Content marketing is a proven, reliable way to generate interest in your business, create leads, and climb Google's page rankings. Websites that put the extra effort into creating useful, informative content that resonates with their customers are going to be the sites that matter, the ones that stand out among the competition.

But, before you dive headlong into writing blogs and developing content there are a few things to consider. If you want your content marketing campaign to produce the best results, you need to prepare for it. 

Remember, content marketing isn't about churning out whatever is cheap and easy. You want to create something that will have value for your audience, something that is genuinely informative and helpful. You have to give your audience a reason to care. A reason to click that share button and tell their friends. A reason to believe that your business knows what its talking about, that you're an authority in your field.

To do that, you need to know what they care about.

Spend some time in the planning stages of your content marketing campaign to figure out your audience. Do a tour of the most popular blogs in your industry and look at what kind of articles people are commenting on, and which are gathering cobwebs. Keep an eye on social media circles, look at what is being shared or discussed. Tap into those ideas and think about them when your writing your own articles and blogs. 

No, this doesn't mean "rip off the big blogs.” Repeating the same things all the other sites are doing isn't going to help get you noticed. What you should be doing is identifying common themes and topics found in the most successful content and examining them critically to figure out why they resonate with your audience. Once you understand that, you can write fresh, original content that will have the same impact as the big boys.

Your not striving to write the next great Canadian novel with your marketing content, but that doesn't mean you should take shortcuts either. You should always try to keep the quality of your content high. This might seem obvious, but it can be more difficult to accomplish than you think. When you're months or even years into a content campaign and the idea bucket is running low, when you're stressed out and behind on other work only to look at the calendar and realize "shoot, this is a blog day isn't it?” you're going to be tempted to phone it in. To dash off some quick one-paragraph "blog” that reads more like an ambitious tweet and call it a day.

Don't do that. The quality of your work is what establishes your brand as an authority. Writing junk content just to satisfy a schedule or give the illusion of activity will only undermine what you're trying to accomplish in the long run. While it's important to be consistent and publish regularly, quality should always be the top priority. 

A great way to keep yourself honest is to picture yourself reading your blog or article to a member of your audience. Imagine a reasonably informed customer sitting across from you as you read to them. Would you be embarrassed by what you're saying? Is the writing sub-par? Is your topic boring them to tears? Or is the point your trying to make so obvious that it feels like you're patronizing them? If so, toss it in the bin and try again.

Content marketing is work. People like to write it off as an easy afterthought, a little side project they can pick at now and then when it suits them. But, if that's the way you're going to go about your content marketing campaign, you might as well not even bother. Content marketing works, but it takes real effort to see results.

Be realistic about the time it takes to create quality content. If you plan on doing the writing yourself, this means scheduling it into your day like any other task. If not, then you need to set aside time for a staff member to work on it, or look for a freelancer who can reliably deliver content on a regular basis. 

Even if you have the writing end of things down, there are still going to be cases where you may need to seek outside help. You may need a visual designer to help with infographics or custom images for a particularly important article. If you plan on incorporating video into your content, you may need the assistance of a producer.

Like anything else in business, what you get out of content marketing will depend on what you put in. Starting your content marketing campaign with an idea of what kind of resources you're prepared to dedicate towards it and what you hope to achieve will help structure your efforts and keep you honest.