What are the steps for creating a content marketing strategy for your dealership?

2 Know your audience

The next step is to know who you are creating content for. Who are your ideal customers? What are their pain points, challenges, needs, interests, and preferences? How do they search for information, make decisions, and buy cars? You can use various methods to research your audience, such as surveys, interviews, analytics, social media, and customer feedback. You can also create buyer personas, which are fictional representations of your ideal customers, to help you tailor your content to their needs and goals.

3 Choose your content types

The third step is to choose what types of content you will create and distribute. There are many options to choose from, such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, ebooks, infographics, webinars, newsletters, case studies, testimonials, and more. The best content types for your dealership depend on your goals, audience, budget, and resources. You should also consider the buyer's journey, which is the process your customers go through from awareness to consideration to decision. You should create content that matches each stage of the buyer's journey and helps your customers move closer to a purchase.

4 Create a content calendar

The fourth step is to create a content calendar, which is a plan that outlines what content you will create, when you will create it, and how you will distribute it. A content calendar helps you organize your content marketing activities, ensure consistency and quality, and avoid missing deadlines. You can use tools like Google Calendar, Trello, or CoSchedule to create and manage your content calendar. You should also include details such as the title, format, topic, keywords, audience, goal, and call to action of each piece of content.

5 Produce and distribute your content

The fifth step is to produce and distribute your content. This is where you turn your ideas into reality and share them with your audience. You should follow best practices for creating engaging, informative, and optimized content that meets your audience's needs and expectations. You should also use various channels to distribute your content, such as your website, blog, social media, email, online forums, and paid ads. You should also leverage your existing customers, partners, and influencers to amplify your content reach and impact.

6 Analyze and optimize your content

The final step is to analyze and optimize your content. This is where you measure the performance of your content marketing and see how it aligns with your goals and KPIs. You should use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and social media analytics to track and evaluate your content metrics, such as traffic, views, shares, comments, leads, conversions, and revenue. You should also use feedback, comments, and reviews to understand your audience's satisfaction and engagement. Based on your analysis, you should identify what works and what doesn't, and make adjustments and improvements to your content strategy accordingly.