, and AI will only make that worse as content marketers produce larger volumes of content using these tools. But one of the greatest gifts you can give your audience is a simple, streamlined, and noise-free buyer journey. That means clearing obstacles, providing the right information, and making it as easy as possible to move from one step to the other. 

Tip: See our breakdown of ways to simplify your buyer journey, including what types of pain points to look out for. 

20) Find the right partner. 

While there are plenty of things you can do in-house, outside eyes can offer some refreshing insights. That said, a good content marketing agency is a collaborative partner, and not every agency will be the right fit.

Tip: Find out what you should look for in a content agency, and follow these tips to find an agency with the right expertise for you.

Final Thoughts for Content Marketers to Keep in Mind

A new year of content marketing always comes with its own challenges, but sometimes we find that content marketers can be their own worst enemies. As you continue to build and implement your strategy, keep an eye out for these common pitfalls.

• Stop being a perfectionist. One of the biggest things that can hold you back is being too precious about marketing. Try these tips to kill your perfectionism and get out of your own way.
• Don’t bore your audience. Because content marketers are afraid to mess up, they often play it safe. This results in content that is basic, boring, and blends into the crowd. Look for ways to spice up your content and make a big splash.
• Don’t double your work. It’s easy to settle into routines that keep you in a rut, especially in content marketing. Sometimes, this means you’re doing more work than you need to be doing. Look for ways to streamline your work, whether that’s adapting one piece of content for multiple audiences, using AI tools to work more effectively, or getting smarter about your email marketing.

Most importantly, don’t get down on yourself. Marketing is an ever-changing field that takes a lot of savvy and grit to navigate. If you survived this year, you’ll survive next year—and work smarter while you do it. Good luck.

As budgets tighten and markets become more competitive, it’s harder and harder to close a deal in the SaaS space. That’s why it’s so important to build out customer acquisition strategies that target the right audiences and entice them to take action. 

Unfortunately, many brands splinter their focus between top-funnel marketing (to build brand awareness and relationships) and bottom-funnel sales conversations (to close the deal), neglecting the oh-so-crucial customer acquisition stage to move people down the buyer journey. (Admittedly, we’ve been guilty of this too.) 

But if you want to bridge marketing and sales effectively, you need to carve out strong customer acquisition strategies that work effectively. Fortunately, we can help you do that. But first, let’s talk about what customer acquisition actually is. 

What Is Customer Acquisition? 

Customer acquisition is, in essence, the process of attracting new customers. Although it is technically a marketing function, traditional marketing tactics are usually focused on brand awareness and audience engagement. Customer acquisition is more narrowly focused on speaking to the audience who already knows who you are—and convincing them to take real action toward becoming a customer (e.g., signing up for a demo, downloading an e-book, joining your email list, etc.). 

What Do You Need to Implement Successful Customer Acquisition Strategies? 

If you want to create strong customer acquisition strategies, you need to set yourself up for success with the right tools, infrastructure, and ability to execute. To start, you need to have the following: 

• Ideal Customer Profiles and Personas: If you don’t have an intimate understanding of who your audience is, what they need, and what problems they’re trying to solve, it will be nearly impossible to convince them to take the next step. For this reason, it’s crucial to have both ICPs and personas clearly documented. (See our handy guide to get both on paper.) 
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): This is how much it costs to acquire a new customer. The formula for CAC = Total Acquisition Costs / Number of New Customers Acquired. Your CAC is important to understand how well your efforts are working and how you can work to lower that number (as your goal is to acquire new customers for less investment).
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This shows you how much value a customer brings during the course of the relationship with your business. The formula for CLV = Average Purchase Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifespan. By understanding both CAC and CLV, you can better understand how your strategies are working and work to improve ROI for your overall customer acquisition efforts. 
• Measurement infrastructure: No matter how smart your strategies are, you must have a way to effectively measure your efforts. (You also need to know which metrics to measure). Ensure you have the appropriate tools and infrastructure in place to do this well. 

If you already have this information documented, give it a once-over to ensure it is accurate before you start to implement the following strategies across channels. 

7 Smart SaaS Customer Acquisition Strategies

If you’re looking for more ways to strengthen your buyer journey, here are our best tips to reach the right people and maximize conversions.

1) Create quality content for Search Engine Optimization.

SEO has been the mainstay of marketing efforts for years, but as Google refines its algorithm and AI changes the way people find information, your old SEO strategies may not work as well. These days, it’s important to focus on an EEAT strategy for acquisition.

• Experience: You may have noticed that every keyword is cluttered with fluffy articles that regurgitate the same information. Nowadays, people are desperate to hear thought leadership from people who have experienced real-life wins, failures, and lessons. If you want to provide more value to your audience, share your personal perspective and anecdotes that reflect your experience. 
• Expertise: People always want to hear from experts. Share your pro tips and insights to educate your audience and gain credibility. 
• Authoritativeness: There are a million people who call themselves experts, but not everybody holds real weight in their industry. The more people link to your site and the higher your authority score is, the more you’ll be seen as a respectable resource. 
• Trustworthiness: People want to know that your site is trustworthy and worth engaging with. Ensure you’ve covered your bases in terms of things like site security—and provide transparency about who you are as a brand to increase trust. 

If you want to strengthen your EEAT for customer acquisition, serve the most valuable content to your audience and give them clear next steps to take based on said content.  

Tip: Create high-quality content, accompanied by downloadable toolkits, templates, or guides to help them solve a problem or do something more effectively. Use data storytelling (e.g., proprietary research or case studies with strong results) to demonstrate your expertise and real-life results. If you want to tap into your audience’s most burning questions about a topic, plug in any topic to Answer the Public, review the related questions generated, and think about what types of gated content you can create to answer those questions. 

