Forming your content strategy for 2021
What does your content strategy look like for 2021? Look, it is okay if you don’t have anything right now. But, what it is about is, getting the thought into your head so you can start to think about what 2021 looks like and how you will create content for your audience and your business.
For this blog, we are here to give you some insights into what worked for myself as Content Queen, what didn’t work and what I will be doing in 2021.
As this is an extended offering of my podcast (something that has been great in 2020), I’m also going to share with you my guests’ insights as well! Ken Reid is a relationship coach for gay men (with a marketing background) joined me to talk all about content marketing!
If you find value in this blog, make sure you share it with me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram! Even better, share it with your audience! You can also listen to the episode below!
Let us dive into what Ken and I talk about when it comes to all things content strategy!!
Target audience for 2021
Before we fully go into the details, firstly one thing we want to point out is the importance of doing the market research of your audience. This is something that continues to evolve and is certainly not a set and forget type activity.
Even if you did target audience research in 2020, it is time to reassess the work you did and expand. Your niche might have changed, maybe you now know more about your audience!
Profile them again, journal about them, fill in a template - whatever you need to do, learn more about them!!
What worked for us in 2020
Oh thank god, something worked for us in 2020… yay!! No kidding, for both Ken and I, 2020 was a fabulous year for our business. We both went full-time baby!!!
Mariah: For me, it was all about the blend of fun and educational content!! Reels was a great hit for me and I loved creating the fun dancing and vlog-style content! BUT, also it was the blend of the educational stuff. I get a lot of clients who always say “the fun content always does better than the educational content), but remember, the educational stuff is how you stand out as an expert. Something that also worked for me was jumping on trends. I wrote a blog and did a podcast on Instagram Reels and it worked really well for me in terms of appearing on page one of Google!!
Ken: For Ken, it was all about collaborating with experts. He has a great portfolio on his Instagram TV of amazing interviews with people in his niche. From relationship coaches to gay male entrepreneurs, business owners and the like. Don’t underestimate the power of cross promoting with other people in your field. It is great for both parties AND the audience. I do chat more about this in my poddy on PR for your biz.
What didn’t work for us in 2021
Okay guys, it is all about being honest here too!! So it is time to share with you what didn’t work in 2020.
Mariah: For me, it was posting videos on LinkedIn. For loads of entrepreneurs it works great, for me it was very hit and miss - it was the photos that worked better. Now this lesson got me thinking. It is the same with all content. There is no blueprint. What works for me might not work for you! But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try anyway. It is all about testing and trialing and unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) it is not the same for everyone.
Ken: For Ken, he said spending too much time on other platforms caused him a lot of burn out. When he was creating such amazing valued content, it was making him mentally tired. Less is more, repurposing is key and we do need to remember - a break is good! Less for your all, when you feel tired, take a great and work out what you need at that moment.
The 3 things we want to add in our content strategy in 2021
So now, what are we doing in 2021?! Well, to be fair things change, but they also evolve! So from the lessons we earned, let’s dive into what we will do in 2021.
Mariah:
1. Post more to my feed - now this is all about being smart rather than posting for the sake of it. For me, it is all about repurposing on Instagram. If I create a Reels, post it to my feed. Go live twice a week, that sort of thing. Adding in with my normal strategy and that boosts up the content creation for Instagram!!
2. Build my personal brand on LinkedIn - I want to start using LinkedIn as more of a place for Mariah as an entrepreneur, rather than just Content Queen. So I will be using LinkedIn to promote my digital nomad journey without much “selling” as such!
3. Lives with other entrepreneurs and have mini-series’ - as mentioned - more content. Just joking. More fun content, more collaborations and a better chance to showcase some AMAZING people to my network!!
Ken:
Although a tiny bit different from my own - there are amazing things on the horizon for Ken!
1. Post less on the Instagram feed and more on other platforms - Ken is all about intentional posting. Working smarter and utilising all the content he has. Instead of posting more to his feed, Ken will show up on stories and also create long-form quality content (quality over quantity type vibe).
2. Repurpose - Ken again, wants to work smarter and repurpose loads of his content. Using TikTok and the like to build up his personal brand without creating too much content.
3. Batching - Are you sensing a theme?? Ken is aiming to batch monthly to utilise his time more efficiently.
There you go! What did you think? Ready to start your own?
Final thoughts
What have you learned from this? Let me break it down for you:
There is no one rule for successful content - that is what makes it fun
Review what you have done and reassess
Look at systems to work smarter and to give your audience an amazing experience
Always measure
Are you ready to create an amazing strategy? Make sure you come over to @contentqueen_mariah on Instagram so we can connect and chat about your content creation and strategy!
If you found value in this blog, make sure you share it with me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram! Even better, share it with your audience! You can also listen to the episode below!