Content Marketing Strategy & Planning

If you manage a lot of content — product photos, blog posts or how-to videos — then developing a content marketing strategy is essential to share them effectively with potential customers. Do you know what your goals are when it comes to creating content? Maybe you want to generate more leads or increase your brand’s visibility on social media. If these questions resonate with you, creating a content marketing plan might be time.

You’re not alone if you don’t have a formalized content marketing strategy; a recent study found that just 40 – 45% of B2B marketers have one documented content strategy. But whether you’re in the 40% without one or not, it’s a good idea to establish or re-evaluate your content planning process. In this post, we’ll define what is included in a content marketing plan and guide you through building your strategy. 

What is a content marketing strategy?

A content marketing strategy is a written plan that basically tells you everything about your content. This is a combination of:

• What will you create?
• Why are you creating it?
• When will it come out?
• Where will it be displayed?
• How will you gauge its success?

Documenting the plan is also essential. It is an assurance that all the members of your team are on the same page and that their efforts in content marketing go in line with the overall business objectives.
Additionally, creating a B2B content marketing strategy follows almost similar steps to making an ordinary one.

Step-by-Step Content Marketing Strategy Guide

How can you get through the noise and attract your perfect customer? The solution is to have a solid content marketing strategy. Here’s an eight-step guide to help you develop a plan that produces results:

Set SMART Goals

Before you start, outline your content marketing goals using the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound). Do you want to increase website traffic by 20% next quarter? Generate 100 qualified leads per month? Setting clear objectives keeps your eye on the prize and lets you track progress.

Understand Your Audience

Knowing who your target audience should be is the number one priority. But don’t make assumptions! Use surveys or interviews to gather information about their preferences and habits; employ tools like Semrush’s One2Target for audience research. Once you know what troubles them most, create compelling content around those subjects!

Choose Content Formats They Crave

Once you’ve got a good idea of who they are, it’s time to find out what kind of stuff they like reading, watching, listening, etc. For example, informative blog posts work best during early-stage awareness, while in-depth white papers work great during later stages.

Come Up with Captivating Topic Ideas

Now, here comes some real brainstorming! Think about specific topics that would interest your target audience. Use keyword research tools like Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to discover relevant high-volume, low-competition keywords.

Prioritize High Potential Content

Not every idea is created equal – some are better than others, so choose wisely by looking at different factors like search volume, keyword difficulty, keyword relevance, etc.

Create a Content Calendar for Consistency

Consistency is vital in building brand awareness and trust among your audience. A content calendar serves as a roadmap for successful execution. Plan what you’re going write about, when and where so that all pieces fit together nicely without any last-minute rushes. 

Promote Your Masterpieces

You could create the most excellent piece ever, but if nobody sees it, then? Try hard to make your work visible to the right audience. Also, consider teaming up with influencers within the industry to amplify reach further.

Measure, Analyze and Adapt

Ultimately goal tracking performance determines what works and what doesn’t. This implies tracking metrics, including website traffic, engagement (likes, shares, comments), leads, generated conversions, etc. Based on insights gained through analysis, adjust your content marketing strategy accordingly.

What Exactly is Content Marketing Planning?

Content Marketing and Planning is knowing what you want to achieve with your content – boosting brand awareness or generating leads. Then, you think about your ideal partygoers – what are their interests? What do they need? This allows for creating content that speaks to them, such as games (engaging videos) or food (informative blog posts). Finally, how will people hear about your party? What social media platforms should you use? What online communities should you tap into? Content marketing planning takes time, but doing so guarantees both fun at a party and strategic success.

10 Steps for Creating a Powerful Content Marketing Plan

1. Establish Objectives

What do you want? Do you want to raise visibility for your brand, generate leads or boost sales? Set clear goals because they are the basis of any successful content strategy.

2. Your Audience

This is the most crucial step. You must know who you are talking to. Try to understand your ideal customers’ demographics, interests and pain points. It will ensure that what you say resonates with them.

3. Audit Your Content

What have you got? A content audit is a way of taking stock of all your existing material. To identify where there may be gaps in the information and opportunities for improvement.

4. Develop a Content Strategy

This is where we start creating stuff! Define what kinds of articles (blog posts, infographics, videos, etc.), tone/brand style, guide and even content calendar should look like.

5. Keyword Research

Speak their language! Find out which words people use when searching online so that these can be incorporated into headlines, etc., making sure that lots of eyeballs see everything!

6. Create Compelling Content

Once all those basics have been sorted, it’s time to focus on producing high-quality, informative pieces that engage readers while showcasing expertise within particular niche areas.

7. Distribute Strategically

How do I get people reading this thing? You can create unique pieces, but if no one sees them, they might as well not exist. So, figure out some of the best ways to promote across various social media platforms.

8. Study and Modify

Content promotion is a never-ending activity. You should examine your content’s efficiency based on website analytics tools. It is the right way to know what connects with your audience and what needs to be worked upon.

9. Keep Informed

The world of content marketing is continually changing. Make sure that you are aware of current developments in this field and follow best practices.

10. Content Strategy Services

Don’t know where to begin? There are organisations like SEO Inventiv to provide support in developing successful content marketing plans. They can also help with their execution if required!

Content Strategy Vs Content Marketing Strategy

Yes, it is confusing, but Content marketing and content marketing strategy are different. Even if they are closely related, they are not the same thing. Content marketing can only exist with a well-defined content strategy to guide it.

Simply put, content strategy is the essential planning of what to say and how to say it. It needs your understanding of your audience’s needs and creating valuable content that addresses those needs. 

On the other hand, content marketing strategy is all about getting your message delivered to the right audience (in the right way). It’s using different channels (such as social media, blogs, and videos) to distribute and promote your content to a broader audience.

Think of it this way: If you are going on a road trip, your content strategy will be the map that will help you reach your destination. It will show you which roads to take and where to stop along the way. Content marketing strategy, on the other hand, is driving – following the map, navigating the roads and enjoying the journey as you go through each stage of creation until sharing with the world becomes inevitable.

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