You can also check out SEMRush’s deep dive on the power of EEAT for more ways to speak to your audience effectively.

Example: Our Guide to Build a Brand Strategy is our #1 most popular piece of content that has converted the most customers. 

2) Use paid search (PPC) to target the right audience. 

PPC can be a great strategy, as long as you follow the right rules to avoid wasting funds on an ineffective campaign. 

• Research the right keywords. Consider the keywords you want to target, as well as the negative keywords you do not want to target. (See our guide to find the right keywords for your campaigns.) 
• Create strong landing pages. They should be well-designed, mobile-responsive, and optimized for conversions. 
• Consider your audience’s most active times. Schedule ads to go live then. 
• A/B test everything. Try different ad formats, keywords, creative, etc. to see what resonates. 

You should also start with a basic test to ensure your funds are used efficiently. 

Tip: Make sure you have the right tools set up to measure your campaign success. 

3) Use organic social media to engage with your audience. 

Social media is a great way to boost your content, connect with customers, and entice them to take action. And if you’re investing in quality SEO content, it’s also a great place to repurpose that content. There are all sorts of ways you can do this. 

• Create a tip series.
• Share smart hacks.
• Educate people about your brand. 
• Show them how to solve problems. 
• Use video to grab attention. 

Social is also the perfect channel to tease gated content. Share previews or snippets, and encourage people to go to your site to download your toolkits, templates, or guides. 

Tip: When people are deciding if they want to work with you, they don’t only judge your product, tool, or service. They can also be highly swayed by the people who work behind the scenes. Follow these tips to showcase your people and culture on social media.

Example: Freshbooks uses Instagram to entertain and educate, providing high-value content to their audience with every post. 

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A post shared by FreshBooks (@freshbooks)

4) Use paid social to convert. 

Paid social is a great way to amplify your downloadable content, tips, tools, and guides. Just make sure to follow best practices. 

• Choose the right platforms. While every social platform has its benefits, LinkedIn is gold for SaaS customer acquisition. 
• Make ads that stand out in people’s feeds. You need attention-grabbing design, copy, CTAs, etc. Consider which format is the best for your ad as well (e.g., carousel, video, static image, etc.).
• Identify the right audience. LinkedIn has helpful audience templates to get you started. 
• Create landing pages that are optimized for conversion. You want your audience to take the next step, so make it as easy as possible for them. 

Tip: You can also partner with influencers to increase visibility and credibility with your audience. 

5) Engage people through email. 

Your email list is full of people who may be on the cusp of becoming customers. This makes it one of the most important channels for customer acquisition, and it requires a proper strategy like anything else. Remember: Your goal is to keep your brand top of mind and convince people to take the next step. 

• Segment your list to better target different audiences.
• Personalize the content. 
• Launch high-value drip campaigns that provide relevant education or engaging content. 
• Include compelling CTAs.

The good news is email subscribers are already interested in your brand, so they are more inherently invested in the content you provide. 

Tip: Poll your subscribers to find out what type of content they’re interested in. Not only does this make them feel seen and heard but it helps you give them exactly what they need. When we did this for our own agency, we found out our email subscribers favor content that features real-life marketing examples. This helped us better curate our editorial mix to appeal to their needs. (For more ideas, you can also see these 10 tips to improve your SaaS email marketing.) 

6) Tap your network for referrals.

Referrals are always one of the best ways to acquire new customers, as a customer co-sign increases your credibility. You can garner referrals directly and indirectly, using a variety of tools. 

• Use Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys to identify customers most likely to refer you, and ask them directly. (This also goes for the clients you have the most longstanding relationship with.)
• Create a referral program that benefits the existing customer and the new customer (e.g., discounts, freebies, etc.). 
• Ask your favorite customers to write online reviews or submit to directories and other relevant online databases. 
• Create compelling case studies that tell a strong story. 
• Publish testimonials across channels. 

Tip: As previously mentioned, email is a great channel to engage, so you can easily send personalized emails to your happiest customers to ask them for referrals. (You can also include special incentives and easy links to make the referrals even easier.)

Example: Case studies are an easy way to demonstrate social proof, especially when you can share impressive results. Hubspot does this well by showcasing simple, short customer success stories on their Instagram.  

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A post shared by HubSpot (@hubspot)

7) Go to events to convert people IRL. 

Events have always been an effective way to meet and convert customers in real life. And in a post-pandemic world, there are actually more opportunities to engage than ever, as you can host both online and in-person events. 

• Think about your specific business goals, then select the type of event that would be most relevant. Again, there are more options than ever for every budget and goal: a multi-day conference, webinar, conference, trade show, online event, local community event, etc. Even something simple like a virtual “in conversation” series with industry leaders on YouTube is a low-lift way to engage with your community. 
  
• Sponsor or partner with other brands to participate in their event. If you can be a featured speaker, you can gain both visibility and credibility.
• Create teaser campaigns announcing your event (or that you’ll be attending an event). This helps you increase visibility and even start conversations before the actual event.

Tip: If you’re hosting an in-person event, film as much content as you can. This gives the event a second life online and ensures the valuable information shared can engage even more people.

Example: Hubspot does this well. Inbound is their biggest conference of the year, and they share event recaps, conversations, and highlights on their YouTube channel to bring an online audience into the event. 

How to Improve Your Customer Acquisition Strategies Over Time

Your customer acquisition strategies will be ever-evolving, particularly as you learn, iterate, and gather more insights. 

