To get everyone on the same page when it comes to your brand’s content marketing, you need an actual page.
Your team – and everyone else involved in the process – needs to know the who, what, when, where, why and how behind their work.
A written strategy makes it easier to:
- Align content marketing with company business goals.
- Secure leadership and budget support.
- Make sure internal, external and adjacent content teams are working in the same direction.
- Integrate and retrain your team as the strategy evolves.
Research from the Content Marketing Institute shows that a written strategy is a differentiator for top performers. A few years ago, CoSchedule reported that marketers with a documented strategy are 414% more likely to report success than those who don’t have one.
To develop a strategy that will actually be used by everyone involved (and referenced later), you should create it on a single page. To help you, I’ve developed seven steps for a one-page content marketing strategy.
Let’s get started.
Step 1: Identify your company’s operational goals and objectives
Your content marketing program won’t be successful if it doesn’t align with your company’s goals.
Example
Business goal: Strengthen the belief that Bountiful Bank is a good source of loans (home, personal and auto loans).
Business goal: Increased all types of loan applications by 10% (year-over-year) from Bountiful Bank customers
Step 2: Set the content marketing goal
Once you know what your leaders want to achieve, consider how content marketing can help. At this point, you’re looking for a general content marketing goal, not specific tactics or topics.
Example
The business objective is specific (increase awareness and trust in Bountiful Bank as a lender) and the goal is measurable (increase loan applications by 10%).
With this understanding, the content marketing team identified a goal that could ultimately help Bountiful Bank achieve this goal (becoming a destination for personal finance).
Content marketing goal: To become a go-to content source for banking customers interested in personal finance topics
Now the work begins to define the path to achieving this content marketing goal.
Step 3: Define the target group
It’s tempting to target a wide audience – you might think that the more people who consume your content, the more people will help you achieve your goals.
Resist this temptation because it is ineffective. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to create content that works well for as many audience segments as possible.
Choose a primary audience and possibly a secondary audience.
To narrow down your options, research your potential audiences. Look at the relevant data – demographics, sociographics, interests, needs and vulnerabilities. Include how and where people in this group currently get information about your general topic (as mentioned in your content marketing goal).
Ask who would be most interested in your company’s content topics and who would be more likely to take the desired actions to achieve the company’s operational goal. This is your primary audience.
Example
Bountiful Bank considered multiple audiences interested in personal finance content. However, when the content marketing team asked which of these audiences were more likely to apply for a loan in the next five years, they narrowed it down to one person – parents (with at least one young child). This target group would be more likely to apply for a car or home loan as their family grows.
Audience: Parents (with at least one small child) who:
- Are customers of Bountiful Bank
- Monitor your family’s budget
- Expect their living and transportation needs to evolve over the next five years
- Face the challenge of balancing family space and transportation needs as the family grows
- They are pressed for time in all aspects of their lives
Step 4: Identify content categories and topics
Knowing and describing your audience opens the window to content. What does this group of people want to read, see, or hear related to your content marketing goal?
Brainstorm a list of content ideas – big ideas, specific story aspects, or both. As you review the list, put a star next to the ones that would benefit your audience the most.
Identify several common themes. List example story topics that would fall into these categories to help people better understand related ideas and imagine new possibilities.
Example
Bountiful Bank chose three categories: personal life, road trips and free or low-cost fun. All of these topics are good for parents (with young children) who are interested in personal finance and may one day apply for a home, car, or personal loan. Specific story views were then added in each category:
Content Categories:
- Living at home
- How to Design a Multipurpose Living Room (Story Themes)
- The best upholstery fabric for families
- Time-saving cleaning tips
- Traveling by car
- Emergency tools every car should have
- Tailgate picnics if your vehicle doesn’t have a tailgate
- Apps to find the best gas prices
- Free or low cost fun
- Be a tourist in your own city
- Help your children create their own board games
Step 5: Detailed content types and formats
Deciding on content formats and types is closely linked to step 6 (distribution channels).
Ask two questions:
- How would the target group prefer to consume the content?
- Which of these formats fit the available resources and opportunities?
Be realistic. For example, your audience might like videos. However, if no one on your team has video skills and you don’t have a budget to hire or outsource, don’t choose video as one of your formats.
Example
Bountiful Bank has found that parents value access to content in a variety of formats.
Formats: The mix of digital and print content types includes:
- Blog article
- E-newsletter
- Social media posts
- Print newsletter
- videos
Step 6: List sales channels and frequency
Often the format you choose will lean towards a general delivery channel. However, be as specific as possible and describe what your content distribution priorities are.
For example, you could distribute an article on your company’s blog or on a third-party website. You can distribute a social media post via X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
At this point, you also need to look at the resources available to create, publish, and promote the content. What is the minimum amount of each variety your group can produce?
