Last year, we were all scrambling to implement a functional cookie consent banner and dealing with the resulting data loss. Larger companies invested in data analytics and worked on modelling the missing data, while the rest of us either didn’t enable the banners at all or simply accepted that Google Analytics could no longer be trusted. Here’s our takeaway from Data Restart 2022 — the leading data analytics conference — and what you can do about the cookie apocalypse right now.

Over the past 12 months, a number of ways to tackle the data drop have emerged and improved. Google Analytics 4, Server-side Google Tag Manager, Consent Rate measurement, Enhanced Conversions and Consent Mode for Google Ads, Conversion API for Facebook, and more.

Just when we e-shop managers started to breathe a little easier, data analysts began sounding the alarm again: for roughly the next three years, there will be a vacuum in which 3rd-party cookies (which we all rely on for ad targeting) disappear from browsers, while no systemic solution is ready to replace them — one that would let us keep serving relevant ads that customers appreciate and that generate revenue.

The ePrivacy Regulation, which is supposed to eliminate cookie banners and allow users to set preferences directly in their browser, won’t come into force until at least 2025.

That’s why I headed to Data Restart — organised by Taste Academy — as I do every year, to hear how the best data analysts in the Czech Republic are preparing for the data apocalypse.

I’m not a data analyst myself, and I’m not a developer either. I’m writing this summary for everyone in a similar position to mine. You’re responsible for online marketing and the performance of your entire marketing mix, but you don’t have developers on hand or the budget to hire a team of data analysts. Yet you still need to keep things running, because your business depends on online.

So let’s dive in 🙂

Less Customer Data, More Estimates

For the past 20 years, online marketers and data analysts have revelled in a data jungle. We measured everything, everyone, everywhere. There was so much data that you could easily create a campaign offering a free coffee with cake to all secondary school students who walked within 100 metres of your shop between Monday and Friday. We knew about our customers:

• which websites they visited
• what they did on those websites
• what they purchased
• what topics they liked reading about
• which devices they used to visit us
• what electronics they owned
• where they worked
• which shops and stores they visited
• what they did in their spare time
• ….

Those days are over (and, frankly, that’s a good thing). Since 2022, users have the right to choose whether we can track them on our websites or not. This simple mechanism means that media houses, despite their best efforts, are losing roughly 20% of their data, while e-shops can easily lose 50%.

Users express their preference via the so-called “cookie banner,” though soon it won’t just be about cookies — because their days are numbered too.

Technological Changes in Browsers — The End of Cookies

It started with ad blockers, which simply strip ads from websites and block the storage of 3rd-party cookies in the browser. Users install ad blockers proactively, and data professionals have more or less learned to live with them.

💡 What are 3rd-party cookies? Third-party cookies are cookies stored in your browser by a website other than the one you’re currently visiting. For example, cookies from advertising platforms (like Google) that use the cookie to track your activity across the websites where they run ads.

But browsers themselves have also started blocking 3rd-party cookies, which makes the problem much bigger. Firefox and Safari block 3rd-party cookies by default — this currently affects roughly 30% of web traffic, and that number will only grow, because it’s just a matter of time before other browsers, including Google Chrome, follow suit.

Due to the blocking of 3rd-party cookies, we’re losing data for remarketing, customer segmentation, and other marketing tools — without which, under the current setup of ad platforms, we should expect a significant drop in revenue.

Google Privacy Sandbox

Google keeps delaying the rollout of cookie blocking in Chrome because it’s searching for a replacement solution. In simple terms: how to continue profiling users without needing 3rd-party data. One of the approaches being considered is Google Privacy Sandbox in Google Chrome. The browser itself will continue collecting data, but it won’t send all of it to ad platforms. Instead, it will only provide them with a user profile (e.g. that the user is interested in Apple iPhones).

Czech Ad ID

In the Czech Republic, an alternative approach to profiling users without cookies is emerging. Two major Czech digital players — Seznam and CPEx — have jointly created and launched the Czech Ad ID project, which enables ad targeting without the need for cookies. Instead, matching will be based on email addresses. Sounds like 2000 all over again? And what about GDPR?

Anyone can join Czech Ad ID; the only requirement is to use one-way email hashing. You hash the customer’s email on your end and send it to Czech Ad ID, which stores the hash in a database. Over time, this builds up a customer profile that can be targeted through programmatic advertising.

Just as with other forms of tracking, you’ll still need the user’s consent for processing their data for marketing purposes (Hello, cookie banner!).

