Whether you run a product or service-based business, having a content marketing strategy is vital to consider.
Many people who run online platforms, from influencers to businesses, are now prioritising this marketing practice.
We live in a time where people have access to tons of information with just a click of a button.
A simple, yet effective, way to make your mark is by sharing valuable content.
This is where content marketing takes center stage.
A study conducted by Hubspot in 2020 found that 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing [1].
The reason for this includes benefits such as brand loyalty, increase in sales and brand positioning as thought leaders.
Consumers are now more discerning than ever.
It is not enough to promote your product or service but you also need to provide valuable information.
By consistently sharing online materials that are informative and relevant to your audience, you’ll create interest in your brand.
Planning your content marketing schedule can seem a bit daunting, especially if you’re just starting out.
As a result, we’ve broken down a simple way to map out your content marketing schedule.
Do the Required Preliminary Work
Before jumping into creating a content marketing schedule, you need to establish certain things.
An effective content marketing schedule and plan relies on the following tasks:
Who is Your Avatar?
Looking to diversify your content strategy?
There’s more than one type of customer in the world and it might be time for you to start treating them accordingly.
Using a variety of channels can help reach different audiences, so if there are groups that you’ve been forgetting about these strategies will get them coming back again.
Problem Solving
One of the key ingredients to a successful content strategy is knowing what problem your audience has and addressing it.
You can help people on both sides with this: those who are still figuring out their challenges, and those who use your product in order to overcome them.
Your quality content reinforces that solution you’re offering while also making customers more qualified users of your platform/product!
How Are You Different?
Your content is your way of standing out from the crowd.
With so many brands fighting for attention, it’s easy to get lost in an endless sea of tweets and posts.
But if you can maintain a consistent voice while telling unique stories about what makes you special, then people will be more likely to remember that they found something worth their time.
Your competitors are probably offering similar products as yours because most businesses are trying to pitch something innovative or different with each product release.
This means potential customers need ways of realizing why theirs should trump another company’s latest idea.
Or at least stand apart enough from other options on the market today.
This where effective marketing comes into play; by providing useful information via engaging content
Define Your Goals for the Year
Creating a target is necessary if you want to achieve a significant return on investment.
As a result, it’s important to set your goals to establish direction.
Ask questions such as “Why am I creating this online material?” and “What do I want to achieve with this plan?”.
Depending on your business situation, your content marketing goal could be one or a combination of the following:
- Improve site traffic
- Establish authority in your industry or niche
- Build brand loyalty
- Develop brand awareness
- etc.
Know Your Audience
Audience research is important in any business endeavor.
You need to know your ‘ideal person’ to effectively tailor your messages to such a person.
Your target audience will determine things such as:
- Content writing style
- Channels to distribute content
- Types of content to create
Spend time understanding your audience’s needs and pain points so you can create content to target these needs.
Also, people are constantly looking for content that’s not only informative but also engaging and personalised.
Carry Out a Content Audit
Content audits are necessary for businesses or companies that are already established.
As long as you have published something online, you need to check its performance.
Do an audit to determine the types of content that are performing well against those that aren’t doing so well.
This gives you an insight into what your audience likes and dislikes.
It’s also a necessary step to create a new and effective content schedule.
If you fail to command the attention and interest of your audience, you risk losing organic reach and customers [2].
Determine the Appropriate Content Formats
In today’s age, content exists in various formats and types.
Gone are the days where the word, content, is limited to the written word.
We now have formats such as video, photo, infographics, webinars and audio.
Depending on the topic or subject you wish to convey, you can use one or a mix of these formats.
Apart from housing all formats on a particular site, you can utilise platforms like YouTube, podcasts and social platforms.
An understanding of the formats that appeal to your audience will also help you approach this wisely.
You can also approach this by testing various formats to determine which works best for particular content types.
Research the Appropriate Content to Publish
What’s a content marketing plan without content?
Spend time conducting research to help you create ideas to share.
Do a scan of the internet to see what your competitors are publishing.
Apart from this, also research what your ideal customers are searching for on the internet.
You can use keyword research tools such as Keywords Everywhere to access trend data, search volume and competition.
These practices help you create content that’s not only customer-targeted but also searchable.
It’s one thing to create great content and it’s another for people to discover your content.
As a result, don’t focus too much on what you think people want to see.
Instead, spend time conducting research to find gaps that you can fill in the content world.
Create Your Calendar and Schedule
Now, it’s time to start putting all that you’ve researched into a visual workflow.
A content calendar is an important tool when executing a content marketing plan.
It visually highlights details such as content topics, channels, publishing schedules and team member tasks.
Below, we’ve listed the necessary steps to follow when at this stage.
Choose a Platform to Create the Calendar or Workflow
There are several platforms you can use to create a content calendar.
However, choose a platform that has easily shareable features.
For instance, Google Sheets allows you to access your calendar on various devices, wherever you are, as long as you’re signed in to your account.
