Content creation is one of the the most visible aspects of the digital strategyfor a company. Thanks to the content published across the organisation’s various communication channels, you can achieve visibility and build a reputation that will generate direct sales. If you know what to publish, how and where to publish it, you’ll have half the strategy sorted digital marketing.
But now, an important question arises: How can you find out what interests your audience, what kind of format they’ll find easiest to engage with, and which channels they use? If you’d like to find out this and much more about how to draw up a content plan, stay tuned.
Definition of a content plan
A content plan is a strategic document that sets out goals, target audiences, topics and timelines for creating and publishing content. As a general rule, it is specialists in SEO, content writing, journalism and social media who need a content plan in order to carry out their work in an organised and measurable way.
Before you begin: Some key points to consider before drawing up your content plan
We know you’re keen for us to tell you the exact steps for drawing up a content plan, but first, we’d like you to make a note of these key aspects that you’ll need to include in it:
- Get to know the company inside out: A brilliant plan will be of no use if it isn’t tailored to the company, its values and its brand image, or if you get the product specifications wrong. Furthermore, find out which products or services in their portfolio are worth emphasising most, based on their sales volume.
- Get to know your target audience and if it comprises several segments: Knowing your target audience is essential, but don’t forget to analyse whether it is divided into several segments with different characteristics. You may wish to target just one segment, or it may be that some are active online whilst others are not. In other words, analyse your audience.
- Develop your digital skills: It is certainly important to have technical knowledge of the tools and platforms on which you want to publish content. We recommend that you keep up to date, as the ICTs are evolving every day.
- Don’t forget to keep up to date with the latest trends: Keep up to date with news from your sector or subscribe to a specialist blog to surprise your users with the most innovative content. Study trends in copywriting; take note of how leading companies in your sector communicate, whether they use videos and designs, and what sort of creative content they produce to connect with their audience. If you don’t have advanced skills in video or design, enlist the help of an expert to ensure the result looks professional and not amateurish.
Now we’re talking! Take note of the steps to create a content plan
At Educa.Pro, we believe these are the steps you should follow to create a good content plan:
Set the objectives
Clearly identify what you want to achieve with your content strategy. This may include increasing website traffic, generating leads, improving brand visibility, educating your audience, etc.
When setting your objectives, it is crucial that they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. For example, you might aim to increase organic traffic to your blog by a specific percentage over a set period, or to generate a specific number of qualified leads through downloadable content within a defined timeframe. It is essential that these objectives are aligned with your business’s overall goals and that they are realistic given the resources available.
Getting to know your audience
Research and understand your target audience. This involves understanding their needs, desires, problems, interests and online behaviour. Create buyer personas to represent your audience segments.
Conduct surveys and interviews with current and potential customers to gain direct insights. Analyse the demographic and behavioural data of your social media followers to understand their preferences and interaction patterns. Use web analytics tools to understand how visitors navigate your site and which content they find most engaging.
Research keywords
Carry out thorough research into keywords relevant to your industry and audience. This will help optimise your content’s SEO and attract organic traffic.
Tools such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush and Ahrefs can help you discover new keyword opportunities and analyse their search volume and competition. However, don’t limit yourself to just these tools. Also analyse the keywords your competitors are using to identify gaps that you can capitalise on.
Define the type of content
Decide what types of content you will create (articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, etc.). Make sure the format suits your objectives and your audience’s preferences.
Diversifying your content formats is key to keeping your audience engaged and catering to different learning styles. Whilst blogs and long-form articles are excellent for detailed explanations and SEO, tutorial or explanatory videos can be more effective for complex visual instructions.
Infographics are ideal for presenting data and statistics in an engaging and shareable way. Podcasts offer a unique opportunity for in-depth discussions or interviews with experts, perfect for audiences who prefer to consume content whilst on the move.
Create an editorial calendar
Plan when and how often you will publish content. A publication schedule It will help you maintain consistency and coherence in your posts.
Use tools such as Google Calendar, Trello or CoSchedule to organise and visualise your planning in a comprehensive way. Consider assigning specific themes to each month or quarter to maintain a consistent focus in your content. Incorporate key dates in your industry, relevant events and public holidays into your planning to capitalise on opportunities for timely content.
Creating high-quality content
Create content that is informative, useful and of high quality. Provide value to your audience and demonstrate your expertise on the subject.
To improve the quality of your content, it is essential to carry out thorough research for each piece of content, backing up your claims with data, statistics and case studies from reliable sources. Incorporate unique perspectives and expert insights from your industry to add depth and credibility.
The presentation of your content is just as important as its substance: make sure it is easy to read and scan, using a clear structure with subheadings and short paragraphs. Whilst it is important to optimise your content for SEO, never compromise on quality and readability for the sake of it.
Marketing and distribution
Develop strategies to promote your content. Use social media, email marketing, advertising and other channels to reach your audience.
An effective promotion and distribution strategy requires a multi-channel approach that goes beyond simply sharing on social media. Implement content syndication techniques to republish your content on third-party sites and expand your reach. Seek partnerships with influencers and thought leaders in your industry to give your content greater visibility. Initially, it is advisable to use paid advertising on social media and search engines to amplify the reach of your most valuable content.
Measurement and analysis
Set clear metrics to assess the performance of your strategy. Track engagement, website traffic, conversions and other relevant metrics. Use web analytics and social media tools.
Set specific KPIs for each type of content and objective, using advanced tools such as Google Analytics, SEMrush or HubSpot to carry out a comprehensive analysis. Implement conversion tracking to measure the direct impact of content on sales or lead generation. Analyse user behaviour on your website, including time spent on site, bounce rate and pages per session, and evaluate how content performs across different devices.
Settings and optimisation
Based on the data and analysis, adjust your strategy and content as necessary. Keep learning and improving over time.
Effectively optimising your content strategy requires a systematic and ongoing approach. Carry out regular content audits to identify what works and what doesn’t, and implement A/B testing on key elements such as headlines, content formats and distribution strategies. Don’t just create new content; update and optimise existing content that is performing well to maintain its relevance and improve its search ranking.
Maintaining adaptability
The digital landscape is constantly evolving, so make sure you remain flexible and are prepared to adapt your strategy in line with changes in the market and audience preferences.
Foster a culture of experimentation within your team so that new ideas and content formats can emerge, and try them out without fear of failure. Maintain open communication with your audience to receive direct feedback and tailor your content to their current needs.
Is it important to draw up a good content plan?
The truth is that, rather than just being important, establishing an effective and robust content plan is essential. Nowadays, any business wishing to carve out a competitive niche in the market must have a digital presence, and to achieve this, content is essential. Competition is growing all the time, as are the numbers of professionals specialising in content creation; therefore, if you want to stand out, you need to define a strategy before you get down to work.
On the other hand, new and growing digital platforms offer a endless possibilities for creativity Various types of content: long videos, short videos, in different formats, minimalist graphics or elaborate illustrations, interactive content – anything you can imagine can be done these days. And that’s not to mention the world of social media, each platform with its own formats and content guidelines. Obviously, you can’t cover every channel, so you need to analyse very carefully which ones you should focus on.