How to Tackle the Data Loss Right Now

As the volume and reliability of your data decline, your ad performance will drop too (at least according to the reports from ad platforms) — regardless of where or how much you’re spending. Let’s look at what you can do to rescue your data right now (apologies to the analysts out there, but no, the average e-shop definitely hasn’t deployed this full tool stack yet 🙃).

Deploy a Functional Cookie Banner

Let’s be honest: you don’t have a functional cookie banner, we don’t have a functional cookie banner… Until now, data was far too valuable to voluntarily give up by deploying a banner that users mindlessly dismiss.

A functional cookie banner means that no tracking fires on the website until the user explicitly gives their consent. We don’t track even when the user doesn’t refuse (i.e. they close the banner or ignore it).

Ad platforms are starting to require a functional banner, and you simply can’t get by without one anymore. At the conference, I heard several stories about Google blocking an entire Ads account because the e-shop wasn’t collecting user consents.

If you’re deploying Google Enhanced Conversions, Google now explicitly asks you to set up Google Consent Mode, which requires a properly implemented cookie banner.

💡How to deploy a cookie banner? Try Cookiebot. It costs around $50/month at most and includes everything you need. It’s what we use.

Set Up Google Ads Enhanced Conversions

If you’re using Shopify, WooCommerce, or another off-the-shelf e-commerce solution, setting up Google Enhanced Conversions is straightforward — you just need to add a token to the plugin. So what does it actually do?

Your e-shop sends hashed 1st-party data (customer information provided during checkout) to Google, which then matches it against its own data to calculate additional conversions. The result is a so-called lift — a percentage showing how many extra conversions Google attributed to your Google Ads campaigns.

The outcome is more accurate reporting, better conversion attribution, and improved data-driven ad optimisation. Use Enhanced Conversions alongside your standard Google Analytics tracking.

💡How to set up Google Enhanced Conversions? For example, via GTM.

Set Up Google Consent Mode

When you deploy a cookie banner, you should also set up Google Consent Mode at the same time. It’s an open API from Google that receives information about users’ consent or refusal of tracking. It can even utilise anonymised data from users who declined tracking. While you won’t see this data in Google Analytics, Google uses it for further modelling and data estimation.

💡How to set up Google Consent Mode? Check out this guide series from H1.cz (in Czech).

Deploy Facebook Conversion API

If you advertise on Facebook, make sure you’re using their Conversion API. It works similarly to Google Enhanced Conversions. You send order information to Facebook via an alternative route, independent of browser settings. This helps Facebook better attribute and calculate conversions.

CAPI is designed as a complement to the Meta Pixel, so ideally you should be sending data through both channels.

💡 How to deploy Facebook Conversion API? Read the article on cernovsky.cz (in Czech).

Measure Your Consent Rate

Deploying a cookie banner isn’t the end of the story. You need to measure the number of consents, the number of refusals, and the number of people who fall into the grey zone (neither consenting nor refusing). Together, these make up your Consent Rate.

You compare the number of page views with consent and divide it by the total number of page views. This tells you exactly how much data you’re actually losing in your analytics.

💡How to set up Consent Rate measurement? The team at Taste can help — they already have a ready-made tool for this.

Start Using Google Analytics 4

Yes! Deploy Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as soon as possible. You can run Universal Analytics (the current version of Google Analytics) and GA4 side by side, but start learning the new platform.

As of July 2023, Universal Analytics is being sunset and you’ll have no choice but to use GA4. GA4 takes a fundamentally different approach to measurement, and at first glance it may seem like you can’t find the information you’re used to seeing in UA. That’s partly true. Some data you see in UA simply won’t be measurable in the future, and GA4 doesn’t even account for it.

On the other hand, GA4 is designed to work with incomplete data. It uses algorithms to automatically model and estimate missing data. Once you’ve deployed a cookie banner, you’ll actually have higher-quality data in GA4 than you ever had in UA.

💡 How to get started with Google Analytics 4? Ideally, attend a training course. One of the best options is the GA4 Masterclass by Czech analytics expert Jan Tichý.

Deploy Server-Side Google Tag Manager

This option is more suited to those running e-shops on custom platforms with server access. By using Server-Side GTM, you theoretically don’t lose data due to cookie restrictions, because everything is tracked on the server side and isn’t dependent on browser settings.

Server-side data collection helps with modelling, because you can compare it against data captured by client-side tracking codes in Google Analytics. But remember — even for server-side tracking, you still need user consent, regardless of whether you’re sending the data anywhere or not.