• Ensure your value prop is accurate. One of the most pervasive problems we see in the SaaS space is that brands struggle to communicate who they are and what they do effectively. Use our free brand messaging template to ensure your value prop and messaging are as compelling as possible. 
• Audit your competition. If you want to compete in your industry, you need to pay attention to what other people are doing. Use our free guide to audit your competitors’ efforts to see how they present themselves and why they may be more effective at customer acquisition. 
• Stay nimble. No strategy is set in stone, and as market conditions change, trends come and go, and new technologies arise, it’s important to adapt. With every new strategy you implement, focus on learning and getting the most insights possible. 

That said, we know it can be difficult to stay on top of everything. Sometimes, you need the right partner to help you bring your strategies to life. If you’re on the hunt for a helpful team, follow these tips to find an agency partner with the right expertise, or start your search by reviewing our FAQs or reaching out to us directly. 

But above all, whether you partner up or go it alone, the number one most important thing you can do is stay educated. If you want more tips and insights into customer acquisition and more, subscribe to our Best Story Wins podcast to hear thought leaders share how they win hearts, minds, and market share every day. 

Choosing the right content marketing agency can be overwhelming. Ideally, you want to establish a strong relationship, grow together, and do the best work possible. But if you’re not on the same page as your agency, it won’t be the right fit—no matter how many fancy awards that agency has won.

So how do you find the right agency? Luckily, we’re here to help. We’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of the industry, so we know what to look for—and what to run away from—when you’re on the hunt. Whether you’re looking for a little content creation support or a partner to help you build your brand strategy from scratch, you can follow these tips to narrow your choices down. 

Why Do You Even Need a Content Marketing Agency?

Content marketing requires a strong strategy, available resources, and the ability to execute it effectively. Not every brand has these things. Marketers already have enough on their plates, so a supportive partner can be invaluable. The right content marketing agency can give you the energy, expertise, and insight you need to achieve your goals—with less headaches. Here’s why.

1. Experience: In content marketing, it can be easy to make a misstep. But because content marketing agencies have worked with a ton of brands and marketed to many different people in different industries, they’ve seen many of the pitfalls and mistakes that can be made. Thus, they can help you hone a strategy that works for your goals and keeps you grounded.
2. Infrastructure: Silos and a lack of resources are the biggest culprits that cause chaos in content marketing productions. This sabotages your ability to create quality content consistently. A good content marketing agency has an optimized production process to keep you on track, on brand, on budget, and on time.
3. Better ideas: When you’re tasked with managing a brand, you can easily find yourself so immersed in it that you’re really just working in a bubble. Marketers get tunnel vision, and content creators are so focused on getting content out the door they don’t stop to consider whether it’s the right content at all. A content agency can offer a fresh perspective with stronger ideas, spot potential pitfalls (again, they’ve been around the block), and push you toward more innovative ways of thinking.
4. Insider info: Content agencies are full of creative people who eat, breathe, and sleep content marketing. And they are eager to share their knowledge with you. They’ll pitch bold ideas, experiment with different formats, suggest new distribution channels, tools, resources, and more. All of these tips can upgrade every part of your marketing operation.
5. Great connections: In addition to their expertise, content agencies also have established relationships with vendors, media contacts, influencers, PPC experts, and other resources that can help you implement your strategy effectively. Whether you want to get your infographic featured in a major publication or need a great video production company to produce a web series, they can help you out.

That said, before you start your search, you need to decide if working with a content marketing agency is the right choice. If you’re not sure, see our guide to figure out if you should DIY or outsource to a freelancer or agency.

If you’ve decided that you do need an agency, know exactly why you’re seeking help.

• What type of support do you need (strategy, content, distribution)?
• How much of that work will you need them to do?
• Who will be your stakeholders?
• How will you share that workload?

You may not have the answers to all of these questions before you start, but these are important things to think about.

How to Find a Content Marketing Agency

While there are a lot of decent agencies out there, you want a great one. That means rolling up your sleeves and vetting them. Here are 12 things to look for once you start your search.  

1) A Good Process

How You Know: They tell you who you’ll be working with, when, and why.

Nobody wants to repeatedly be handed off to a stranger. The right agency will tell you exactly who will be handling your account’s business, creative, production, and promotion from the get-go. They should also talk you through their process and who your point person will be. Although the agency may know who’s in charge of what and when, you can easily feel neglected if this isn’t clear. 

Pro tip: If you’re starting your search, here are 7 questions to ask to understand who they are and how they work. 

2) Real Results

How You Know: They present case studies.

An agency should never wrap a project like they’re sending off a message in a bottle, just hoping for the best outcome. The right agency wants to know what they did right, what they did wrong, and how to improve the process and performance for next time. Case studies show that they’re invested in their work and their clients.

Pro tip: Search for agencies who have case studies for work in your particularly industry or what you aspire to do.

3) Versatile Skills

How You Know: Their portfolio will showcase a range of projects.

In content marketing, few things are less attractive than a “same thing forever” attitude, even if the agency’s good at it. Experimentation is crucial if you want to push your brand to the next level.

Find a content marketing agency that wants to try the new and devour the unknown. Even if they specialize in a field (e.g., tech), they should be pushing their own limits and constantly evolving. Hire an agency that you know is game and ready for anything.

Pro tip: Ask them to send you examples of their more experimental work. Even if it’s an internal project, they should have something on hand. (For example, we once made a music-themed video game just to flex our creative skills.)

4) Demonstrated Expertise

How You Know: They write thought leadership pieces.

The right agency always wants to learn more but is happy and confident to teach a thing or two. It’s a sign of wisdom and maturity. Look to see if your agency has a blog or a regular contributorship somewhere. Reviewing this content will give you a sense of who they are and how they think. 

Pro tip: Review a recent article before you chat; it’s a great ice breaker when you’re trying to get to know them.

