Imagine having a lot of content at your disposal but don’t know how to get it to your audience? It’s the worst nightmare for any market out there! If this remotely relates to you, then, worry no more cause it is exactly what we’re decoding in this blog post. So if you are looking out to increase your brand’s recognition and widen your customer base, then you’re at the right place!
Ever thought of investing in a good content marketing plan, that not only automates your content but also markets it. If not, then you are not alone as per a recent survey only 40% of B2B marketers have a well-crafted content marketing plan.
We have brought to you expert tips and tricks followed by some of the top content marketing agencies in Kolkata and around the globe. In this article, we’ll explain what a content marketing plan is and how to develop your own content strategy in 10 simple steps.
What is a Content Marketing Plan?
Before getting into the content marketing plan in detail, let us first understand what a content marketing plan is. Content marketing is a combination of attracting, engaging, and retaining an audience that involves developing and sharing relevant content with them. This content can take any form such as articles, videos, podcasts, and other media. When you do this, it creates competence, increases your brand awareness, and keeps your brand recognizable to your audience.
A content marketing strategy positions your company as a thought leader. Therefore increasing trust among your target audience by developing and distributing information in a variety of methods. Content marketing is an inbound marketing strategy that draws customers and fosters loyalty, making it efficient for customer retention.
Now that you know about content marketing, let’s dive into the 10 steps that you need to follow to create a foolproof content marketing plan.
10 Steps To Creating An Effective Content Marketing Plan
Step 1: Set Your Goals
Every approach starts with goals. What do you hope to achieve with your content marketing? So, the first step is to determine what you expect out of your content marketing strategy. Is it educating your audience or grabbing new customers or something else? Decide that and draft the rest of your plan accordingly.
Step 2: Find Your Target Audience
Know who you are strategizing for. Every marketer should know who they are marketing to. Therefore, the second step is to determine your target audience. The next stage is to determine your target audiences. It includes understanding your buyers in a better way and developing content that perfectly caters to them.
For this, invest your time in knowing more about your audience, their preferences, pain points and how you can provide value to them.
Step 3: Audit Your Current Content
If you have some prior content with you, it’s the time to audit them. By auditing your current content, we mean that you should check their past performance and analyze your strength. Along with this, you should see the quantity of content you have put on your social handles or website. This will help you decide how much content you come up with on a monthly basis. This will also allow you to understand which past content can be repurposed in future.
Step 4: Identify Best Channels For Your Niche
Normally, you should begin your content marketing strategy on distribution channels where you already have a strong presence. During the previous step, you must have come across some channels where your content stood out. You can use those channels again for distributing your content. In case you are doing it for the first time, social media can be the right place to start.
Step 5: Find Correct Content Form
Not all content forms are for everyone. It depends on what you are creating and for whom. Common content types include images, videos, blog articles, podcasts, infographics, and user-generated material. Your content should depend on your target audience and your information.
For example, if you are creating content for education purposes a blog or an article would do wonders as you can convey more information in that form. However, if your goal is to grab a new audience or increase engagement then video content is the best for you. So understand your niche and your audience and develop content catering to them.
Step 6: Determine Your Budget
Knowing how much you have to work with is an important part of creating this content marketing plan. This covers your budget, available resources, and any staff or freelancers you might hire. Creating original material remotely might be difficult, but not impossible. Determine what resources you already have and what you’ll need.
Step 7: Follow a Content Calendar
A content calendar is essential for your approach. You need a spot to plan out your material. At the very least, it should be able to track the themes and content you intend to publish and when. An improved content calendar will also track the state of each piece of content, its distribution, who is working on it, and its overall performance after marketing.
Step 8: Finally, Create Content
Now it’s time to create the actual material that you’ll be posting. You should now have a clear understanding of the content types and channels you’ll be employing. This indicates that the next step is to brainstorm content ideas, develop them, and curate it. There are content writers out there that can help you create compelling and engaging content.
Step 9: Publish It At Right Place
After you are done with your content, the next step is to publish it for your target audiences.You should also market it through the channels you’ve selected to focus on in the previous steps. You should follow all the necessary SEO guidelines with proper keywords usage to reach the maximum number of people and build new connections.
Step 10: Measure Your Results
The final step in your content marketing strategy is to analyze your performance. Without this step, you won’t know if you’re meeting your initial objectives as you have planned. Always remember to analyze your content on a daily basis and understand what is working for you.
By following the above-mentioned steps, you can curate a reliable content marketing plan for your business. Once you have completed documenting your strategies, the goal is to be consistent with your plan.
Conclusion
Acing a content marketing plan is a continuous process that involves patience, and a willingness to adapt. You may not strike the ball out of the park the first time, but that is why it is critical to develop a strategy so that you can define your target audience and tailor your content to them.
There are many content marketing companies that will help you in this journey. One such company is Adware Communications. It is one of the top content marketing agencies in Kolkata. They have a team of experts that will draft a content marketing plan as per you need. So don’t waste anymore time and take an edge over your competitors with a fool-proof content marketing plan.
