Build a Content Marketing Plan in 10 Steps
Dennis Waiguru
Digital Marketing Manager | Graphic designer | Corporate Communication & Management | Social Media Account Manager | Ghostwriter | Digital PR and Online Networking
Content marketing is something you’re aware of as a marketer, but do you realize how effective it can be at all stages of the customer journey??
While many marketers create landing pages, blogs, or copy for social media posts, great content marketing requires a strategic and multi-faceted approach (and most importantly it relies on you understanding who you’re talking to).?
In this newsletter, we’ll start by looking at what is content marketing and then explore ten steps to help you develop a successful plan.
Buckle up!?
1. Set objectives
Set comprehensive objectives that cover each stage of the funnel to guide your content strategy effectively:
Increase unprompted brand awareness from x to y
Increase social media reach and engagement from x to y
Grow non-blog organic traffic from x to y
Increase blog traffic from x to y
Increase organic sales from x to y
Increase blog data capture from x to y
Increase social media shares from x to y
Increase website backlinks from x to y
Increase customer testimonials from x to y
By setting clear, relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each stage, you can align your content to drive audiences through the funnel effectively. Start with simple objectives to avoid complexity and ensure clarity in your strategy implementation.
2. Understand your audience
Before you develop any content, you need to understand who you are talking to and what they need. That requires you to build target buyer personas.?
You can get this type of information in Google Analytics (GA4) to examine who your audience is. For example, what percentage is male or female? What devices are they browsing on? What ages are they? What interests do they have and what sites are they looking at?
3. Be relevant
Being relevant is the content sweet spot! It’s the intersection of what you want to talk about and what your audience wants.
A lot of brands don’t really get this part of the content plan. They talk about what they want to tell people about, rather than focusing on what the customer needs and wants to hear.?
But how do you know how to be relevant to your audience? Here are some starting points:
Listening to your customers through social channels is one of the easiest and most effective ways to connect with them, as well as with your competitors and others you’d never thought of following. Learn more in our comprehensive guide to social listening.?
4. Use the content marketing funnel to drive sales
Content marketing can have a huge impact on the customer journey. The McKinsey model shows the four stages in a loop as people decide on a purchase.?
At each stage of the journey, you should use different channels and content:
The more content you create where you're talking about meaningful and relevant content, the more people will share your social media posts and the more top of mind you'll be when they're actively evaluating what product or service they want.
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5. Establish your content pillars
Your content strategy should balance brand-building with commercial goals. For example, one approach is using a hub-and-spoke model to direct traffic to your website, improving keyword rankings, and driving metrics such as leads or sales.
Define four primary business pillars: some focused on brand, like thought leadership, and others on commercial objectives. Aim for a mix of two to four pillars, ensuring all your content aligns with each.
6. Develop a push-and-pull approach
The push-and-pull strategy is crucial for brands to effectively engage with consumers. Balancing these approaches can influence purchasing decisions in your favor:
Push Strategy:
This involves promoting your brand and offerings directly. For instance, leveraging social media channels, podcasts, or webinars to disseminate content. The goal is to gather data through downloads, sign-ups, or increasing followers.
KPI: Advocacy or community growth.
Pull Strategy:
This aims to attract visitors to your website and convert them into loyal customers who advocate for your brand. It relies on optimizing your website for SEO, generating referrals, and creating compelling content such as blogs.
KPI: Website traffic, page rank, domain authority, and data capture.
Finding the right balance between these strategies is key—push too hard, and you risk alienating potential customers; pull too lightly, and your content may go unnoticed.
7. Use a hub-and-spoke model
The hub-and-spoke model focuses content creation around a central theme, enhancing relevance and authority on a topic.
This approach boosts keyword rankings, traffic, and key metrics like conversions, leads, and sales.
For instance, if your emphasis is on social media, your hub might revolve around high-volume keywords, such as an article on 'Choosing the Best Social Media Channels for Your Business'. From this central topic, you can develop related posts targeting specific, low-volume long-tail keywords like 'Understanding Social Media Algorithms' to attract diverse audiences.
8. Create data-capture content
Data capture content encourages users to provide personal information, typically promoted on high-traffic pages or blogs where engagement is already strong.
Examples of data capture content include:
Ensure your content offers clear value—it should provide something meaningful in exchange for user data. For instance, a clothing company could offer a guide on dressing for specific occasions, like a wedding attire tips blog paired with a downloadable guide on dressing for body types.
9. Amplify your brand using advocates
As consumer trust in advertising declines (with 64% actively avoiding ads on free and ad-supported video services), leveraging advocates or ambassadors becomes crucial for cutting through the noise and gaining brand visibility.
Three effective types of advocates include:
Identify your top ten content engagers—they are your advocates. Utilize social media listening tools to pinpoint influencers who are opinion leaders in your industry.
10. Set KPIs and measure success
Setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is crucial in content marketing to gauge success and understand which content drives sales. These metrics provide vital insights into performance:
Monitoring these KPIs helps assess the effectiveness of your content strategy and optimize for better results.
Final Thought
As we conclude this journey through the essential steps of building a content marketing plan, remember that success lies not only in strategy but in execution and adaptation.
By aligning your goals, understanding your audience, and consistently delivering valuable content, you pave the way for sustained growth and engagement. Embrace creativity, leverage data insights, and stay agile in response to evolving trends.
With these principles guiding your efforts, you're well-equipped to navigate the dynamic landscape of digital marketing and achieve impactful results.
Stay tuned for more insights and tips in the next edition!
Social Media Marketing Strategist | Social Media Manager | CRM Manager | Market Research
4 个月Very informative
I do things that help people sell A LOT more 'stuff'...
4 个月Building that content marketing plan is like constructing a skyscraper. Gotta nail each step for stability and audience engagement.