Make Logging In More Attractive

The data you collect about customers in your own CRM system will become increasingly valuable, and you’ll need to feed it into advertising platforms (like Czech Ad ID or similar initiatives). Your job is to figure out how to encourage users to hand over their contact details (email or phone number). You want as many people as possible to log in on your website. Here are a few ideas:

• a shopping basket that syncs across devices
• saved sizes on fashion e-shops
• members-only sections with exclusive content or offers

CRM in a Cookieless World

Customer data has always been important, but measurement challenges (and the rising ad costs that come with them) are pushing marketers to embrace the “less glamorous” communication channels — especially working with their customer database. Honestly, when was the last time you called a customer to thank them for their order?

💡What is CRM (= Customer Relationship Management)? A CRM is any tool where you collect customer data. It could be a spreadsheet, your e-commerce platform, an email marketing tool…

Your CRM is a goldmine of information waiting to be tapped. If you connect the data correctly, you can find out — even without cookies:

• Which channels are bringing in new customers
• What made customers register with you
• Who your most loyal customers are
• Why customers leave, and what to offer them

Within your CRM, you can segment customers (by purchased items, purchase frequency, order value, etc.) and create audiences from those segments that you can target with specific campaigns (display advertising, email marketing, phone outreach, etc.).

• I’d recommend starting with an audit of your email marketing, which I consider a low-hanging fruit for most e-shops — an opportunity to earn more money with minimal effort.
• To evaluate an email campaign, you don’t need to rely on web analytics. Discount coupon usage can be reliably measured within your CRM database.
• Have a reactivation email campaign but people aren’t opening the emails? Take that segment, export the data to Facebook/Google, and try delivering the same message via paid advertising.
• Look after your top customers. You can personally call them on their birthday and ask what would make them happy.
• You can call customers who haven’t bought from you in over a year — not to sell, just to ask why they stopped shopping with you.
• Set up email automation (or make phone calls) targeting customers who placed a high-value order but haven’t collected it from the pickup point, risking a return.

List and Measure All Customer / Subscriber Sources

You’ll probably be surprised by the sheer number of ways customers and contacts end up in your database. Write down all the sources, review them, and optimise where possible (add incentives, etc.). Here are the typical ways customers enter the system:

During a website visit

• newsletter sign-up in the footer
• newsletter sign-up via pop-up
• newsletter sign-up from a promotional offer

During checkout

• guest checkout with newsletter opt-in
• account registration during purchase

From campaigns

• newsletter sign-up from a Facebook campaign

Offline

• in-store registration
• sign-up via offline competition at a trade fair

There are many more registration methods, and you’ll work with each source differently. Next, find out how you’re currently handling each group and whether anything can be improved. For example:

• Are you tagging the source of each contact in your database?
• What newsletters are they receiving?
• What onboarding campaigns are running for them?
• Do they have their own sales funnel?
• What do you want to do with them going forward?

Consolidate All Your Data in One Place

Choose a system where you’ll centralise your data. I use Ecomail for this, for example. What do you know about your customers that you can leverage in campaigns? Things like:

• gender
• name
• email
• phone number
• name day, birthday
• registration date
• registration source
• reason for registration
• product categories purchased
• specific products purchased
• purchase frequency
• order value
• email engagement, etc.

And then experiment. ☺️ The possibilities for leveraging your database are practically endless. You’ll find plenty of tips in our Ecomail review and in our article with 18 practical email campaign tips.

There was much more covered at the conference. For those interested, I’ve included a list of all the presentations available for download below. Don’t forget to sign up for next year’s edition 😉

Conference Presentations

• Jan Tichý: Keynote: Analytics Is Dead. Long Live Analytics!
• Pavel Jašek: How to Run Performance Marketing With Imperfect Data
• Dominik Kosorin & Lukáš Šmol: Czech Ad ID
• Radek Kupr: Consent Rate — How We Solved the Data Drop
• Marina Mchedlishvili: How to Build Strong Data Strategies in a Post-Cookie Era
• Tomáš Bouma: Data Mesh and Personalisation Use Cases in Practice
• Hana Bartoňková & Vojtěch Říha: How Much Does One Article Earn? Connecting Web Analytics With Advertising
• Linda Appeltauer: CRM in a Cookieless World: Opportunities and Pitfalls
• Roman Appeltauer: Activating First-Party Data With SGTM
• Michal Schejbal: Data Transfers to Third Countries Outside the EU
• David Voráček: Preparing a Media House for the Post-Third-Party-Cookie Era
• David Janoušek: Performance Campaigns During the Cookie Apocalypse

Summaries From Other Sources and Agencies

• Data Restart summary by Digiamo

Although email marketing is not as sexy and trendy as, for example Influencer marketing , it still proves to be one of the most stable and profitable tools that any business or brand should invest in.

