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Creating content without a plan is like throwing darts blindfolded—occasionally you might hit the target, but most of the time you’re just throwing ideas into the void (or throwing darts at people…).
In this article, I’ll help you create a content plan so that each piece of content serves a purpose and that you achieve a clear goal with your marketing goals. And we’ll wrap it up with a content plan template to tie it all together.
Are you ready to dive in?
Content
What is a content plan?
A content plan is a tactical overview of the specific content you need to create as it relates to your business goals and resources. It includes content types, the creation and distribution process, and all key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.
You might be wondering what is the difference between a content plan, content strategy, and content calendar?
While a content strategy is a high-level approach that defines why your content and the brand voice behind it, the content plan covers what, whenand howbased on that strategy. It focuses on topics, formats, and deadlines—the tactical stuff. Then, your content calendar visually shows when and where content will be published.
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Why do you need a content plan?
Marketing without a content plan is like going on a road trip without a map (aka your smartphone). Whether you make it to your destination is hit or miss and you’ll use up a lot of fuel. A content plan keeps your efforts organized and intentional. It also provides:
- Alignment of business goals. A content plan helps ensure that each piece of content contributes to your overall goalssuch as lead generation, brand awareness or customer retention.
- Efficiency and consistency. It allows you to properly allocate resources (budget, staff, tools), keep your team organized and on schedule, and maintain consistent messaging.
- Maximum effect. Defining your audience ensures that your content resonates best, and strategic planning puts your content in front of the right people at the right time.
How to create a content plan
I’ve broken down content planning into six key steps. Let’s see:
1. Start with the big picture
To create a content plan, you must first lay the groundwork. This includes your goals and target audience.
Objectives: Make sure you have clear content marketing goals aligned with business goals. For example, you might want to increase organic trafficgenerate leads or increase customer retention. For help with this, check out our posts on marketing goals and long-term business goals.
Target audience: This one is huge. I don’t necessarily mean the audience itself, but the importance knowing the target audience. You need to know who you want to reach with your content. Also keep in mind that your target audience with your content is not just you customer persons. It includes them, but it also includes complementary businesses and influencers that will amplify your content.
To help you find your target audience, they are here 12 questions to ask as well as some examples of target market.
2. Conduct a content audit
Once you’ve gotten your bearings with the first step, it’s time to inventory your existing content to gather information, find gaps, and identify opportunities. The level of effort required for this step will vary depending on how long you’ve been in your role and how much content your company has produced. Fortunately for you, I have a detailed guide on how to do a content audit that will cover any scenario. You can find it here, How to Start a Content Audit: The Complete Guide + Free Templates.
If you don’t have a lot of content to begin with, it might be worth making competitive analysis or even looking at some examples of content marketing just to get to know each other.
3. Determine your key themes
These are not your topics. That comes later in the tactical part. Here I am talking about the key pillars you want to cover each month. A good way to do this is to look at the categories that exist on your blog. Consolidate them into about 5-7 core pillars. These core pillars must address all four of the following:
Note that these columns will not map 1:1 to your blog’s categories, nor should they. You should have more categories than columns.
4. Outline the process
Now is the time for tactics. As I said above, your content plan covers the what and how of your content strategy. Here are two key elements:
Choice of topic: Outline how you will come up with topics and titles. This should involve a combination of strategies, including keyword researchcurrent events, creatively speculationsocial listening, competitive analysis, content performance analysis and conversion content. Here are some other resources to help you:
Production: It’s important to have a standardized process for actually creating content. This includes writing, editing and approval, as well as who is responsible for what and how long each part will take. This can vary depending on the type of content (for example, a blog post or e-book or webinar). Check out the resources below for more help with the production aspect of your content plan.
🚨 Get your content on schedule ASAP with ours free marketing calendar template along with marketing tips and ideas for the entire year, content framing holidays and more!
5. Plan the distribution
Now that you’ve mapped out your content topics and process, it’s time to figure out how and where your content will be distributed. This means two things:
Channels: Popular marketing channels include your website, blog, social media, email, partners and influencers. The best ones for your business depend on where your audience spends the most time and how much bandwidth you have. It’s important to diversify and tailor your content to each channel while maintaining your brand voice—such as using visuals for Instagram, lead posts for LinkedIn, or short, engaging videos for TikTok.
Some additional resources to help you here include:
Frequency: How often will you post content on each of your chosen channels? How often will you post certain types of content? For example, you can publish monthly webinars and ebooks, weekly blog posts, and daily social media posts. The frequency of your content should be consistent with your overall marketing goals and the resources at your disposal. A content calendar will be key here to help you stay consistent and organized.
6. Track and measure
This last step ensures that all your hard work pays off and that you continuously optimize your content strategy for better results. What I mean by monitoring and measuring is:
Have a content library: This should be a spreadsheet listing all of your content, with tabs for different types of content, such as blogs, ebooks, webinars, case studies, and videos.
Be sure to include relevant details such as last modified date, target audience and supported product. You don’t need to include performance metrics here. The idea is to keep everything organized so that others can access the content and you can easily repurpose i update content in future.
Measure performance: Define key metrics which will determine the success of your content. This can include metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, conversion rates, lead generation and time spent on site. Be sure to establish a regular cadence of reporting on these metrics, depending on your goals and the amount of content you produce. Some should be reported weekly, others monthly, and others quarterly.
Some resources that can help you here include:
Based on the data you collect, make it a habit to regularly review and adjust your content plan. If a certain type of content isn’t successful, think about ways to improve or test new formats. And on the other hand, if something is working well, think about how you can double down on that strategy.
Bring it all together with this content planning template
This content plan template use the tips and steps I described above. It should help you organize your plan, communicate it to your teammates, and report back to your manager.
Start with your content plan
A content plan is your secret weapon for turning ideas into action. Plus, content planning keeps your team productive and aligned with your brand voice and business goals. Follow these tips and use the template in this post and you’ll be able to stay organized, measure your results, and adapt and innovate! For more help turning your company’s content dreams into reality, see how our solutions can help you create and implement a successful content marketing plan.
