Introduction to Content Strategy
Having great ideas is only part of the package when it comes to delivering high-quality, compelling content. You’ve also got to have the right framework in place, otherwise known as a content strategy. A thorough content strategy template can bring everything all in one place to help ensure you’re on track to meet your goals. It can also help everyone get on board with a cohesive strategy and allow you to scale your content strategy across your organization effectively.
What is a Content Strategy Template?
A content strategy template is a roadmap for how you plan to use individual pieces of content to reach your organization’s goals. It can help ensure that your content marketing goals are effective and consistent across various parts of the organization and that no one is going rogue and spending time creating something that won’t help you reach your goals. It covers all the key parts of creating and maintaining your ongoing content output. It also makes sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to goals, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the target audience and how content fits in with the overall marketing strategy.
Features to Include in Your Content Strategy Template
While your needs may vary based on whether the content strategy template is for a chain of coffee shops or a medical supply company, here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a general template:
Set Your Content Marketing Goals
The first step in content strategy planning is to answer the question, “What are we doing here, and why?” Are you hoping to create more brand awareness for your new FinTech app or improve lead generation for new bank customers? Or maybe you’re simply trying to retain your existing customer base. By setting out with clear direction from the very beginning, you’ll be less likely to waste energy on ideas that don’t support your brand’s main objectives; plus, having clearly defined goals will go a long way to making the content strategy a valuable template for everyone across your organization.
Identify Your Target Audience
Now that you’ve got your goals ironed out, who are you trying to reach with all this insightful content? Which demographic are you trying to communicate with? Millennial homeowners with an annual income of $75k+, women 50+ with disposable income looking for a vacation home? Do you have a primary as well as a secondary audience? Can you group these audiences into specific personas to better direct your marketing efforts? The more you know about the people you want to reach, the more likely you are to provide content that resonates with them.
Create Your Pillars and Subtopics
Brand pillars are key to focusing your content. A straightforward way to think about your brand pillars is to consider the overlap between what the brand cares about and what the audience cares about. For example, to create a pillar for an eco-friendly clothing brand, you might consider “Sustainable living.” From there, you can break down the broad categories into more specific subtopics (“Low-waste living”) and, finally, story ideas themselves (“10 tips to make your clothes last longer”).
Define How You Will Measure Success
What does success look like for your content marketing goals? Is it the number of eyeballs on a particular page or click-throughs on a CTA? Are there different KPIs for different marketing campaigns and types of content? Besides making you look good when you reach your goalposts, KPIs can let you know if your efforts are focused on the right things.
Perform a Content Audit
Take a look at your existing content and decide if it fits with the goals and audience you’ve defined above. Does the content meet your goals and resonate with your intended audience? Are they engaging with it? Why or why not? Are there any content gaps where you could be meeting more of your goals?
Choose Your Content Types and Channels
What kind of content are you going to produce? Depending on your audience and goals, a long-form blog post, a video, or an infographic may be more appropriate. You can also use various formats to get your message across and reach different groups of people at various points in the marketing funnel.
Outline a Content Creation Process
Define an approval and workflow process that includes all the necessary people and steps. Write everything down so that everyone can quickly refer to it. That way, everyone knows what’s expected, and details, like a round of fact-checking, are less likely to fall through the cracks.
Review Your Content Consistently
Implement regular check-ins to review your strategy and individual content elements. Using the data gathered from your KPIs and feedback from your organization, you can optimize each piece of content as more information becomes available over time. For example, you can adapt longer-form content to rank for certain keywords or repurpose a blog post into bite-sized social media posts for better engagement.
How and Where to Use a Content Strategy Template
Once you’ve developed a working document and populated it with your ideas, it’s time to put your content strategy to work. It can be especially useful during quarterly and annual strategy meetings to help you make sure any new plans fit in with the overall strategy and goals. Pull out your content strategy template whenever you need to see where new ideas would fit in the bigger scheme of things, and evaluate how the content resonates with the greater marketing strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Choose the Right Format for My Content?
The right format depends on your target audience and goals. Consider what type of content your audience engages with most and the message you want to convey—blog posts for in-depth information, videos for visual storytelling, or infographics for data visualization.
How Do I Balance an SEO Content Strategy with the Overall Content Strategy Planning?
Incorporate keyword research, on-page SEO elements, and link-building strategies into your content planning. Using tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs can help you identify relevant keywords and track your content’s SEO performance.
What Should I Do If My Content Isn’t Performing Well?
Analyze the performance data to identify potential issues, such as lack of engagement or poor SEO. Adjust your content strategy by refining your topics, improving the quality of your content, and experimenting with different formats and distribution channels.
Conclusion
Creating a content strategy template is a crucial step in delivering high-quality, compelling content that resonates with your target audience. By following the steps outlined above and including the necessary features in your template, you can ensure that your content marketing efforts are effective and consistent across your organization. Remember to review and adjust your content strategy regularly to optimize your results and achieve your goals. With a well-planned content strategy template, you can take your content to the next level and drive real results for your business.