Why? Email is one of the best and cheapest ways to communicate with your customers. Looking at our client statistics, email marketing has long been the most effective remarketing tool, costing the company only our time and earning clients millions per month.

A marketing channel for a few thousand that makes millions

For our clients, email marketing accounts for 15-30% of their total turnover. It is no exception that in an e-shop with 40,000 active customers, we can achieve tens of millions of CZK in turnover through mailing. It all depends on the number of customers (e-mailing is mainly a remarketing tool) and the segment of products the e-shop offers.

The big advantage over PPC ads, product comparators or social media ads is that the financial investment in functional emailing is negligible compared to the revenue generated.

💡 We have the best experience with the Czech tool Ecomail which is quite affordable. You pay only for the number of active contacts, in the case of a 30,000 database it comes out to 3,750 CZK per month, without limitation on the number of sent emails.

Whereas with PPC and other ads you have to pay for the specialist’s time and the cost of the ad, with e-mail marketing you only pay for the specialist’s time and any marketing promotions, such as a 100 CZK discount on the first purchase. This means that Email marketing, which can earn you several million a month, can cost you only a few thousand crowns.

How to do effective email marketing

Now we’ll look at the tips and tricks that can make your email marketing the most profitable sales channel for your online store, business or brand.

1) Properly selected email sending tool

Using the right tool for sending emails is absolutely key. You should choose a tool that can be well connected with your e-shop, Facebook but also Google Analytics. Without a good connection to your e-shop you won’t be able to create the most important mail campaign, the abandoned cart. Without proper measurement, you can’t evaluate whether your campaigns are effective.

The tool should be able to A/B test both subject and content and create automated campaigns. We’ve tried a number of tools, such as Mailchimp and Active Campaign, but in the end we’re moving all our clients to Ecomail.

If you’re hesitant to make the switch, go for it, you won’t regret it. We also consider it a great advantage that Ecomail is Czech and therefore has available technical support during working hours.

2) Actively collect contacts in accordance with the law

The most important thing is to collect new contacts and the most effective way is to contact for a discount (for example, a discount of 100 CZK on the first purchase) or for downloading the so-called. magnet. A magnet can be a PDF with a cookbook, for example, or a guide to building a home hydroponics system.

Of course, you also collect contacts when you place orders in the e-shop, but the buyer must agree to receive marketing communications.

There are also more sophisticated ways of collecting emails that can bring you more relevant leads. For example, if you sell things for the garden, you can entice people to sign up for a multi-week email course on gardening, growing vegetables, propagating houseplants, etc. If you sell marketing courses, you can offer an email course on Facebook advertising.

3) Set up your most important automation – abandoned cart

The basic automation is an abandoned cart. We recommend setting it up directly in Ecomail or in another emailing tool, rather than directly in the e-shop (Shoptet can do this, for example). Abandoned basket set up in Ecomail has saved us more than 1100 orders for one client in one year.

4) Send newsletters regularly, but don’t overwhelm

Only send newsletters when you have something to say and never overwhelm your contacts. What should you write to people? You should definitely not forget to send news, monthly promotions or weekly discounts if you run them on your e-shop. Send newsletters in accordance with your content strategy .

5) Only send people content that interests them

Create automations with content that specific people are interested in. Segment your people based on their interests and behaviour on your e-commerce site so that you only send them content that they might be interested in.

For example, don’t forget to automatically send a reminder to customers when it’s time to get spare parts for a device they’ve purchased. If you are selling more complex products, please remember to send instructions by email.

If they buy garden tools or seeds from you, send them tips on what to plant when. Do they buy cosmetics? Create emails with tips on how to take care of your skin.

6) Create meaningful automations and update them according to results

The biggest power in email marketing is in the automations because you only set them up once. Then you just edit them according to how people react to them. You can do automations on people who buy products for bodybuilders, for yogis or for coffee lovers, depending on what e-shop or website you run.

If you create interesting content, people will not only read it, but they will also build a better relationship with your brand and are more likely to purchase the products you recommend in the email.

7) Use verbs or action words in the subject

The subject should be strong enough to attract attention. Thus, it is recommended to use verbs that evoke emotion or action, such as “buy”, “end”, “don’t miss”, “won’t” and “congratulations”. Action words such as “today only”, “discount” and ” important“ also work .

8) Try emoticons 😍

Although many email marketing experts try to avoid emoticons because they can reduce deliverability, they can increase open rates by up to 57%. It is therefore a good idea to experiment with emoticons in the A/B test, but always test the version with emoticons and the version without to see how much it changes deliverability and open rate.

