Make sure that your leadership buys in to that decision. Ensuring that you have useful and usable content, that is well structured, and easily found is vital to improving the user experience of a website. She ensures that all creative produced at Right Source is of the highest quality and is aligned with our clients’ business strategy and goals. Typically, the person driving the content strategy is the company’s CMO. There are a variety of options out there for content you can create. Keep the train on the tracks. Who's the target audience for your content? Here are two more handy resources to help you create your content strategy and plan: How to write a content marketing strategy step-by-step, by Jeffrey Kranz; Think With Google playbook for content scheduling In the following section, we'll discuss some of the most popular content formats marketers are creating, including some tools and templates to get you started. It’s easy to slip into “how did yesterday’s piece of content perform” mode, and that can lead to unhappiness all around. The fact of the matter is: content marketing can be a bear to handle. Did your competitive research show a “window of opportunity” for your content creation efforts? Content strategy is the ongoing process of transforming business objectives and goals into a plan that uses content as a primary means of achieving those goals. Download our white paper, The CMI Content Marketing Framework: 7 Building Blocks to Success, for an overview of the process, or learn about the other steps with our how-to guides on the right-hand side of the page. HubSpot also recommends this actionable content marketing workbook. Strategy is the process you go through to get to the planning step, which then leads you to execution. Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. From your blogging efforts to your social media marketing, Website Grader grades vital areas of your marketing and sends you a detailed report to help you optimize and improve each area. Halvorson says that content strategy “… plans for the creation, publication and governance of useful, usable content.” True, but I think you can go narrower. CoSchedule's Blog Post Headline Analyzer tool analyzes headlines and titles and provides feedback on length, word choice, grammar, and keyword search volume. Have a system in place where you can create, manage, and track your content, otherwise known as a content management system (CMS). Most people count on incorporating popular holidays such as New Year's and Thanksgiving in their marketing efforts, but you don't have to limit yourself to these important marketing dates. Infographics? And last but not least, make sure your strategy addresses what you will consider success and how that will be measured. Here’s how I would define it: “Content strategy defines how and why content will be used to achieve marketing and business goals.”. When you provide your audience with template tools to save them time and help them succeed, they're more likely to keep engaging with your content in the future. Are there conferences or tradeshows that require content to support and promote them? Content marketing helps businesses prepare and plan for reliable and cost-effective sources of website traffic and new leads. @jus10mcgill. Free and premium plans, Customer service software. Sure, it’s possible that people just tackle one or the other because they’re just dying to get to execution, which is the fun part. Then, create a social media content calendar so you can promote and manage your content on other sites. As you run out during the year, you create more but under the same themes. While the goal on social media sites like Instagram or Snapchat is to connect more intimately with your audience, your goal on platforms like Facebook and Twitter is to expand that audience, drive traffic toward your website, and start conversations in your industry. It takes time, organization, and creativity to grow a successful content marketing strategy. Some audiences still demand. By the same token, your content coaches and educates your audience through this problem as they begin to identify and address it. The content strategy helps you identify what content you need, what content you don’t need, and where to put your resources for the most ROI. If you've been in business for a while, review your content marketing efforts and the results from it in the last year by running a content audit. Content strategy refers to the management of pretty much any tangible media that you create and own: written, visual, downloadable — you name it. Who actually has to have input into the big decisions? You might've heard how important content creation is to the growth of your business, but as you'll see throughout this post, it needs to have a well-planned purpose. A few vital parts of content management include content creation, content publication, and content analytics. Many of them have parts of what I believe content strategy really entails, but most I’ve found, including Kristina Halvorson’s definition that is also quoted by CMI, are a little broader than my own definition. This could mean repurposing content into new formats and publishing them on your blog, creating original content specifically for external sites or publishing website content on various social networks. Stay up to date with the latest marketing, sales, and service tips and news. Is it a marketing plan? This brainstorming technique helps you put general ideas in contexts that would be appealing to your target audience. HubSpot's blog team found this to be key to increasing traffic to the Sales Blog over time — read about their blog strategy here. If you are someone who truly understands content and marketing, you probably know that you need a content strategy. (Here's our comprehensive guide to starting a podcast.). Videos are a highly engaging content medium and are shareable across social media platforms and websites alike. With this tool, you can figure out how to make your website more SEO-friendly and discover new content ideas. Posts should provide valuable content for your audience that makes them inclined to share posts on social media and across other websites. Most people start out with blog posts, but if you want to venture out and try producing other content pieces, consider which ones you want to make. Remember you can’t just choose what’s hot today. The Essential Tools to Plan and Execute Your Content Strategy. