Content marketing is a powerful way to attract and engage your audience, but it requires a clear vision and a consistent execution. How do you balance creativity and consistency in your content plan? In this article, we'll explain the difference between content marketing strategy and content plan, and how to create both in a way that aligns with your goals and your brand.
A content marketing strategy is the high-level framework that guides your content creation and distribution. It defines your target audience, your value proposition, your content goals, your content types, your channels, and your metrics. A content plan is the detailed roadmap that outlines what content you will produce, when, how, and for whom. It includes your content calendar, your content briefs, your content workflows, and your content promotion tactics.
A content plan acts as the tactical guide that transforms your strategic vision into actionable steps. This plan includes a content calendar, detailing when and where specific content will be published. Content briefs within the plan provide direction for content creators, ensuring the content aligns with the defined goals and targets the right audience. Content workflows streamline the production process, while promotion tactics ensure your content reaches the intended audience.
Having both a content marketing strategy and a content plan is essential for creating effective and consistent content. A strategy helps you align your content with your business objectives, your audience needs, and your brand identity. A plan helps you organize your content production, delivery, and measurement. Without a strategy, your content may lack direction, relevance, and differentiation. Without a plan, your content may lack quality, frequency, and optimization.
Creating a content marketing strategy involves four main steps: defining your audience, value proposition, content goals, and content mix. To define your audience, consider who you are trying to reach, their pain points, and their content preferences. To define your value proposition, think about what makes your content unique, valuable, and engaging for your audience. When defining your content goals, decide what you want to achieve with your content and how you will measure your success. Lastly, when defining your content mix, consider what types of content you will create, what channels you will use, and how you will align them with your audience journey.
This involves identifying the types of content that will best serve your audience and goals, and how you will distribute it. Content types might include blog posts, whitepapers, social media updates, videos, and webinars. For distribution, consider what channels your audience uses and where they are most likely to engage with your content. Remember, a successful content marketing strategy is flexible and evolves with your audience and business goals. Regularly review and revise your strategy to ensure it continues to effectively support your objectives.
Creating a content plan involves four main steps: creating a content calendar to determine how often content will be published, what topics will be covered, and what deadlines will be set; creating content briefs to outline the specific requirements, guidelines, and expectations for each piece of content, and who will be responsible for creating, editing, and approving it; creating content workflows to identify the steps, tools, and roles involved in the content production, distribution, and maintenance process; and creating content promotion tactics to amplify the content reach, engagement, and conversion, and what channels, platforms, and partners will be leveraged.
Remember, the goal of your content plan is to ensure you're consistently producing high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and supports your business objectives. By regularly reviewing and updating your plan, you can make sure it continues to serve these purposes effectively.
Balancing creativity and consistency in your content plan can be a challenge, but it can be achieved with some best practices. Your strategy should be your guide, but don't be afraid to experiment and test new ideas, formats, and channels. It's important to follow your brand voice, tone, and style, but don't be boring or repetitive. Add some personality, humor, and emotion to your content. Plan your content in advance, but leave some room for flexibility and spontaneity. Respond to current trends, events, and feedback from your audience. Review and update your content regularly, but don't over-edit or over-optimize. Keep your content fresh, relevant, and authentic.
Value the quality of your creative concepts over quantity. Be honest about how many videos you can share a week without compromising on the creative. One brilliant original concept that entertains, brings value with a dash of your personality is better than over sharing mid level content in a bid to keep up with an unrealistic schedule.
Quality is everything. Don’t force out content to hit a self imposed quota. Producing quality content is crucial to building trust and growing your audience. It can be easy to say “I have to post every day” or “I need to produce 5 videos this month”. Be extremely careful with these quotas as they can quickly lead to burn out. If you’re burned out, your content will soon reflect it. Having a few fresh pieces of content per month beats 30 sloppy posts.
Work to an 80/20 rule. 20% of your content is planned, structured, and most importantly scheduled. This gives you consistency. The 80%… this is where you gain flexibility, where you get to play with your creativity. This is where content creation becomes a pleasure and not a chore. Use your 80% to educate, entertain, engage and inspire. Remember your content is for your audience, not you. Remember the mission you are on and any overwhelm should fall away.