5) Industry Contributions

How You Know: They create industry resources to help people make better content.

A decent content marketing agency does their work well and goes home for the day. A good agency sees the big picture and strives to be part of it. A great agency wants to elevate their platform and their industry as a whole. This means they’re willing and eager to share presentations, e-books, white papers, videos, etc.—all in the name of achieving new heights.

Pro tip: Ask them about the trends they’re seeing, and what they’re passionate about. These conversations can be inspiring for both of you.

6) Lasting Partnerships

How You Know: They have long-term clients.

Never trust anyone who can’t maintain relationships. (If everyone else is the “problem,” it’s probably them.) Sure, some engagements are bound to have their issues. But if the majority or all of someone’s clients don’t appear to stick around, it’s a red flag. Don’t start work with an agency you already assume will burn you in the end.

Pro tip: Look for a content marketing agency with a track record of successful partner relationships by searching their portfolio. Also find out how you can cultivate a healthy relationship with your agency to do the best work together.

7) A Trustworthy Reputation

How You Know: They have client testimonials and recommendations.

You want to know you’ll get your money’s worth from your agency, and word-of-mouth is always powerful. If an agency can’t find a single client to say something nice about them on their site, LinkedIn, or somewhere, run…run away. They aren’t just crooks but lazy ones at that.

Pro tip: Check out review sites like Clutch, which can be helpful resources to vet agencies and see what people really think of them.

8) Great Communication

How You Know: They always make sure you’re on the same page.

Great work comes from great communication. The right agency will check in with you, talk through problems, and touch base regularly to avoid wasting your budget and destroying your timeline. Whether it’s double-checking deadlines or providing visual references, they’ll do everything they can to make sure the conversation at the end of the project will be over margaritas—not problems. 

Pro tip: You’ll know how good they are at communicating from that first meeting. Notice how well they’re listening and whether they’re taking the time to really answer your questions (or just saying what they think you want to hear).

9) Solid Boundaries

How You Know: They’re willing to say no.

If you just want yes-people, you won’t get the work you deserve. What you need is strong, creative counsel. But plenty of content agencies are willing to take on anything just to get paid.  

The right agency will tell you if you’re accidentally working against your own goals. The right agency will explain why an idea won’t work, then present a better alternative. Hire an agency to be your partner, not someone you can just bark orders at.

Pro tip: Ask about a time they said no to a client—and why. Ideally, they’ll tell you why they said no, what they did instead, and why it worked. (For example, that’s what happened when we convinced Microsoft to do a video instead of an infographic…and ended up with 45 million+ views.)

10) Transparency at All Levels

How You Know: They tell you exactly what you’re getting.

If they’re dodging questions or not responding to emails, it’s only going to get worse. They should tell you what you’re going to get, how you’re going to get it, and how they’re going to make sure you do. From brainstorming to content creation, strategy to promotion, you should feel informed and confident every step of the way. 

Pro tip: Ask them what you can do to help your collaboration. They’ll appreciate the consideration and vested interest in building a partnership—not just being treated like a gun for hire. (BTW, if you’re sending out an RFP, you can get better work by being transparent too. Follow these tips to get the best RFP response possible.)

11) Open to Constructive Criticism

How You Know: They’re open to feedback.

Why would you ever, ever, ever work with anyone, any team, any agency that isn’t open to feedback? They don’t have to take it, but they should darn well want to hear it at the very least. Client-agency projects are like personal relationships. When was the last marriage vow that noted, “I love the way you never listen to me and refuse to change even when I ask nicely”?

Pro tip: A good agency solicits feedback and pushes themselves to grow. Ask them how they challenge themselves, and what they do to improve.

12) Good Vibes

How You Know: You hit it off from the start.

If you’re just doing a small rushed project, you’ll likely get away with a few emails throughout the process. But complex campaigns are an investment of time, money, and energy. They require a lot of back and forth and, sometimes, there are a few bumps in the road. You want someone you feel comfortable working closely with, especially under stress. 

Pro tip: Honestly, there’s no pro tip for this one. When you feel it, you feel it. 

What to Do When You Find the Right Content Marketing Agency

Finding the right agency is a relief, but the real work begins once you do. A good relationship is a true partnership, where you’re both invested in each other’s success. To help cultivate that dynamic from the jump…

• Here are 5 ways you can support your agency throughout the creative process.
• Learn about the different types of creative thinkers. It can really help your team dynamics.
• Find out how to split the workload correctly. 

Above all, keep your communication lines open. Be open, be proactive, and be engaged. And, hey, if your agency doesn’t work out for some reason (though we hope it does), we’d love to be considered. Just holler at us.

Data visualization is an incredibly valuable tool for marketers. It helps you communicate important insights in a visual way, helping you deliver your message more impactfully. But not everyone does data design right—even if they say they do. A good data visualization agency knows data is about more than charts and graphs; it’s about bringing your data to life.  

How to Find a Data Visualization Agency

To make the hunt a little easier, here are 8 great questions to ask to help narrow down your search for the right data visualization agency.  

1) Do they demonstrate their data expertise?

Many agencies can churn out an infographic, but a great data visualization agency knows the fundamentals of data. They don’t just design; they can analyze and dig into the data to uncover interesting insights. They should also demonstrate that knowledge and share their knowledge and expertise freely. You want to know you’re working with true experts.

2) Do they turn data into stories?

Data analysis is only step one of creating a great data visualization. Turning those insights into a solid narrative and using data visualization to support that narrative is what will make your project truly successful. You don’t just want a data visualization agency to plug your data into a design program. You want them to help you create the most impactful narrative possible.  

3) Do they design data according to best practices?

