When a service produces great results, a word of mouth campaign is all that is needed to bring in new customers and keep the business expanding, right? On a small scale, yes. With more and more competition and in a world of social media and content strategy, not so much.
SoulCycle is a leading group of fitness advocates that has for the last decade or so relied heavily on its dedicated followers to advertise, spread the word and expand the community. The community, as they rightly call themselves, is huge so this method worked for a long time. However, in the last two years, they have been opening up new locations and new market areas and decided it was time to do a re-branding, or in this case a first time branding. When taking on this sort of task, it is important to start with writing content strategies.
What is Content Strategy?
For this part of your management plan, you will create and own your own media. Consider downloadable, visual and written content, as well as other new and unique material, in your content strategy. Content creation is of utmost importance. So when it comes to writing a content strategy, there are some main points to keep in mind.
- Think about who you are creating the content for.
- How will your content be unique?
- Decide what format you will be using.
- Where can you be published?
- How will you manage and schedule your work?
Develop a Strategy
You may be a seasoned content marketing user or just starting out. Wherever you are, it never hurts to refresh your game and take steps to improve your content strategy and update your content plan. Here are a few steps to consider when developing a content strategy.
Defined Goals
Be sure to have a defined goal. What do you want to accomplish? Why do you want or need a content marketing plan? Get all of your reasons and goals in line and your content strategy plan will fall into place.
Target Audience
Know your buyer persona, or targeted audience. When you clearly know who it is you are trying to reach you will have an easier time creating the right type of content.
A System
Create a content management system. Be sure to have a management system in place so nothing gets left behind or falls through the cracks. This is the difference between smooth operation and fumbling along.
Brand
Brainstorm new brand ideas and determine what kind of content you want to create. There are many different types of content from blogs and ebooks to infographics and podcasts. Knowing which type best suits your needs and continually coming up with new content ideas are going to keep people interested in you.
Publish
Publish and continue to manage your content. After everything is in place and your plan has been put into effect, it is time to spread the word and publish. Use your management plan to stay on top of your workload, incorporate different holidays to pull people in and you will be away to the races.
For SoulCycle, the time for change was at hand. With new management and new competition in the form of rock climbing groups and other social fitness groups, SoulCycle is looking to “elevate and evolve” its message to let everyone know of the changes and transformations that are taking place. They have created an ad that shows instructors and speakers asking key questions like “What motivates you, What drives you, What inspires you?” The focus is to help people tap into their internal greatness. With a strong content strategy plan and a family of die-hard group members behind them, SoulCycle is becoming a leader in social fitness groups.
