A successful marketing content lifecycle is all about nurturing. Not just with your leads, but your content too. Unfortunately many companies approach their content marketing with a "one and done" approach. This is not how successful marketers garner engagement. It's imperative to understand where content begins, how to share it to receive maximum traction and when to invest in curating and generating new material. Once you understand your marketing content lifecycle you'll know what content is worthy of nurturing and recognize what flops. After all, there's no sense in planting a content seed if you don't know how it will grow and what to do when it sprouts.

Content is born

If you don't have your content calendar on your mind all work hours of the day, consider re-prioritizing. Before you even think about content assignments, do your due diligence with a content inventory.

As explained on Salesforce's blog, "Content audits help companies find out what's working, what's not, what to scrap, and what new pieces to create. They're all about getting answers to important questions about content performance. They help to better understand user behaviour as it pertains to content, helping prioritize where a company needs to improve."

Here are a few things to consider when coming up with new content ideas, and ways to maximize your resources:

Timing: Are you taking advantage of upcoming events and company news? Before you start recycling old news, make sure you're giving relevant news some life.

Trending: Naturally you'll be sharing content that relates to company news. However, don't forget that your audience is searching for trending, relevant content. Always be listening to industry trends and make an effort to thoughtfully get on the bandwagon.

Timing is key with content promotion

Once you've curated a content calendar the time has come to promote. Not only do you have to place your content in front of the right eyes, but you have to ensure that it will be circulated for days, weeks and maybe even months to come. People are busy, and you have to build that awareness into your content marketing strategy.

"Resharing content multiple times extends the lifecycle of content marketing as each share starts a new lifecycle," notes Angela Hausman in her Business 2 Community post, Lifecycle of Content Marketing.

As you are granting your content the visibility it deserves, you can also honestly gauge its popularity. If a post isn't successful after its first share, you can't truly know if its because of timing or the content itself. You may be surprised to see that a different day of the week can make all the difference. Also consider that if a piece of content is timeless, it can be shared for a few extra weeks. As you travel along your content's journey of being shared, make note of its successes and failures. You may learn that certain social platforms or forums suit particular types of content better than others.

On the other hand, try to think outside of the box when using certain channels. Sites like Pinterest are increasingly being used by B2Bs. At one point there was a pioneering company who took that risk and built the bridge for other companies to cross. Your content won't promote itself, so take advantage of the technology and social mediums available to you!

The content promotion epilogue

Once your content has been promoted and scheduled, the day is not over. There's analyzing and responding to tend to. Lessons are learned at the end of a piece of content's lifecycle. Whether it be tapping into an audience on a new social platform, or sparking a dialogue with an influencer, the content lifecycle is a learning process not just for a marketing team but for an entire company.

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