Association: why define a content strategy?

Content marketing is a vast area of web marketing. We will of course answer this essential question: "why define a content strategy?"
But before going any further, let us first answer this question: what exactly does the term "content marketing" mean?

What is content marketing?

It refers to the full set of practices whose aim is to produce useful articles and all forms of content. It also involves publishing photographs, infographics, or videos for a marketing target audience. In practice, defining a content strategy means deciding in advance what needs to be published, for what reason(s), and how to convert visitors into clients.
The unspoken goal is clear to those in the know: to guide visitors towards taking the action you want them to take.

For your association, this might mean responding to new people who need your help. It might also mean collecting new donations, or attracting new volunteers to support your activities.

Why define a content strategy?

Defining a strategy: the foundation of success

This may seem obvious. Nevertheless, very few successful professionals operate without a defined strategy. You must be patient and not skip steps.

Your content strategy must be built around the positioning of your association — this is essential. Define the objective you wish to reach and put everything in place to get there.

What is the purpose of your association? What challenges do you address? What is the reason for your online presence? Are you hoping for more donations? More members, more volunteers? Do you simply want to answer questions that some people have? Do you want greater visibility? To become a reliable source of information?

These questions will be essential for defining your content strategy!

If your scenario (strategy) has been well defined and you have anticipated the challenges ahead, your content strategy will be a success.

The web is a distinctive space

You may not know this yet: writing for the web is not the same as writing for more traditional formats. Launching your website with no knowledge of the web and no defined content strategy will lead you to a dead end.

You need to write in a way that optimises your text for search engines. This content optimisation technique serves one purpose: attracting more people to your website. You will need a good command of spelling, basic HTML knowledge, a solid understanding of SEO, and a grasp of a few digital marketing techniques.

Content strategy: beware of infobesity!

It is important to factor in the current phenomenon of infobesity. Today, anyone in the world with internet access is bombarded with information — or, to put it plainly, information overload. Your target audience may not be able to absorb all the information you give them, however relevant it is and however carefully you follow best practices. Infobesity can lead your target to regard you as junk information.

You must do everything you can to avoid this pitfall!

If needed, our inbound marketing web agency in Lyon will support you in developing your content strategy according to your ambitions.

When should you define your content strategy?

If you already have a website for your association: think about it right now. Once this strategy is developed, you can integrate it into your existing setup.
If you do not yet have a website: think about it right now. Your content strategy must be fully integrated into the creation of your pages, your blog articles, or your educational content.

What are the best practices for content?

• Target content according to your persona: certain categories of people will be more receptive to short-form "snack content" videos than to text running to several hundred words;
• define an editorial charter;
• define an editorial calendar;
• try new methods from time to time to assess their effectiveness;
• conversely, stick to tried-and-tested techniques;
• do not hesitate to call upon a professional (an agency, a freelance copywriter, video producer, graphic designer, or photographer).

Our next article will take us into a deeper topic: how to increase your association's membership and how to convert visitors into members.