Why You Can't Have Content Without a Content Strategy

"A content strategy determines whether or not your content marketing will perform," says Tatjana Biallas, Director of Media Sales at Taboola, who was one of the official speakers at Native Advertising DAYS 2018.

Therefore, a content strategy is crucial if you want to engage and inspire your audiences with your content. We asked Tatjana Biallas to share her most important learnings for creating a successful content strategy.

Content marketing also gets average consumers to know, like, and trust your brand, which translates into traffic, leads, and sales.

Why do you believe content marketing is important for brands?

This form of marketing is crucial as it allows brands to create educational, entertaining, and inspiring content their audiences value and are interested in.

Content marketing also gets average consumers to know, like, and trust your brand, which translates into traffic, leads, and sales.

People constantly use the internet to find answers and solutions to the challenges they face. Why not serve as an additional resource to help satisfy your potential buyers’ search for answers?

A content strategy determines whether or not your content marketing will perform.

Which role does the actual content strategy play when it comes to content marketing?

A content strategy determines whether or not your content marketing will perform. Content marketers with documented strategies are more likely to achieve their objectives and, therefore, are able to justify the resources needed to continue building their programs.

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Documented strategies help marketers plan content that maps to the buyer’s journey.

In the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey, prospective buyers are looking for educational, third-party and vendor-neutral content, whereas those in the decision stage are looking for validation in determining their short list of products and confirmation before making a decision.

Do not be discouraged if your content doesn’t perform to your expectations.

What’s the secret to a successful content strategy?

You first need to understand what your goals are, as different goals call for different approaches to content marketing.

Consider whether the goal of your content is to improve brand awareness, increase engagement, or generate more website traffic, among others, and identify core KPIs to gauge the process you’re making toward achieving your content marketing goals.

You should also develop key themes that are in line with your brand, that clearly show how your solution fits into your prospective customers’ needs, and that are broad enough to create a stream of content that branches off from the central theme.

Analyze which content is of value to your audience and which isn’t, and create an editorial calendar to ensure you’re publishing your content consistently.

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You should also understand who you want to read, watch, view, or hear your content. Create buyer personas to help you make informed decisions about topics to cover, formats to use, and approaches to different subject matters.

Creating a content marketing mission statement also helps align your team’s approach to content decisions and ensures your content addresses a consistent theme.

Finally, analyze the content created by your competitors and create a plan to differentiate your content from theirs. Take note of which keywords they use, how often they publish, on what channels they publish, and what topics they discuss to identify potential content marketing gaps and opportunities for your brand.

And do not be discouraged if your content doesn’t perform to your expectations. Be agile, take time to experiment, and learn from your past campaigns to succeed.

Content marketing and native advertising certainly are related and have impacts on the other.

Do you believe content marketing and native advertising go hand in hand? 

Content marketing and native advertising certainly are related and have impacts on the other.

At Taboola, many of our advertiser clients leverage our platform to promote and distribute existing content such as blog posts, landing pages, or even press coverage.

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When investing in native advertising, marketers should consider whether their existing content should be repurposed, as well as whether they should put paid investment behind new content.

To produce a truly successful content marketing campaign, you need to adopt an approach that recognizes the importance of the full buyer’s journey.

What is the most missed opportunity for marketers when it comes to content marketing and distribution of the content?

A major missed opportunity is neglecting the buyer’s journey.

To produce a truly successful content marketing campaign, you need to adopt an approach that recognizes the importance of the full buyer’s journey.

The most effective content marketers will start mapping content for the buyer’s journey by creating a list of questions that people ask at each stage, auditing existing content to determine where it fits into the funnel, and identify gaps where your content falls short to ensure the material delivers useful answers for your audience.

We will be discussing relevant obstacles that marketers face in their day-to-day with the opportunity for attendees to learn and be inspired for their next campaign.

Taboola is an official sponsor at this year’s Native Advertising DAYS and you’re an official speaker at the conference. Why should attendees absolutely not miss your presentation about the recipe for successful content marketing?

Together with Felicitas Viarenghi, Content Marketing Manager at 8fit, I’ll be discussing the intersection between content marketing and content strategy.

Attendees will learn about and discuss real challenges and obstacles that marketers face, not limited to executive buy-in, obtaining resources, and driving impactful ROI. This session will certainly inspire content marketers as they prepare their 2019 strategies.

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Many marketers understand the importance of content marketing but may be unsure how to leverage it for their respective brand or how to educate their teams about the value it poses for their brand. Others may lack a foundation of best practices as it relates to content marketing measurement and efficiency.

Our session will speak directly to these marketers’ challenges and will provide concrete solutions that attendees can take advantage of right now. Attendees will be able to take away different approaches to implementing a content strategy and learn key tips to optimize campaigns.

We will be discussing relevant obstacles that marketers face in their day-to-day with the opportunity for attendees to learn and be inspired for their next campaign.

The Native Advertising Days offer a great foundation to connect industry experts in EMEA, and we are proud to be a partner of this event.

What do you look forward to the most at this year’s Native Advertising DAYS?

I’m excited to meet industry experts, discuss developments in the native advertising space, and hear predictions on where the space is headed!

I’m particularly looking forward to meeting some of Taboola’s existing clients as well as networking with new brands and publishers to see how we in the native advertising space can continue to innovate in years to come.

The Native Advertising Days offer a great foundation to connect industry experts in EMEA, and we are proud to be a partner of this event.