Apart from this platform, you can also use specialized tools such as Trello and Notion. Specialized tools are also a great way to assign tasks if you’re working with a team.
Have a List of Topics or Ideas
When writing out your topics or ideas, you can create spaces for specific titles and general information.
General information can include content structures or outlines and any other relevant detail.
Determine Your Channels and Posting Frequency
How often are you going to be publishing on your chosen channels?
For instance, you could decide to post on social media every day and twice a week on your blog.
Posting frequency depends on various factors like the niche and audience engagement hours.
Distribute Tasks Amongst Team Members
If you’re a personal brand or running a small business, you may be able to work on all tasks by yourself.
However, as your business grows, growing a team becomes necessary.
Your calendar should highlight what each team member needs to do each day, week and month.
This way, the graphics person knows their tasks and so does the content writer, digital marketer and so on.
Set Due Dates, Create and Publish
Your editorial calendar should clearly highlight the due dates for each item or content.
Setting publishing dates makes the process smoother and more organized.
Tip: Coming up with content ideas can sometimes feel overwhelming.
To fine tune this process, a tip is to create themes in your calendar.
These could be weekly or monthly themes from which you create specific content topics.
For instance, a health and wellness site could have a theme called ‘Skin Health’ for a particular month.
For that month, content ideas could span from best foods for skin health to skincare tips.
In any case, you need a content calendar fro your marketing campaigns.
Create a Promotion Plan
It is not enough to create content and publish them.
You also need to be proactive about promoting what you’ve published. If not, no one will be aware.
This is where content creation and marketing merge.
Derek Halpern, an expert internet marketer, states that you should spend 20% of your time creating content and the remaining 80% promoting it [3].
Create a promotional plan to market your content across relevant channels.
These include email marketing, social media advertising and search engine optimization among others.
Measure the Results of your Content Strategy
After creating your schedule, publishing your content and promoting it, you need to measure the success rate.
Track the performance of your content marketing plan to see what’s working and what isn’t working.
A More Defined Content Marketing Strategy
You are going to need to craft different pieces of content to reach your marketing goals.
And whether you are a lone wolf or have a content team, publishing content will take on many forms.
Let’s look at some of these digital marketing content creation ideas.
Blog Posts
Blog posts should be published regularly and provide valuable content that will make your audience want to share the information.
The length of a blog post depends on your target audience, but you’ll need at least 1-2 thousand words for it to be worth reading.
Blog posts are super important when it comes to branding and content marketing strategy.
Videos
The use of video in marketing has increased dramatically over the past few years, and for good reason.
Visual content is 40x more likely to be shared than any other type of content on social media platforms because it’s so engaging.
Videos take time and resources to create, but as visual marketing becomes hugely popular with marketers across industries.
This medium will continue increase its popularity among brands looking for a way to engage their target audiences.
Videos are an increasingly popular form of digital advertising due largely in part from how visually appealing they can make your brand seem.
Videos should also be embedded on your website and are should be some of your most valuable content pieces.
Create an E book
If you are serious about wanting to create a content marketing strategy, the ebooks are vital type of content.
Ebooks may be the perfect solution If you’re looking for a way to get your company in front of more potential customers.
They are lead-generation tools that people can download after submitting their contact information on an online form.
They typically contain long, detailed content with less frequency than blog posts which entice visitors onto websites.
Social Media Content
Publishing content on your own site is great, but it’s not the only way to showcase what you’ve been working hard on.
Content creators should also focus on social media marketing as it is a vital part of content strategy.
You want people who don’t frequent your blog or social media pages, to be able read and enjoy all of the work that goes into creating a quality piece of writing.
So make sure to distribute them elsewhere to give them the access they need in order to do so.
You could also repurpose old posts (or even create new ones) specifically for other sites as an easy step-by-step guide.
Consistent social media posts should be a key part of your content marketing strategy and there are many networks you can share your content on such as:
- YouTube
- Tik Tok
- Snapchat
Distribute Your Media Content
It’s clear that there are several ways to spread your content out even further than it already is.
For instance, you can make sure to schedule new content when and what types of posts will be shared on social media.
Both immediately after the post has been published as well as running a drip campaign for increased engagement with audiences over time.
You need to show up consistently throughout days or weeks afterwards.
Additionally, leveraging email marketing by distributing these pieces through an opt-in list of subscribers who have requested access.
This means they won’t miss any updates from you.
Conclusion
Before creating a content marketing strategy or publishing schedule, always remember to conduct appropriate research.
Successful content marketing, when done correctly, can significantly boost your business’s success rate and help to reach your business goals.
By establishing your strategy and creating a simple schedule and workflow, you’re on your way to success with your content marketing efforts.
So, what is your next piece of content going to be about?
And in what content format?
If you need to organize your content marketing schedule, or require help to build your content out, then connect with us via email.