9) Experiment with numbers and statistics

People love statistics and numbers. So put numbers and statistics in the subject line whenever you can.

• 25% discount today only.
• 90% of people love this coffee.

10) Try to arouse people’s curiosity

People are naturally curious and you can take great advantage of this in email marketing. Just lure them in and don’t give away the point in the introductory text, for example:

• “Reproducing a monster is easier than you thought.”
• “You probably didn’t know that about poodles.”
• “Danger to children lurking in your home”.

11) Use preview text

Most email clients display not only the subject, but also the so-called. “preview text” or preview text. If you are using Ecomail, it is very easy to edit this text to add information to the object. So don’t forget to make the most of it.

12) Don’t forget the CTA – call to action button

There should always be at least one call-to-action button(buy, download, read) in the email. Buttons should be red. Don’t experiment, red works best according to all studies. Use the red buttons on banners and in emails. They work better. Period.

When we have a brandbook developed for clients, we always want to develop a red one to use for CTA buttons and actions. The red one simply attracts people the most, and those who don’t have it lose out.

13) Write simply and clearly – good copy is essential

Proper copy is essential, sell with a story or a joke, but be clear, understandable and concise. People are not supposed to read long texts. Therefore, at the beginning, in the first paragraph, say the most important thing. Write texts in accordance with your Tone of Voice .

14) Personalise your content

Refer to people by the first name under which they registered for your e-shop. This can be done very easily in Ecomail , but also with other email marketing tool providers. Send different offers to men and women. Create mailings based on what they click on and what they buy from your e-shop.

15) Test your email subject line and content

A/B testing is extremely important when creating an email. Try different verbs or test the use of emoticons in the subject. Never send an email without testing the subject line or another content option.

16) Control what you send

One of the biggest mistakes is sending an email without first checking how it looks on both desktop and phone. Check the functionality of links, loading images and other elements, and formatting.

17) Set up reactivation campaigns

Set up a reactivation campaign for customers who haven’t purchased in a long time. Haven’t they bought from you in six months or a year? Send them a discount automatically.

18) Lubricate dead contacts

Haven’t purchased from you in a year, haven’t clicked or opened any emails, and haven’t responded to your reactivation campaign? Delete them. There’s no point in paying for a contact (you pay email marketing tools by the number of contacts or emails sent) who doesn’t respond. Seriously, don’t worry about it and don’t spend more than you have to.

Need help with email marketing?

Contact us . Although we cannot guarantee that we will have the space to take you on as a new client, we are always happy to find time for a consultation. We’ll be happy to review your current emailing and suggest automations or ways to collect new leads.

Back in 1996, Bill Gates famously declared that “content is king.” Nearly three decades later, that statement rings truer than ever. High-quality content marketing is one of the best investments you can make for your brand. It increases brand awareness, builds credibility, and — most importantly — great content marketing tips put into practice will generate more revenue than any paid advertising campaign.

A well-crafted blog post or informational video can keep earning for years without requiring ongoing investment. Let’s dive into what content marketing really involves and how to do it effectively.

What Is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a marketing strategy focused on creating, publishing, and distributing relevant, valuable content for a target audience. The ultimate goal, of course, is to increase sales or other conversions that the marketer is tracking.

Content marketing encompasses not just the creation of quality content, but also its planning and distribution across all marketing channels.

Content marketing is used to acquire new customers, expand brand awareness, and naturally boost conversions. Through content marketing, you build a customer base and increase customer loyalty. It’s also a brilliant tool for establishing brand credibility.

Types of Content Marketing

• Blog articles
• Informational websites
• Product and informational videos
• Infographics
• Podcasts
• Social media posts
• Newsletters
• E-books and books
• Informational brochures
• Influencer marketing (partially)

Why Should You Invest in Content Marketing?

You might be wondering — is content marketing really worth the effort? In 2019, we took on a client in the health and nutrition space. Without spending a single penny on PPC or Facebook ads, we managed to drive 50,000 visitors to their website in the first year of creating quality content alone. That’s modest, sure — but look at what happened next: in the second year, traffic jumped to 350,000 visits, and by the third year, the company blog was pulling in nearly 470,000 visitors. How many blog posts did we produce? Just 2–4 per month, sometimes even fewer.

Of course, creating content that actually gets read isn’t easy. You also need to understand the basics of copywriting, SEO, and link building. Writing a high-quality article is usually just the first of several steps you need to take to lay the groundwork for organic traffic.

TIP 💡: Want to learn how to write articles that earn money and drive traffic, step by step — plus get a sample brief for copywriters? Check it out on our Patreon.

