You might know what content marketing is, but where and how can you put its elements into action? Here is where a strategic content marketing plan would be extremely useful, to condense and clarify what you are trying to achieve with your content marketing,
and how you are going to get there.
ClickAcademy Asia's senior trainer, Elizabeth Taylor, shares the reasons businesses need a content marketing plan and breaks down what a content marketing plan should include.
Parts of a strategic content marketing plan
Vision - What are you trying to achieve from your content marketing? While it can be difficult to put it down on paper, this stage is key.
Target audience - Most businesses would have more than one target audience, so they need to be segmented and then you can decide how to reach your goals using content marketing.
What problem are you trying to solve for your customer - For example, new customers would need to be educated about your brand while existing customers would need to be nurtured and you would need to demonstrate the value that your brand offers through your content.
Format - Are you going to use video? Blog? Email? You have to decide the best format based on what you are trying to achieve, your target audience and how they prefer to be communicated to.
Production - You need to make sure you have the right resources to manage your content. You will need to look at frequency and the right time to post, the tools you'll need to produce, schedule and publish your content.
Importance of a strategic content marketing plan
You can condense and clarify your vision, what you want to achieve and how you are going to get there.
You can be effective and efficient with your content marketing so that it drives value for the organisation and your customers.
You can make sure that you are getting a return on your marketing investment by planning your content marketing budget.
You can communicate with key stakeholders to make sure everyone has a very concerted effort towards achieving your content marketing vision.
Get hands-on guided training on Content Marketing at ClickAcademy Asia's Content Marketing for Web, Mobile & Social Media. The 2-day course covers world-class frameworks, templates and case studies on content marketing strategies. The course is accredited by Skillsfuture Singapore and is Skillsfuture credit-claimable. Find out more here.
If you are experienced in content marketing and would like to align your current content with your brand positioning using a content marketing audit, as well as build a business case for content marketing, check out our Advanced Content Marketing Masterclass.