Now here’s where a lot of agencies fall short. Yes, you can design a chart. Yes, you can add a pretty illustration. But this is not what true data visualization is.

The entire point of the art is to make data as comprehensible as possible, to present it in the most easy-to-digest format. There are subtle but very effective ways to do this. The way you label, order, or use color can help or hurt your data visualization. (You can find out more about best practices in our Data Visualization 101 e-book.) Ask them about their data design philosophy to get a sense of how they approach it.

4) Do they work in different mediums?

There are many ways to present data visualizations, including infographics, interactive experiences, video, and more. The format you choose is informed by your data story, which is why it’s so important to work with someone well-versed in data storytelling. They should be able to design whatever the data requires.

5) Have they created similar work before?

If you have a specific idea in mind, you want to work with a data visualization agency that has the skills and experience to execute it for you. (You also want someone who can tell you if your idea doesn’t serve the data well.) Take a look at their portfolio to see if they’ve created similar work or have experience with similar clients or industries.

6) Do they have a good response when you ask them what their favorite type of chart is?

You want to work with people who are passionate about their craft. Asking this question will give you a sense of their knowledge and enthusiasm for data visualization. Trust us, any self-respecting data nerd will have an answer. (And if you want to hear some very strong opinions, you might also ask them which side of the pie chart debate they’re on.)

7) What recent piece of work are they particularly proud of, and why?

You can comb through their portfolio to get a sense of what they do, but if you aren’t the most data-literate person, it’s likely you’ll miss the nuance and craftsmanship that goes into a strong data visualization. Having them explain their thought process behind a design or what they did to help enhance comprehension will give you a sense of their creative process and problem-solving skills.

6) Do they have thorough and thoughtful processes?

There are a lot of moving parts in a major data visualization project. Content needs approval, brand guidelines needs to be communicated, data need to be double-checked. If these responsibilities are unclear, if they fall through the cracks, or are ignored completely, it can affect the quality—and credibility—of your data visualization. Make sure you are clear on how they work, and how they expect to work together with you.

7) Are they transparent with you?

You want a creative partner you can rely on to produce good-quality work. If they seem less than confident, if their pricing is murky, or if you get a general bad vibe, it’s best to move on. Again, a lot of agencies claim that they can do any data visualization, but it is a very specific skillset that requires true expertise.

8) Do they approach projects as collaborative?

You don’t want an antagonistic partner, but you don’t want a total yes-man either. A great piece of data visualization happens when the best ideas make it to the front—regardless of ego. If you have a great design suggestion, they should be open to it. If you’re heading in the wrong direction, you want them to tell you so. The goal is the best project possible. Work with a data visualization agency that puts that value above all else.

Ask these questions while you’re on the hunt and you should be able to find the right partner fairly painlessly. But remember: Finding your partner is only the beginning.

How to Work with Your Data Visualization Agency

If you want your brand to get the best work from your agency, it’s important to establish a good rapport from the jump. Here are a few tips to make the process a little smoother.

1. Communicate a clear goal. Your data visualization agency is made up of expert designers and data storytellers who are adept at creating visualizations to communicate a specific purpose. They need to know not only what the goal is for this particular project but how it plays into your larger communication goals. Is it meant to engage people on social? Will it be used at a tradeshow? This info will influence their decisions at every stage, from the language they use to the format they use to present the data. Start off on the right foot with a detailed creative brief to clue them in. Here’s how to write one if you haven’t done it before.
2. Educate yourself about data storytelling. It always helps to share a basic understanding of what data storytelling really is. To understand the value of data visualization, find out why data-driven storytelling helps brands, and learn about why our brains love data visualization.
3. Don’t just dump your data on them. It’s exciting to have a partner who can dive into your data, but that doesn’t mean they’re your personal assistant. Far too often a client will get so excited they’ll send over every single piece of data they have, giving us a veritable ocean of data to wade through. This wastes precious time for the data visualization agency and, ultimately, your organization—the longer they take, the longer you wait. When you deliver data, it should be organized, complete, and a decent amount of data. (Sometimes people come to us with three stats and ask us to turn it into a data story. Other times, it’s an insane database of randomness.
4.  Let them extract the most meaningful insights. You may already have a story in mind—and you may have the data to support it—but there may be a more interesting angle in that data. (Sidenote: We hate to see people try to retrofit data just because they have a “great” idea. Not only does this result in a weaker story but you risk misrepresenting data, which can hurt your credibility.) You should have filled your data visualization agency in on the project’s goal, so let them help extract the most valuable insights to achieve that goal.
5. Collaborate on the story. Once the most interesting insights are uncovered, it’s vital to shape a narrative that will communicate them with the most impact. This is a highly collaborative process. You know who you’re trying to reach—how they think, what problems they face, the language they use—so you should help guide your data visualization agency. We believe the best story wins, no matter who it came from. 

Follow these tips and you should be able to form a productive and creative partnership together. Of course, we’d be happy to build that partnership with you. If you’re looking for someone to turn your spreadsheets into a compelling data story, reach out.

The marketing rules have changed. Whereas traditional advertising was once the way to connect with an audience, in the digital age, people are less wowed by that type of interruption marketing. Today, they’re drawn to engagement marketing, where brands focus on relationship-building through content. Enter brand storytelling—the buzzword of the digital age.

But what does brand storytelling really mean? Why does it matter? And how do you actually do it? Lucky for you, you’ve come to the right place.

With over a decade in the digital marketing game, we’ve helped some of the world’s biggest brands tell their brand stories—and, now, we’re going to help you do it too. In this guide, we’re diving into everything you need to know about B2B brand storytelling to help you tell your story effectively, connect with the right people, and win your market. Let’s dive in. 