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. Staying on the rails helps your credibility with your audience and keeps you aligned with your company’s brand messages. What's your aim for developing a content marketing plan? The reliable source of traffic and leads from your evergreen content will give you the flexibility to experiment with other marketing tactics to generate revenue, such as sponsored content, social media advertising, and distributed content. There’s so much information out there about how to build a content strategy. In order to prove why you're worth buying from, you need to prove why you're worth listening to. Channels can include owned properties, such as your website and blog; and social media properties, such as Facebook and Twitter. Content strategy template is a significant tool for you to plan your content in the most efficacious manner. For additional guidance, use HubSpot's Marketing Plan Generator to create a 12-month strategy in just a few minutes. Premium plans, Connect your favorite apps to HubSpot. Planning a content strategy can seem overwhelming to a lot of marketers. Case studies are your opportunity to tell the story of a customer who succeeded in solving a problem by working with you. Yvonne received a bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in writing and literature and has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, branding and communications. With HubSpot CMS, you can plan, produce, publish, and measure your results all in one place. A content strategy, perhaps? Now is a great time to align your team's goals with the rest of your organization's goals. Great, let’s go! It’s also not the same as your content marketing strategy and planning. For more information, check out our privacy policy. Do you want to target a new group of people or expand your current target market? If you're an experienced marketer, your target may have changed. They're typically longer, more in-depth, and published less frequently than blog posts, which are written to attract visitors to a website. Content strategy refers to the planning, development, and management of content—written or in other media. When you're ready for more ideas, there are a plethora of different content types to diversify your content marketing. If you can create just one blog post that gets a steady amount of organic traffic, an embedded link to an e-book or free tool will continue generating leads for you as time goes on — long after you click Publish. If you're having trouble planning for the upcoming year or need some fresh ideas to include in your plan, read on. Content strategy focuses on the planning, creation, delivery, and governance of content. It’s important to understand that you need a content marketing strategy BEFORE you build your content plan. Figure out what you can do differently in the upcoming year and set new goals to reach. The Smart Insights content marketing strategy hub page has lots of helpful articles and guides to steer you in the right direction. If there are niche holidays that might appeal to your audience, it could be worth publishing content on your blog or on social media. Some activities … Having identified the topics you want to take a position on, you'll need to determine which formats to budget for so you can best express that position. So, relationships aside, what exactly is content strategy and how is it different than just coming up with an idea for some content and then publishing? Content not only includes the words on the page but also the images and multimedia that are used. Let’s start by taking a look at what content marketing is: The Content Marketing Institutedefines it this way: Note the emphasis on strategy in this statement. HubSpot Research recently found that video is the most preferred form of content. In January, I wrote about a Venn diagram you can use to identify the pillars of your content marketing program. With the help of an editorial calendar, you'll be on the right track for publishing a well-balanced and diverse content library on your website. Need help getting the broader content marketing strategy and plan together? A sound content strategy supports people on both sides of your product: those who are still figuring out what their main challenges are, and those who are already using your product to overcome these challenges. Strategy and planning are key to success, but if after all that work, your actual content sucks, why did you bother? Curious how HubSpot Head of Content SEO Aja Frost puts together our content strategy? These are great content formats to use if you're trying to share a lot of data in a way that is clear and easy to understand. After all, you've got more competition than ever. If you skipped the step in the strategy section where you should have considered getting freelance help or adding staff, now might be the time to reconsider. Just as the name implies, it’s the strategical process you use for determining why you create a specific piece of content, how it’s formatted, and how it will serve your audience and business’s overall goals. And remember that once you launch you have to keep going. