As a business, an entrepreneur, or even a content creator, at times, you never know what content you're missing out on that your audience is actually searching for while exploring your brand. Content gap analysis is here to help.
I have been a content creator for about three years now. Writing blogs, handling social media platforms, writing copies for them, working on sales projects, and so much more have been a part of my job role when I worked for a company. Now that I am an individual content creator, the pace might be different, but some of the issues more or less remain the same. What to write next, what's trending, which platform is on the rise, and many other questions are to be tackled daily. It all finally boils down to content.
I recently learned the concept of 'content gap analysis' in this semester's content marketing class. It was such an intriguing topic for me because that was the answer to the missing puzzle. The simple explanation for it is that you might not notice what next your audience is searching for, and content gap analysis helps with just that. It's the study of the audience's information expectations while they connect with your brand and comparing it with the current content, and finding the gaps. These gaps will tell you where you lack in terms of connecting with your audience. I found this blog by Search Engine Journey quite informative from the audience's journey perspective. When we see this from a business point of view, the customer's journey with the brand becomes a critical aspect of content gap analysis.
However, the main question is, 'how do we go about it?' This comprehensive guide on Medium beautifully explains the process of content gap analysis. It divides the process into five steps:
Identify the goals that you need to achieve.
Understand your target audience (Important: map out your customer journey).
Content Audit - What's your current content status?
Content Match - Place the current content status in the buyer's journey, and you'll understand where there are gaps in your content.
Competitor Content - Don't copy, but observe their touchpoints with the customers.
In the given process, one step follows the other, so you can't skip any of them. It might just look like five steps, but it's easier said than done. It's especially true when you've been creating content in a linear format. What I understood from my research is that no one customer journey is similar or linear. There are multiple aspects to it, and that's why there're many points of connection to the audience. We might not be present at every touchpoint, and even some unusual journeys might create new areas to make customer contact. That's why it's so easy to miss out on some of the topics that might interest your audience.
For businesses, there's a set of data that you can access to analyze, but for content creators, it's more about constant interaction with the audience. Why did a person follow you in the first place, and why do they continue to do so? Platform analytics helps to dig deep. Plus, there are so many tools developed to specifically help in the analysis. Although, you need to consider budget allocation for the same.
So, what happens next? Completing the process will give you a holistic view of the content gaps. Take them into consideration and come up with content that gives the right information to the right audience at the right time. Although, it's not limited to new content generation alone. As this article on Aherfs Academy suggests, content gap analysis can be helpful for a content refresh too. That means it'll help us to update our current content to comply with new, relevant information and versions. Lastly, we strategize how this new and refreshed content gets delivered to the audience and take the plan into action. With such a thorough outlook, results are sure to follow.
In the end, you just have to remember to regularly ask yourself, 'What does my audience want from me right now?'
Comments