TOC

• What Is Brand Storytelling?
• What Are the Elements of Brand Storytelling? 
• Why Is Brand Storytelling Important?
• How to Do Brand Storytelling
  • Start With Your Brand Heart
  • Document Your Brand Messaging
  • Identify Your Audience
  • Establish Your Branding
  • Brainstorm Ideas Around Your Story Pillars
  • Optimize Your Content
• How to Make Sure Your Brand Story Lands

What Is Brand Storytelling?

In short, brand storytelling is the act of telling the story of your brand through content. By authentically communicating who you are, you can increase brand awareness, make genuine connections with your audience, and build a strong community of lifelong fans. 

What Are the Elements of Brand Storytelling?

There are many ways to tell stories about your brand, and each represents a different facet of your identity. Whether you’re telling stories about how your company started or how you’ve successfully helped your customers, any story you tell about your brand contributes to your larger brand story.

That said, there are a few general categories that represent each pillar of your brand story.

• Who you are: How your company came to exist, as well as your vision, mission, values, and culture.
• What you do: The product or service you provide.
• Who you do it for: The people you want to help.
• Why you do it: Your larger goal beyond what your product/service does—how you really benefit your customer (e.g., your app helps people easily book vacations so that your customers can truly relax).
• How you do it: Visibility into your product, production, people, or process, including how you are evolving and working to create the best product/service for your customers.

The way you tell your brand story may vary, depending on your marketing strategy. But pretty much every content format is a fantastic tool for brand storytelling, including but not limited to: 

• Articles
• Case Studies
• Data visualizations
• E-books
• Explainer videos
• Infographics
• Interactive infographics
• Microcontent
• Motion Graphics
• White papers
• Video

In some ways, it doesn’t matter how you tell your story. What matters most is that it is authentic and honest and resonates with the right people. The good news? If you do brand storytelling well, it automatically will.

Why Is Brand Storytelling Important?

For many years, interruption marketing reigned supreme (aka traditional advertising, where a brand interrupts people to talk at them, as opposed to with them). People are tired of that dynamic, as it makes them feel like a faceless dollar bill targeted by a faceless corporation. Now, we are in an era of engagement marketing, where people want honest, authentic brand relationships built on mutual trust and respect. They want to align with brands and engage with them on a personal level—like a trusted friend or resource. This is why brand storytelling has become the most powerful way to compete in the marketplace. 

Brands that master storytelling through content marketing on social platforms and other channels will have a leg up in many ways, as storytelling has far-reaching benefits both inside and outside your company walls.

1) Brand storytelling makes you stand out from your competition. 

What makes you unique? Whether it’s your product design or service features, there’s a reason you’re different—and people want to know what it is. You might think it’s self-indulgent, but the most integral elements of your brand story—how you came to be, grow, learn to do good work, and choose what you stand for—are more interesting to other people than you think. If you can actively spotlight the things that make you unique through your content, you can easily outshine your competitors.

2) It humanizes your brand. 

Humans want to interact with humans. Luckily, your brand is made up of a variety of unique, interesting, and engaging people. By peeling back the curtain and sharing that part of your brand story, you make it easier for people to feel connected to the people behind your brand and, most importantly, trust you. (Brands that focus their corporate storytelling on product features miss a huge opportunity to make this personable connection.) 

3) It helps you attract the right people. 

People (both your customers and potential employees) expect brands to be outspoken and demonstrate their values. Brand storytelling lets you communicate more than what you do; it helps you show people what you believe. When you articulate your values, you make it easier for customers to align themselves with you—and you can better entice the talent who might want to work for you.

This is yet another reason why brand storytelling can help make you more competitive. It’s not just about the customers you attract; the employees you attract are the ones who will drive your innovation and success from within. Telling a brand story that attracts those gem candidates can, in many ways, fuel your brand’s future success. 

4) It helps you communicate your value. 

Conventional wisdom suggests there are two ways to compete as a business: price and value. In B2B, competing on price doesn’t just sound awful; it’s a race most brands can’t run forever, even if they wanted to. In most industries, there’s always someone younger, scrappier, with a leaner team, who can afford to charge less for something similar to what you offer. Does it matter if their offering isn’t quite as good? Nope. Unless you scale like Amazon, it’s a race to the bottom.

On the other hand, competing on value can keep you in the game. Think of the value you provide. What do customers experience? What do they really “get” when they buy from you? Brand storytelling helps you reinforce this value at every point of the buyer journey. 

5) It gives you more agency.

One of the more frustrating things about your brand story is that you don’t have total control over it. Your story is partly what you communicate and partly how people perceive what you communicate. While that may be frustrating, it’s important to take ownership of what you can control. If you don’t promote your brand story, people will write their own narratives about you—or, worse, disregard you entirely.

“Authority isn’t bestowed to the entrepreneur with the best message but the entrepreneur most willing to express it.”
—Dan Martell, Founder of SaaS Academy

We live in an increasingly transparent world. This is, for better or worse, a by-product of the Internet age. That’s why it’s much better to develop your brand’s story by design (personally, and with intent) than by default (whatever the Internet conjures up).

How to Do Brand Storytelling

So, how do you share your brand story? For marketers, the answer is content. Every piece of content you create tells a part of your story, from the smallest tweet to a huge white paper. If you can build a strong content infrastructure that provides a steady stream of brand stories to multiple audiences on multiple platforms, you will maximize your reach and create more moments to connect with the right people. But how do you do that? Here are our best tips to tell your story well. 

1) Start with your brand heart.

