Content marketing starts with a strategy

Every business dreams of having reliable streams of qualified leads, seamless user journeys, and the high-quality content to turn leads into customers. This is the story of how Sodexo—a multinational employing thousands—built its first content marketing strategy from the ground up.

Sodexo, a global leader in food services and facilities management, had ambitious goals to modernise its marketing function and deepen its connection with prospective clients. Yet, the company lacked a structured, scalable approach to content marketing—one that could generate qualified leads, align with the buyer journey, and provide clear ROI.

In my role as Digital Content Manager, I helped Sodexo build a content marketing strategy from scratch. The mission: design a clear, goal-oriented roadmap that would help the global marketing team create and distribute high-value content, at scale.

Set Clear Goals

The team first identified what the content should achieve: lead generation, brand awareness, and thought leadership. We translated these into measurable KPIs—such as organic traffic growth, qualified leads, and engagement metrics.

Understand the Audience

Using a mix of persona development, behavioral insights, and external market research tools (like Semrush One2Target), we defined who Sodexo was speaking to: decision-makers in HR, facilities, and procurement—each with different pain points, interests, and content preferences.

Choose the Right Content Types

We focused on a mix of blog articles, videos, whitepapers, and case studies to align with each stage of the buyer journey. Personalization was key—especially for enabling sales teams with the right assets at the right time.

Find Topics That Resonate

Our SEO-driven research unearthed high-value topics that aligned with client concerns—from workplace experience to sustainable food practices. We prioritized based on search intent, relevance, and competitive gaps.

Build a Content Calendar

We created a global editorial calendar that outlined ownership, formats, timelines, and distribution plans. Tools like Trello and shared dashboards enabled better coordination across markets.

Promote with Purpose

Content was distributed through the channels our audiences used most—email, LinkedIn, and organic search. Where needed, we added paid amplification and influencer partnerships to boost reach.

Monitor, Measure, and Optimize

Performance dashboards were set up to track results in real-time. The team monitored metrics like bounce rate, conversions, and SEO rankings—and used those insights to refine the content mix.

Final Thought

Building a content marketing strategy from scratch isn’t just about structure—it’s about storytelling. For Sodexo, it meant putting the audience at the center, creating value through insight, and transforming marketing from a support function into a strategic growth engine.