Goals. We set them on a daily basis. Personal, professional, and everything in between, it often feels as if our entire lives are centered around goals; and yet, far too often clients fail to properly communicate their goals with freelance writers.
Why?
I don’t want to place all of the blame on clients. In fact, I’m a firm believer that the conversation of strategic goals should be a two-way street. For every time a client doesn’t provide goals, there is a writer who fails to ask the simple yet all important question, “what is the point of this content marketing piece?” The latter question can make all of the difference between a piece of content that meets, fails, or exceeds expectations, which is the bread and butter of success here at WriterAccess (WA). Moving beyond a writer’s success at WA, the aforementioned question is a brilliant way to encourage clients to share their strategic goals.
Sharing Strategic Goals Is Critical To Content Marketing Success
Goals are the foundation (and come to think of it, glue) that holds a content marketing campaign together. Without goals, a content marketing campaign would be thrown together in the same way that you might toss everything into a crock-pot and hope that the end result is edible. While you might have some success with the latter formula, your ability to actually recreate your success is limited and the likelihood of failure is high. In this vein, strategic goals should not only be created they should be shared for the following three reasons.
- Strategic goals help a writer create amazing content. All freelance writers can meet the required word count. They can check off the boxes required to “hit submit” on an order. However, if you want writers to actually create content that is worthy of a share, then you need to tell them the goals of the piece. For example, a blog post that is written to help bolster SEO ranking on a certain phrase has a very different goal than a blog post that is meant to generate referrals from existing customers. Without knowing the specific a goal of the piece, your writer will be lost and might produce something that while well-written doesn’t effectively contribute to your overarching content marketing strategy.
- Strategic goals are directly tied to marketing success. Did you know that 62 percent of the most successful content marketers have a designated strategy that includes (you guessed it) goals. Sharing these goals with freelance writers can lead to increased levels of success. Not only can your writers better understand their intended audience, but they will be able to create content that promotes brand awareness, generates higher engagement levels, and leads to the desired conversion results.
- Strategic goals foster better working relationships. Choosing the right freelance writers to help your business grow is as important as building meaningful relationships with your chosen content creators. Through effective communication, you can create better working relationships with your writers. These improved relationships will in turn help your writers better understand your company, as well as strategic goals. Finally, when you build solid working relationships with your freelance writers, they will be better equipped to learn quickly, adapt their approaches as needed, and continuously propel your business forward towards heightened levels of success.
Content Marketing Success Stems From Clear Communications
At the end of the day, if you want your freelance writers to truly contribute to your content marketing success, then you need to share your strategic goals. Whether it is hopping on a quick conference call to discuss goals for the upcoming quarter, or including specific goals within the order instructions, through open and clear communications, you can give your writers the tools they need to help your business succeed. Remember, communication is a two-way street; for any writers reading this piece that means that if your client doesn’t tell you their strategic goals, then you shouldn’t be afraid to start the conversation by asking the simple yet all important question, “what is the point of this content marketing piece?”
Laura P has written 4,000+ articles, blog posts, product reviews, press releases, and website content for a multitude of clients. In the past 7 years, she has developed written, marketing, video, and web content for clients in the real estate, information technology, restaurant, auto, retail, equine sales, oil and gas, and public relations industries. Laura is highly proficient in SEO optimization, particularly in real estate and retail industries. She ghost wrote IT white papers, government contract task orders, RFIs, and RFPs that resulted in millions of dollars won. She has 7-years of experience working with and interviewing olympic athletes, small-business owners, CEOs, SMEs, and entrepreneurs on complex topics. As a professional writer, Laura strives to create content that is both meaningful and relatable to her readers.