30 Content Marketing Tips for a Winning Strategy

Creating content sounds simple enough, but if you do it without a clear plan, you can end up spending a fortune on copywriters and social media specialists with nothing to show for it. Here are 30 content marketing tips to keep in mind when building your strategy.

1) Develop a Content Strategy

Creating a solid content strategy should be the springboard for effective content marketing. It’s typically the first thing we build with our clients. For it to work well, it needs input from company leadership, an SEO specialist, and a content marketing specialist.

A content strategy lays out a thematic plan (blog, newsletters, social media), outlines the topics you should cover, and tells you which channels to use for each.

It also includes a publishing calendar with key dates, seasonal topics, and events. With a well-crafted content strategy, you should never find yourself stuck wondering what to write about or what content to create.

If you’re putting together a content strategy for the first time, tools like ChatGPT can also lend a hand.

2) Set Realistic Goals

With content marketing, the results of some activities won’t show up immediately — it can take several months. While the ultimate goal is usually to increase conversions or traffic, a better initial target is to define the path you want to take rather than fixating on a specific number that would be more guesswork than a realistic estimate.

For example, you might decide that:

• You want to publish 35 articles according to your thematic plan over the next year,
• Create two email automations focused on the core topics of your business,
• And produce four informational videos that help people solve the problems they most commonly face.

3) Define Your Brand’s Tone of Voice

Tone of voice refers to the way your brand communicates. Smaller companies often overlook this, thinking it’s unnecessary because everyone already knows how the brand sounds.

Setting a consistent communication tone is a foundational pillar of content strategy and is crucial for building a unified brand identity. A consistent tone of voice should run through customer support, email marketing, social media, and blog posts alike. It helps align your advertising copy with what you write on your website and how you interact with customers. Everyone in your organisation should know your tone of voice.

4) Conduct a Content Audit

Before you start creating content based on your new strategy, run a content audit. This means evaluating the content you already have. Find out what’s working, what just needs a refresh, and what hasn’t delivered results. A content audit gives you specific recommendations for improving or reworking your texts, videos, social media posts, and web pages. This will help you work much more efficiently.

5) Create Buyer Personas

A persona represents your ideal customer. You need to identify what problems your customer is trying to solve. Where do they typically live, what are their hobbies, what’s their income, and what do they want your products to deliver? If you sell a fairly wide range of products, you may have several different personas.

You might have passionate mountaineers who research every piece of gear down to the last detail and compare every specification. But you might also have busy city professionals who hit the mountains a few times a year and don’t want to wade through specs — they just want to buy the best gear that also looks great.

If you have a wide product range, one of your customer segments might also include those who love the outdoors but need the most affordable gear, whether because they’re thrifty or simply can’t justify the cost of premium equipment.

These personas don’t need to be deeply complex, but they help you step into your typical customers’ shoes. How do you figure them out? By analysing the questions people ask your customer support team, what they search for (via SEO analysis), and even through UX analysis that reveals how they navigate your e-shop or what they look for on your blog. Smartlook is a fantastic tool for this.

Marketing textbooks often make persona creation sound like a deep, involved process where you need to imagine your ideal customer’s dreams, appearance, and wardrobe.

Some people even like to sketch their persona. Sure, go ahead — but what really matters is knowing who your customer is (outdoor enthusiast / stay-at-home parent) and what problems your typical customer most commonly faces (I have allergies — what’s the best air purifier?). Where they work may not be relevant (allergy sufferers work in offices, warehouses, and boardrooms alike). Unless, of course, you sell workwear or professional tools.

6) Do a Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis doesn’t just mean browsing your competitors’ websites and social media to see what content they’re producing. A thorough competitor analysis also includes an SEO component, typically prepared by an SEO specialist, that tells you which keywords your competitors are ranking for in search engines.

7) Involve Your Customer Support Team

When building your content strategy, make sure to involve your customer support team. This means your support staff should be logging the questions (along with answers) that people ask — particularly those whose answers can’t be found on your website. It’s also worth tracking frequently asked questions (though we don’t mean things like “when will my parcel arrive”).

Both types of queries can uncover interesting topics for content creation, and sometimes they even reveal poor website structure.

8) Work With Keyword Research

Keyword research is a content strategist’s best friend. Just keep in mind that whoever works with the keyword data should understand how to use it and how it was compiled.

“We had keyword research done by this SEO specialist, but it was a complete waste of money” — that’s the kind of review you’ll find online, and it’s exactly why some SEO specialists, ourselves included, refuse to deliver keyword research without a training session on how to use it.

Getting a list of keywords related to your business from an SEO specialist is just the starting point. Simply stuffing them everywhere on your site probably won’t make any difference.