One of the biggest reasons brands struggle to tell a clear or compelling story? They don’t actually know who they are. This is why you need to start with your brand heart. Your heart is the core of who you are, comprised of your purpose, vision, mission, and values. These core principles are the foundation of your brand story. They fuel the decisions you make about your business, the way you show up in the world, and the way you interact with your audience. They can also be great fodder for future storytelling, but you need to have them articulated on paper to ensure your brand is aligned and telling an authentic story about who and what you are. 

Tip: Download our free brand heart workbook to document your purpose, vision, mission, and values. 

2) Document your brand messaging.

The secret to telling a strong brand story is telling a clear, cohesive story—consistently. This is crucial for a few reasons. 

• You want to be memorable. The more consistent you are in the way you present yourself, the easier it is for people to identify and remember you. 
• You want to create a seamless brand experience. You want to move people along the path to purchase as easily and as smoothly as possible. Disparate messaging can create speedbumps. (In fact, this is a common thing we see with our B2B clients.) If your marketing and sales messages aren’t aligned or telling the same story, people will second guess your brand—and do so at crucial stages. 
• Your story is more impactful if it’s easy to understand. Clarity is incredibly important. You don’t want to confuse your audience with conflicting messaging, nor do you want to bore them to death by droning on and on. Clear brand messaging helps you tell your story concisely.
  

How do you describe your product/service? What makes you different from your competition? What are your key selling points? How do you ensure that brand creators can speak about these things confidently? By documenting your brand messaging, you will have compelling answers to everything a customer could ask.

Tip: Use our free brand messaging framework to identify the key stories you want to tell and the language you want to use. This will give you a strong foundation to brainstorm content ideas later. 

3) Identify your audience.

To be a good storyteller, you need to understand your audience: who they are, what they want to hear, and how they want to hear it. Of course, you are not speaking to one homogenous group—especially in B2B. You may be speaking to people in different industries or even generations. Thus, you need to intentionally segment and separate. 

• Create Personas and Ideal Customer Profiles. In B2C, you would only create marketing personas. But in B2B, you need to identify both the types of companies you want to target (aka Ideal Customer Profiles), as well as the individual personas at those companies. Doing this work is tedious but worth it. When it comes time to brainstorm story ideas, your personas can help you vet your ideas and identify the best stories for different stages of the buyer journey.
• Map your buyer journey. One core thing to remember is that brand storytelling is not selling. Selling can be part of your brand story at the appropriate time, but if you come on too strong too soon, you will turn people off. Instead, you need to understand your customer’s headspace at every stage of the buyer journey and identify what parts of your brand story they’ll want to hear about at each phase. This is an immensely helpful exercise to identify the right messaging for the right time. 

Tip: Use our guide to create ICPs and personas to properly identify and document each part of your audience, and use our free buyer journey template to identify what messages they need to hear at what point.

4) Establish your branding.

One of the often-overlooked aspects of brand storytelling is the brand part. Your brand voice, your personality, and your visual identity all tell their own story about your brand, so it’s important to present yourself authentically and consistently in every piece of content you create. 

• Determine your brand voice/personality.  It is way too easy to default to boring marketing speak, especially in B2B marketing. Why do so many brands sound the same? Because they haven’t identified (or don’t know how to use) their brand voice. 
• Build visual identity guidelines. Your visual language is the aesthetic experience of your brand, and it communicates a lot about who you are. Everything from your logo to color palettes can affect how you present yourself, so—just like brand messaging—you want to develop a consistent, on-brand visual language that creates a cohesive experience. 

Tip: Use our free templates to find your voice and personality, and use our free guide to design a brand identity. Most importantly, after you have these elements locked down, create brand guidelines to help content creators stay on brand.  

5) Brainstorm ideas around your story pillars.

Now that you’ve laid the foundation of your brand you can do the fun stuff: brainstorm unique and creative ways to tell your brand story. There are many ways to do this, but we find that one of the easiest hacks is to brainstorm ideas around each pillar of your brand identity (who you are, what you do, who you do it for, why you do it, and how you do it). 

Want your content to connect?
Educate, entertain, or inspire. 

Here, we’ll walk you through a number of ways to do that, as well as handy examples of what each type of brand storytelling can look like in real life. 

PILLAR 1: WHO YOU ARE

• Tell stories around your values. Since you’ve clearly defined your brand heart, you know exactly who you are and what you believe in. Turning those values into content is a great way to show people what you care about and create a connection based on those shared values. See examples of how smart brands turn their values into content.
• Tell stories to your employees and future employees—not just your customers. According to Pew Research, 57% of people who quit during the Great Resignation did so because they felt disrespected at work. The more you tell stories about the people behind your brand (and celebrate them), the more you can cultivate a sense of belonging—and help customers feel connected to your employees too. To start, here are 7 easy ways to showcase your people and culture on social media.

Example: We helped Dropbox build their talent brand through creative brand storytelling that showed potential employees what #LifeInsideDropbox was all about. 

PILLAR 2: WHAT YOU DO

• Tell stories about what makes you different. This is where your brand messaging comes in handy. Having crafted clear and concise messaging about what you do and what makes you different, think about story ideas that support each talking point. 

Example: To help educate small businesses about who Unbabel is and what they do, we executed a bold and edgy campaign that would stand out from their competition. We told this story through various formats, including a hero video, eBook, blog articles, social media content, the eye-catching interactive game Unbabel It, and more.

PILLAR 3: WHO YOU DO IT FOR 

• Use empathy to think about what your audience needs to hear. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and give them content that is relevant to their life. Whether it solves a problem, gives them a fresh perspective, or helps them do something more efficiently, empathy is your biggest storytelling tool. Try these tips to turn your audience’s pain points into content, and see how these brands put empathy to work.
• Tell strong customer success stories. If you want people to buy into your brand, they will often want proof that you’ve helped other people like them succeed. See our best tips to turn customer success stories into compelling narratives (because, yes, that is its own art). 
• Create stories with your audience. Sharing your story is important, but giving the mic to your audience can be incredibly powerful. Find out how to create user-generated content that builds community.  

