---
title: 10 Questions To Answer Before Creating Your Next Content Marketing Strategy
description: "10 Questions To Answer Before Creating Your Next Content Marketing Strategy
First you need to know who your audience is, what they need at different stages of the buyers’ journey, how they access information, and what your competition is saying and doing."
image: https://www.jonespr.net/hubfs/jones-blogheaderimage-feb27.2020-campaign-strategy-development.png
---

[![](https://www.jonespr.net/hubfs/jones-blogheaderimage-feb27.2020-campaign-strategy-development.png) ](https://www.jonespr.net/eight-arms-blog/10-questions-to-answer-before-creating-your-next-content-marketing-strategy)

# 10 Questions To Answer Before Creating Your Next Content Marketing Strategy

BY:  

[ Kristin Jones ](https://www.jonespr.net/eight-arms-blog/author/kristin-jones)

![jones_blog_header_april8](https://www.jonespr.net/hs-fs/hubfs/jones_blog_header_april8.png?width=550&name=jones_blog_header_april8.png)

Creating a comprehensive content marketing strategy requires more than brainstorming a few blog post titles and writing social media updates. It should include taking a close look at 10 different questions about your audience, your goals, your competition and the market environment.

Visualistan provides a snapshot of those questions and insights in this [infographic](https://www.visualistan.com/2015/04/content-marketing-strategy-infographic.html), and I’ll offer links to more detailed information for several of them below.

 

**![contentmarketingstrategy](https://www.jonespr.net/hs-fs/hubfs/contentmarketingstrategy.jpg?width=1043&name=contentmarketingstrategy.jpg)**

 

**1. Who are your best customers and prospects?** In addition to what Visualistan calls target intenders — we would call those who have interacted with your brand, if you have contact information for them, leads — think about your overall customer personas. Define who you are creating content for: demographics, job titles (for B2B brands), pain points, and how they gather information and make decisions. Use the guidelines here to [define your customer or buyer personas](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/create-a-great-customer-persona-downloadable-sample-).

 

**2. What are your audience’s interests?** Quality content should match the things your audience wants to know more about. It should be useful, shareable, solve a problem or entertain. [Rate your content quality with this scorecard](https://www.jonespr.net/content-quality-report-card).

 

**3. What search terms are used by your target audience?** Remember to think beyond single word terms to include [longtail keywords](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/4-places-to-use-long-tail-keywords), as well as the question format favored by the growing number of people performing [online searches through voice assistants](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/ok-google-how-do-i-optimize-for-voice-search).

 

**4. Where are the gaps in your content?** A [marketing content audit](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/audit-your-current-marketing-content-whats-missing) can help you identify missed opportunities or [missing links in a lead nurturing workflow](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/why-you-lose-leads-midway-through-the-funnel).

 

**5. Where else do your leads and prospects look for information?** Understanding that while some are willing to rely on content from brands and vendors, many want to also find reliable information from outside sources. Check out these statistics on where business buyers look for information before making a decision — or before even talking to a vendor:

- [81 percent generally do research before contacting a manufacturer/vendor](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/b2b-marketing-content-what-buyers-want-from-vendors-infographic).
- [87 percent say they give more credence to content shared by an industry influencer](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/content-b2b-buyers-want-most-infographic).

 

**6. What are your competitors doing?** Just as you should audit your own content library, you should also research what your competitors are saying, what the media is saying, and what analysts are saying, about your own company and others. [Competitive audits](https://www.jonespr.net/competitive-audits-the-jones-solution) provide valuable information for your content marketing strategy development.

 

**7. When will your leads want certain information?** Part of creating a [lead nurturing workflow](https://www.jonespr.net/lead-nurturing-workflow-template), along with content that reaches every level of the [sales funnel](https://www.jonespr.net/content-strategy-for-all-stages-of-the-sales-funnel), is understanding that prospects and leads don’t all want the same information. The information they need depends on where they are in the [buyers’ journey](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/3-ways-to-define-the-customer-sales-cycle-and-segment-marketing-efforts). Early on, in the [awareness stage](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/10-top-formats-for-awareness-content-checklist), a lead may simply want broad information, such as learning about how a business blog works to increase website traffic. As they move through the sales funnel, however, their interest may become more specific, wanting detailed information on how to create an [editorial calendar](https://www.jonespr.net/blog-calendar-template) or how to [track ROI](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/5-blog-metrics-that-determine-roi) in order to prove the effectiveness of the tool.

 

**8. How will you organize your editorial calendar?** We’ve created templates to help you with this! Our [Campaign Planning Calendar Template](https://www.jonespr.net/campaign-planning-calendar-template) is a month-by-month look at organizing entire campaigns, based on the sales funnel, to include awareness, early engagement, consideration, and sales enablement materials that work together. Our [Blog Calendar Template](https://www.jonespr.net/blog-calendar-template) is more detailed and specific to a business blog, outlining topics, assigning writers and deadlines, and specifying which inbound marketing offers and CTAs to use with each post. Both are available for you to download today.

 

**9. What formats will you use for your content?** These blog posts offer a wide range of ideas for your content, depending on your target audience and the level of the sales funnel you are trying to reach:

- [10 Top Formats For Awareness Content](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/10-top-formats-for-awareness-content-checklist)
- [The Pros & Cons Of 11 Digital Content Types](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/the-pros-cons-of-11-digital-content-types)
- [Real Life Examples Of Downloadable Offers For Content Marketing](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/real-life-examples-of-downloadable-offers-for-inbound-marketing)
- [Marketing Content Abstracts: A Complete Campaign](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/marketing-content-abstracts-a-complete-campaign)

**10. What devices should you design content for?** While many B2B decision makers may still access the majority of their purchase decision information on a desktop device, increasingly consumers access content on mobile devices, including phones and tablets. Be sure you keep these changes in your audience’s behavior in mind. *(Check out some of these user statistics, specific to video, here: [Using Video For B2B Marketing](https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/using-video-for-b2b-marketing-2019-viewer-stats-infographic).)*

 

There is definitely a lot to consider as you plan out a comprehensive content marketing strategy. Sometimes, it just makes sense to have an outside perspective and expertise to help you sort it all out and develop a detailed approach. [Click here to download an example of one of our complete campaigns](https://www.jonespr.net/creating-a-winning-inbound-marketing-program), or [schedule a no-obligation consultation](https://www.jonespr.net/meetings/kristin19) to learn more about how you can maximize your content marketing impact.

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---

## **Keeping Up with Kristin**

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I enjoy traveling the globe to meet with clients, educate companies about all things PR and Inbound Marketing, and speak at industry events. Meet up with me when I’m in your city. Where will I be next?

[Meet Kristin](https://www.jonespr.net/meetings/kristinjones/networking-call-with-kristin-jones)

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## Related Posts

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### [Content Marketing in 2018: By The Numbers](https://www.jonespr.net/eight-arms-blog/content-marketing-in-2018-by-the-numbers)

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