After keyword research, you need to develop a content plan and a publishing schedule. The content plan may include suggestions on where and how to incorporate keywords (for example, by rewriting product descriptions), while the publishing schedule tells you which topics to cover in articles or video content.

9) Prioritise Content With the Greatest Business Potential

When creating content, always remember to prioritise the topics that can generate the most revenue.

Choose based on three criteria. If you’re creating content to sell products, the primary criterion should be profit margin (how much you earn per sale).

The second is search volume for relevant keywords, and the third factor is how competitive the topic is. Or, as an SEO specialist would put it: “How difficult is it to rank for this particular phrase?” In other words, how strong is the content your competitors have already published on this topic.

10) Keep a Functional Marketing Calendar

It’s essential to have a functional marketing calendar. Personally, after years of working in this field, the tool that’s served me best is a marketing calendar in Google Sheets. I have a slightly different version for each client, tailored to their needs. The key is that everyone on the team can understand it.

I’ve tried several — perhaps even dozens — of paid tools before ultimately coming back to good old shared spreadsheets. I’ve been using them since at least 2017 and have gradually moved all my marketing activities into them.

💡 You can create your marketing calendar (content plan) from scratch, or save 1–2 hours and download the template we’ve prepared for you.

11) Keep Your Content Simple and Clear

Even if you’re an expert in your field, never forget that whatever you create — whether it’s a blog post, video, or podcast — should be understandable to everyone. Create content like a journalist: clear and straightforward, so that anyone can grasp your message. Keep this in mind every single time you produce content.

12) Invest in Link Building

Link building is the practice of acquiring links to your website from other websites. In SEO jargon, these are called backlinks.

Earning backlinks from high-quality websites can pass authority to your site and help you rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Advanced link building often requires hiring a specialist, but you can secure plenty of links on your own.

Sometimes it’s as simple as reaching out to your suppliers and asking if they can add a link with your logo to their website. You can also provide content for other websites in exchange for backlinks.

Link building is extremely important for search engines because Google and Bing (among others) use backlinks to assess which pages are relevant and trustworthy. The more authoritative pages can then rank higher in search results.

However, be cautious when hiring a link builder. Some link-building tactics provide zero benefit and can actually harm your site’s performance in search engines. Search engines can detect artificially created backlinks to a certain extent, and their official guidelines recommend against actively acquiring links. Fortunately, a good SEO specialist can assess this for you.

13) Set Up Email Automations

Email remains one of the most powerful remarketing tools out there. For our clients with 60,000–70,000 contacts in their database, we can easily generate monthly revenue well above €40,000 through email marketing alone.

With email automations, you can take things even further.

If you sell vinyl records, for instance, you could create an email automation for fans of 70s music (specifically those who’ve already purchased this type of music from you), sending them interesting facts about Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, and Queen. Alongside the engaging content — period photographs, behind-the-scenes stories, and even stats — you’d also include tips on vinyl records they can buy.

You can build dozens of email sequences like this. If you sell garden tools, you can send seasonal tips on how to care for the garden.

The beauty of email automations is that once you set them up properly, they run virtually forever. We’ve tested numerous mailing tools, and among the best are:

• Mailchimp (a solid all-rounder),
• Ecomail (great for the European market),
• MailerLite (especially good for bloggers),
• and ActiveCampaign, which is excellent too, though it can be quite robust for smaller businesses.

14) Brainstorm as a Team

As the saying goes, two heads are better than one — and your employees and colleagues are a goldmine of topics and insights. During regular team meetings, discuss the topics planned for the coming month and invite opinions. Encourage your colleagues and team members to get involved in brainstorming content ideas. You’ll be surprised at how many article and video ideas suddenly surface.

15) Update Your Existing Content

Some topics will be more crucial for your business than others. Focus on those, and if your content isn’t performing, try updating it. Did you write a guide on how to fix a washing machine a year ago, but nobody’s reading it?

Try refreshing it. Run a competitor analysis, review the keyword research with an SEO specialist, and get advice on what you could improve.

Perhaps your guide is too brief, has an unappealing headline, or your competitors simply have far more backlinks pointing to their version.

16) Conduct Interviews

When you’re running low on topic ideas, start doing interviews with people in your industry. You can also interview your own employees.

If you sell outdoor clothing, for example, you could interview one of your cycling experts about what to look for when choosing a tent, sleeping bag, and other gear for a multi-day bikepacking trip.

17) Create Webinars

Do you have a digital product — like an online course? Host webinars where you teach people one chapter from the course, for example. Always pick one of the most compelling topics to attract the largest audience possible. Record your webinar with a quality camera and microphone so you can repurpose the content on YouTube later.