Example: Happy Money shares real client success stories through Member Money Moments— simple, bold, and eye-catching graphics on Instagram. It’s a simple way to showcase how the brand helps clients while letting customers say it in their own words.

PILLAR 4: WHY YOU DO IT

• Tell your origin story. People want to know how your company started, so share your beginnings—the good, the bad, and the embarrassing. (If you’re curious to know how we got to this point, here’s how we built C5.)
• Talk about what excites you in your field. People want to connect with passionate people. There’s a reason you got into this business, so share stories about what drives you. This type of transparency is a great way to cultivate authentic relationships with your community. 

Example: We launched the Best Story Wins to talk about B2B marketing, ask industry thought leaders about their challenges, and share our enthusiasm for brand-building. This is just another way for us to connect with our audience and share our expertise. 

PILLAR 5: HOW YOU DO IT

• Share lessons you’ve learned or ways you’ve failed. If you want to form a closer relationship with your audience, you need to be open and honest. If you’ve effed up royally (or learned a valuable lesson), that vulnerability and transparency can help you meaningfully connect with others, especially if you’re helping them avoid the same mistakes. (For example, find out how we decided to change our own content strategy and increased sales 160%.)
• Share behind-the-scenes. People always want to see how the sausage is made, and there are all sorts of ways you can give them a peek behind the curtain: Q&As with team members, live streams, articles, etc. In fact, your team can sometimes be the best source of content. See our tips to turn your fellow employees into brand storytellers. 

Example: Zendesk shares plenty of expert content, but creating that content isn’t always easy. There are flubs, bloopers, and more. Zendesk shows off its charming personality by actually sharing those bloopers in an entertaining Instagram reel. Not only does this give you a sense of their fun brand personality but it helps people see that even the pros mess up sometimes. 

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For more inspiration, see how these brands tell great brand stories (even if their product/service is less than exciting), try these 10 brainstorm prompts to tell your brand story, and find out how we helped Happy Money reach millions of people by telling their brand story.

That said, we know that sometimes your creative brain isn’t working, so we’ve also compiled a handy brainstorming template to help you fast-track your storytelling. Fill in the blanks, and you can generate a month’s worth of content ideas in under an hour. 

6) Optimize your Content.

Whether your content is meant to inform, delight, or entertain, show your audience you value their time and attention by presenting it in the right package and making it as easy as possible to consume.

• Choose the right format. The most important goal for every piece of content is to communicate your brand story as efficiently and effectively as possible. Therefore, choosing the right format is vital. You might get caught up in trying to produce the flashiest, trendiest type of content, but this is a disservice to your audience. See our guide to 13 types of B2B content marketing to find out which format might be best for your story.
• Tailor your story for the channel. We’ve seen great pieces of content crash and burn because they didn’t work on the platform (e.g., an infographic that was rendered too small on a blog, or a video that was too long for Instagram). Different channels demand different kinds of storytelling, so match your storytelling format to the channel. You can also maximize your reach across platforms by marketing a single piece of content to different audiences. 
• Partner with other people. Your owned channels are a great starting point to share your content, but it always helps to increase your reach through publishing partnerships, syndication, or cobranded work. Find out how to partner with industry publications to create custom content.
• Make it shareable. You don’t want to be the only one telling your brand story. Encourage your audience to share your story by making it easy to do so. Working social buttons, proper dimensions, SEO optimization, hashtags—consider anything you can do to foster engagement. For more tips, find out how to optimize your blog for your publishing and how to optimize your infographics for SEO.

How to Make Sure Your Story Lands

No matter how much budget you have to spend on marketing, if your story isn’t authentic, it won’t resonate with the right people. To ensure your story resonates—and makes the most impact—here are a few more tips.  

• Build a strong content strategy. Did you know that 60% of B2B marketers don’t have a documented content strategy?! Without a strategy on paper, it’s hard to create good brand storytelling. If this is something you still need to do, use our free content strategy toolkit to get your goals on paper, brainstorm the right story ideas, and get real results. 
• Start emotional, close logical. One of the biggest myths in B2B marketing is that it isn’t emotional. Wrong. The goal of telling a good brand story is to connect with your audience—and emotion is the key to doing that. First, focus on creating that emotional connection with your audience up front, then you can get more into the weeds with more sales content as they progress deeper into the buyer journey. Find out how to optimize your buyer journey to start emotional, close logical, then follow these tips to write copy that hooks your audience. 
• Sweat the small stuff. Your confirmation email, your password reset message, your CTAs—every piece of content is an opportunity to show people who you are and what your brand is about. Take a fresh look at those little things and pack them with personality. Start with our tips to optimize your CTAs and emails. 
• Experiment often. Your story isn’t static; it changes as your company grows and expands, brings on new team members, and breaks into new markets. A new initiative can spawn a whole new campaign to send your story far and wide, so don’t be afraid to try new things. 
• Stay educated. The best way to be a better marketer is to keep up with what the best in the industry are doing. Subscribe to our Best Story Wins podcast to hear how B2B marketers are building winning brands, sign up for our newsletter for weekly tips, or check out our free resource archive for tools and templates to work smarter. 

Of course, doing this deep work takes brainpower and perspective that you don’t always have on tap. If you need a little extra guidance to get your house in order, find out what to look for in a content agency, take a look at our brand strategy FAQs, or reach out. We’d love to help you tell a memorable brand story that turns people into lifelong fans.