How to (Easily) Start Planning Out Your Content Strategy

Creating a strategy for your content is, well, let’s face it — not easy.

It involves hours of planning, researching, and communicating with others.

When you’re already busy running your business and focusing on the big picture, it can seem like just another small thing you can’t take on.

So Wait — Why do I even need a content strategy?

Because having a consistent, high-quality content strategy will lead to:

• Better social media engagement
• Lead generation
• Improved conversion rates
• An enhanced SEO strategy
• Making your brand authority
• Building trust with your target audience

With all those benefits you can get from utilizing content in your marketing strategy, you already know it’s worth it for your business to start using. However, as mentioned above, it can be hard to keep pushing out content consistently, which is key to helping you reap those benefits.

So, how do you build a consistent content marketing strategy for your business?

Step 1: Research

Honestly, this is a good first step when you’re implementing any strategy, but is especially important for content. Before you start with all your big plans, you need to research first! You need to look at what your competitors are doing. What content is working for them to reach their target, and what isn’t? What social post or blog is getting the most traction?

Besides researching your competitor, you also need to research your target market. What type of content will have them engaging the most? What are they searching for online (this also means you need to research keywords, too!).

By doing your research before launching your content strategy, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble in the future.

Step 2: Plan

Start pulling up the excel spreadsheets because your content marketing strategy needs a plan.

In an ideal world, all your content should be planned out at least a month in advance. This will give your writers and designers time to create and to get back to you with content. Or enough time for you to create the content yourself!

As well, you’re going to need to take into account any time required for revisions, edits, or complete rewrites.

Step 3: Communicate

Speaking of making the time for revisions, when you’re creating content or having it created for you, communication is key.

First and foremost, you need to effectively communicate to your content creators what you want for your brand. You need to give them competitor references, a brand voice you want to implement, your brand colours, and timelines. If you don’t communicate these things before they start creating content, you’re going to waste time, money, and energy — and no one wants that.

As well, you need to communicate when it comes to making any revisions to the content. Don’t just simply say “No.” Rather, provide feedback with what’s wrong with the piece, why it won’t work, and what you would like to see the next time they come back to you.

Communication is key to creating amazing content for your brand!

Step 4: Edit

And then edit some more! For social posts, infographics, blogs — literally anything, if there’s a grammar error, you lose all credibility. And yes, your writers should be amazing, but even the top writers slip up here and there. Your audience can drop off, and it’ll take a long time for you to build back their confidence and trust in your brand.

Whether this means you’re proofreading the content or hiring an editor, it’ll be worth it, in the long run, to do so.

Because at the end of the day, you’re an expert in your field, right?

Then that means you need to be an expert when it comes to your grammar as well.

Step 5: Schedule

It’s not realistic to think that everyone consistently posting blogs, social media posts, and web content is doing it manually.

And probably, most of them aren’t.

For social media, they’re most-likely using platforms like Hootsuite, Loomly, or Buffer.

And for pushing out their blogs and sticking to a schedule, they’re probably using WordPress.

What does this mean for you?

1. Keeping your content schedule consistent just got a whole lot easier.
2. You need to start investing and looking into which content planners would work best for your business.

Conclusion

So you’ve seen why content marketing is beneficial to have for your business. As well, you’ve seen the steps you can take to plan out your content marketing strategy and make your life just a little bit easier.

If you start pushing out your high-quality, consistent content, then you’ll start seeing results, too.

Does all this sound great, but still don’t think you have the time to plan out our content strategy (even though it’s just so easy)? Or maybe you don’t feel like content creation is a part of your skillset?

Not to worry! TechWyse has got your back. With a team of experts specifically devoted to creating and executing the perfect content strategy for your business.