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. Build Your Healthcare Technology Content Marketing Plan, in a Content Marketing Institute (CMI) post on the subject, Build Your Content Marketing Plan: A 10-Step Guide, How to Build an Effective Content Marketing Plan, How to Grow Your Business with Content Marketing. Why is it so hard for marketers to create a strategic plan for their content? Start with the product, tell your audience some insights about your company, introduce them to the culture. Whether you're just starting out with content marketing or you've been using the same approach for a while, it never hurts to revisit your content strategy plan — to make sure it's up-to-date, innovative, and engaging for your customers, no matter when or how they intend to buy. Video also captures people's attention more than any other content format. Couldn’t you just start planning based on your corporate knowledge? Who is involved and responsible for what? Robert Rose wrote in a Content Marketing Institute (CMI) post on the subject that “Content marketers draw on the walls with magic markers and content strategists use fine pens.” Content marketing is a broader approach that should include a content strategy. Think of it as a marketing plan that specifically relates to content; thus, it should include details such as the key topic areas you will cover, what content you will create, when and how to share your content, and specific calls to action you will include. Free and premium plans, Content management system software. This might look like making a table with brief descriptions of each. Starting a podcast will help audiences find your brand if they don't have time or interest in reading content every day. The number of podcast listeners is growing — in 2018, nearly one-third of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast in the last month. Yvonne Lyons is Right Source’s vice president of creative services, overseeing content and design for all of our clients. A good starting point for your content strategy plan is to set out a content marketing mission statement. When you try to find “the” definition of content strategy online, you are hit with lots of variations. Whether you are a content writer, editor, story writer or hold any responsibility related to content management then, this template is going to benefit you in showing the best of your creative thoughts and impress your customers, clients, boss or listeners. Lots of people believe they’re essentially the same things. From building the foundation of your content marketing plan to adding tools to better manage your content, setting up your strategy for the new year won't be a hassle if you follow the steps and explore the resources here. It can be a single page or fill up a binder, depending on the size and complexity of the business and work. The content strategy should be part of that, but content marketing is broader. On Instagram, for example, users want photos, videos, and graphics that reflect current events, show off user-generated content, or even go behind the scenes of your organization. Taking a strategic approach to your content plan ensures your message cuts through the clutter and reaches your target audience with the right information at the right time. Content strategy is the piece of your marketing plan that continuously demonstrates who you are and the expertise you bring to your industry. Today's content strategies prevent clutter by managing content from a topic standpoint — as explained in the video above. So many things go into content strategy. These are the eight most popular types of content marketing you can create for your readers and customers. Check out our free blog post templates for writing great how-to, listicle, curation, SlideShare presentation, and newsjacking posts on your own blog. Your whole content marketing plan will benefit from writing this out. In turn, the business producing the ebook has a new lead for the sales team to contact. When you develop a content strategy, there are a few questions to answer. Another popular CMS is WordPress, to which you can add the HubSpot WordPress plugin for free web forms, live chat, CRM access, email marketing, and analytics. By knowing your target audience, you can produce more relevant and valuable content that they'll want to read and convert on. The alignment with your paid and organic social media marketing tactics, integration with marketing technology efforts, and cooperation with public relations plans are all key. If you have interesting people to interview or conversations to host, consider podcasting as another content format to experiment with. Here, a content strategy plan refers to the detailed outline of an organization’s strategic content marketing. You can utilize the Content Strategy Template provided by Moz. If you are someone who truly understands content and marketing, you probably know that you need a content strategy. If you intend to be successful with your content creation and your content marketing, you need to be able to separate one from the other and do them in the right order. Strategic plans can come in many different shapes and sizes, but they all have the following components. Ebooks are the next step in the inbound marketing process: After reading a blog post (such as this one), visitors might want more information. Why do you want to produce content and create a content marketing plan? Most managers can benefit from having a strategic plan. It remains purposeful in maintaining a quality and unique website and social media statistics. A strategic plan is a document that establishes the direction of an organization. But why do you need it and what goes into it? A case study is perhaps your most versatile type of content marketing because it can take many different forms — some of which are on this list. Know your goals before you begin planning, and you'll have an easier time determining what's best for your strategy. Just as you can create content in different formats, you'll also have different channels you can publish to. Mission statement: The mission statement is an overarching, timeless expression of your purpose and aspiration, addressing both what you seek to […] Armed with all this organized information, you can now identify your staffing plan: Who you will need on your team to create, evaluate, and monitor the work. Many of the ideas you think of will be evergreen — they're just as relevant months from now as they are today. Your goal in a case study is to show the people who are considering your product that the proof is in the pudding. Templates are a handy content format to try because they generate leads for you while providing tremendous value to your audience. Videos require a bigger investment of time and resources than written content, but as visual marketing increases in popularity — after all, it's 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content — it's a medium worth experimenting with. The Four Elements of a Content Marketing Strategy. 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