18) Interlink Your Content

Whatever type of content you create, don’t forget to include links to other relevant pages, articles, and products. If you’re writing about how to choose a tent and you have an e-shop selling tents, make sure to link from your products to that article. Don’t forget to add links within the article to other relevant pieces too — like a guide to choosing a sleeping bag or a fascinating interview with someone who climbed Mount Everest.

Likewise, from a video about choosing a tent, always link not just to your tents but also to any related article. Some people watch the video but then want to read more. And of course, the reverse is true as well.

19) Repurpose One Piece of Content Across Multiple Channels

Written a detailed article about how to replace a vacuum filter? Don’t forget to turn that content into a video as well. You could also create a simple photo-based graphic for Pinterest. Then you might shorten the article into an email automation for everyone who’s purchased that vacuum, timed to land in their inbox exactly when it’s time to replace the filter.

If you’ve written an article on how to save money while travelling, you can turn the text into a video, record an audio version for a podcast, and then cut the video into shorter clips for social media.

20) Spend Time on Your Headlines

The title of a video, article, or email (subject line) is the very first thing people notice. That’s why it’s extremely important to craft a headline that grabs attention. Instead of “Summer Tents,” try using a verb or a number in your headline — for example, “10 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Summer Tent.“

21) Structure Your Content

Whether you’re creating a social media post, blog article, or video, always aim to structure your content well.

On social media, you can use emojis for this. In articles, don’t forget a table of contents, and on YouTube, use video chapters.

In Facebook groups and on your website, you can also use bold text to make content more scannable for readers.

22) Put Effort Into Metadata and Descriptions

Writing a quality article, creating an infographic, shooting a photo series, or producing a video is really just the first part of the job. The tasks that follow often take even longer.

For articles, never forget to fill in the social sharing fields on your website. For photos, take time to name image files according to what they depict and add alt descriptions.

On social media, use relevant hashtags and location tags. On YouTube, don’t forget to add cards and other elements that help interlink your content.

It might seem like tedious work, and it probably annoys many of you — but these are precisely the details that can make a difference in search engine rankings.

23) Don’t Forget Quality Visuals and Photos

Once you’ve prepared great content, make sure you also create compelling visuals to go with it. This means preparing a cover image for your YouTube video, a featured image for your article, and images optimised for sharing on social media.

Don’t forget to break up longer articles and guides with quality photographs — this is standard practice nowadays, and without it, your content may not perform as well as it should. Over the past year, Instagram has dominated social media, and Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing platforms — both channels that thrive on strong visuals.

24) Leverage User Reviews

Do you have glowing reviews for your services or products? Use them in articles, email marketing, and social media posts. Reviews also work brilliantly in ads and Pinterest pins.

25) Choose the Right Button Colours

I’ll keep this simple: if you’re adding a call-to-action button to an article or email (e.g. “Buy Now” or “Read More”), make it red.

According to every study we’ve come across, red significantly outperforms other colours. When your designer is working on your brand identity, make sure they create an ideal shade of red that complements your brand colours.

26) Be Honest About Negatives Too

Do your services have downsides? Is there something users should watch out for when using your product? Don’t shy away from the negatives when creating content. People appreciate honesty about a product.

27) Evaluate Your Results

As we mentioned earlier, some activities won’t show results for several months. So if you’ve started creating content for your website, wait at least six months before evaluating its effectiveness.

Email sequences are a different story — there, it depends more on the size of your database, or whether you decide to promote the content through PPC advertising. If you find that you’ve written 20 articles but only three are driving meaningful traffic to your site, that’s perfectly normal.

Just make sure to audit the underperforming articles and try to optimise them. Consistent, dedicated effort always pays off in the long run.

28) Monitor Your Content and Links

There are tools that can help you check whether your pages contain broken links. Even so, you should periodically review older content and update it where needed. You can do this as part of your regular content interlinking routine.

29) Recycle Your Content

Keep track of which content performed well and don’t be afraid to recycle it — whether in email campaigns or on social media.

Very few people remember content they saw on social media a year ago, and if it was successful, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. For your own peace of mind, you can tweak it slightly. But never write a brand-new article on the same topic — instead, expand and improve the original.

30) Promote Your Content Smartly

Written a brilliant piece about how to choose a lawnmower, but can’t wait until winter for it to start ranking? Don’t beat yourself up for not writing it last winter — instead, coordinate with a PPC specialist to start promoting it now.

Sure, that means the traffic won’t be free, but for content that has the potential to generate revenue, paid promotion makes perfect sense.