TIP: Don’t be too ambitious. Choose a frequency that you can realistically maintain. You can always increase it later.
Example
Bountiful Bank evaluated its resources and chose this schedule and delivery vehicles.
Frequency and distribution channels:
- Blog articles: 3x weekly; Bountiful Bank website
- E-newsletter: Once a month; Bountiful Bank Subscriber Database
- Tweets: Once a day; Generous bench handle
- Facebook: 3 times a week; Bountiful Bank Facebook page
- Newsletter: Twice a year; Physical locations of Bountiful Bank and its partners
- Videos: Twice a year; Bountiful Bank YouTube Channel
Once the format, platform and frequency were decided, Bountiful Bank explained the categories (from step 3) for each format and planned the following:
- Switch the three categories for each blog post as well as social media posts.
- Include all three categories in the e-newsletter and print newsletter.
- Use the “Traveling by Car” content category as a topic for videos.
Step 7: Connect to the business purpose
Now you can go back to the beginning. It’s time to add measurable goals to your content marketing goal (Step 2).
Hold:
- What do you want your audience to do after consuming a piece of content?
- How do you measure success?
- What are the specific goals (remember to link them to the company’s operational goals)?
- How long will you have to reach them?
Example
If you recall, Bountiful Bank wanted to increase loan applications by 10% year-over-year. To contribute to this goal, the content marketing team wanted to become the go-to source for personal finance.
Content marketing goals with metrics:
- Increase awareness of Bountiful Bank as a destination for family-oriented personal finance topics
- Increase blog page visits to the site by 10% each month
- Expand the database of customers who want Bountiful Bank content
- Increase your customers’ e-newsletter sign-ups by 20% quarterly
- Convert customer customers into loan applicants
- Increase the number of customers who also apply for a loan (personal, home or car loan) by 5% over the course of a year
Notice how their measurable content marketing goals ultimately lead to the company’s operational goal.
Now Bountiful Bank has condensed its content marketing strategy into a single page:
Comprehensive content marketing strategy for banks
audience (most interested and most responsive to business goals)
Parents (with at least one small child) who:
- Are customers of Bountiful Bank
- Monitor your family’s budget
- Expect their living and transportation needs to evolve over the next five years
- Face the challenge of balancing family space and transportation needs as the family grows
- They are pressed for time in all aspects of their lives
Content Categories (valuable perspective for the audience)
- Living at home
- How to Design a Multipurpose Living Room (Story Themes)
- The best upholstery fabric for families
- Time-saving cleaning tips
- Traveling by car
- Emergency tools every car should have
- Tailgate picnics if your vehicle doesn’t have a tailgate
- Apps to find the best gas prices
- Free or low cost fun
- Be a tourist in your own city
- Help your children create their own board games
Formats, distribution channels and frequency (consistent delivery in relevant channels)
- Blog articles: 3x weekly; Bountiful Bank website
- E-newsletter: Once a month; Bountiful Bank Subscriber Database
- Tweets: Once a day; Generous bench handle
- Facebook: 3 times a week; Bountiful Bank Facebook page
- Newsletter: Twice a year; Physical locations of Bountiful Bank and its partners
- Video: Twice a year; Bountiful Bank YouTube Channel
Content marketing goals (what the target group should do in relation to the company and company goals)
- Increasing the awareness of Bountiful Bank as a contact point for family-oriented personal finance topics
- Increase blog page visits to the site by 10% each month
- Expanding the database of customers who want content from Bountiful Bank
- Increase your customers’ e-newsletter sign-ups by 20% quarterly
- Convert customer customers into loan applicants
- Increase the number of customers who also apply for a loan (personal, home or car loan) by 5% over the course of a year
2 more things: Distribute and plan to rethink the strategy
Once you have the written strategy, distribute it to everyone involved and share it in an easily accessible location.
But you’re not quite finished yet. Schedule a time in your calendar based on the earliest timeframe of your goals to revisit the strategy and ensure the decisions remain valid.
Among other things, to review the strategy:
- All documented target dates
- Triggers or events occur within your organization (e.g. a reduction in content marketing resources, the introduction of new technologies or platforms).
- Triggers or events occur outside of your organization (e.g. a pandemic, a change in consumer behavior).
- Changes or updates to operational strategic planning (e.g. a new business goal, a new vision plan)
Start writing
OK, now you know that putting a content marketing strategy into writing isn’t all that difficult. Honestly, you probably already have the answers to most of the steps. So take a morning or afternoon to put everything together in one document. Your content marketing team – and the executives who approve the budget – will appreciate being on the same winning side.
Updated from an August 2022 article.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute