6 Steps to an Optimized and Socialized Content Workflow

Digital marketing tactics have changed over the years but one thing has not – Customers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to the insights marketers need to deliver relevant, meaningful and useful content at the right time and the right place.

To realize the benefits of customer insight requires an integrated approach – especially when it comes to content – discovery, consumption and interaction.

Moving from planning to practice, especially within a large organization with regional operations, business units, divisions and departments, processes are essential for adoption, quality and scale. Operationalizing the integration of content, social media and optimization is one of the essential workflows that marketing departments can implement. But what does that look like?

Here’s a content and social media focused optimization workflow that often inspires our work at TopRank Online Marketing to get you started:

Content Planning

• Research Customer Segments and Develop Profiles / Personas
• Map Topics & Keywords to Buying Cycle for Each Major Customer Persona
• Create an Optimized Content Plan (New): Site, Blog, Social Profiles & Networks
• Off Site Content: Guest Blog Posts, Byline Articles, Content Objects (eBooks, Infographics, Video, Reports, Guides)
• Align Optimization to Content Marketing Campaigns: White Papers, eBooks, Reports, Guides, Webinars, etc
• Content Amplification: Organic and Paid

Audits

• Keyword Audit, Difficulty and Glossary – Identify broad themes and specific to customer segments
• Content & Digital Assets Audit
• Tech SEO Audit
• External Link Audit
• Social Media Audit
• Competitive Audit

Recommendations

• Restate hypothesis and strategy based on audit data
• Identify top priorities
• Document a timeline for implementation
• Identify internal and external resources
• Overlay brand messaging and keyword targets to the marketing plan (campaigns, projects)
• Assign measurement KPIs and outcomes to each major priority

On and Off Page SEO Implementation

• Keyword Mapping to Content
• On-Page Content Optimization: Rewriting, Creation
• SEO Mechanics: Crawl, Page Speed, Structured Data, HTML/Code, URLs, Internal Links
• External Link Building: Acquisition, Reclamation, Disavowal – Coordinate with PR, Social, Partners
• Social Profile Optimization, Registrations: Brand, Executives, Prominent Internal SMEs
• Digital Asset Optimization: Image, Video, Audio, MS Office Docs, PDFs
• Share Optimization Targets & Best Practices With All Content Creators: Marketing, PR, HR, Social, Legal, Corporate Comms

Social Media Integration

• Social Profile Alignment – Messaging, Themes, Trigger Keywords
• Optimize Social Connections: Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, SlideShare
• Blog Optimization: Search, Social, Community, Syndication
• Social Network Development – Themes, Community Growth, Engagement
• Influencer Engagement: Advocacy, Co-Creation
• Social Media Content Amplification – Organic, Paid

Performance Measurement and Optimization

• SEO KPI Measurement: Ranking, Referred Organic Traffic Keywords, Links, Share of Search Results
• Social KPI Measurement: Brand + Keyword Mentions, Social Referred Traffic, Engagement, Social Citations, Sentiment, Share of Conversation
• Content KPI Measurement: PageViews of Target Content, Actions from Target Content, Shares, Engagement, Links

By incorporating customer and content optimization into the content marketing process, you can realize operational benefits that range from increased adoption of optimization best practices to becoming more efficient – ie. capable of realizing a greater impact without adding resources.