With so many options available regarding where to place your brand’s message and what that message should be, a content plan is an integral tool to keep you on track. It can also lessen the risk of leaving out an important part of your marketing when things are hectic or moving fast at your company.
“Content marketing is the buzz term these days. Maintaining consistency and increasing your content creation efforts and distribution are more important than ever before,” said Eva Faircloth, Global Marketing Solutions content director. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 70 percent of marketers say they are creating more content than they did a year ago.
How do you keep up with the content you should be producing? With a comprehensive content plan, which can be as simple as creating a spreadsheet, or something more detailed if necessary. Putting all the moving parts together in one place will keep the engine going throughout the year.
What Should Your Content Plan Include?
Your plan should include the building blocks of your marketing plan. At Global Marketing Solutions, we create content plans for clients, breaking them into months to make it easy to see tasks and upcoming content. In addition, each month is broken out by type of content, publish dates, producers/editors, distribution channels and market segment:
- Events 90 days out
- Current month events
- Social media content
- Blog/guest blog content
- Newsletter content
- Digital assets
- Paid advertising
Depending on your brand’s needs, each section may be broken down further. For example, paid advertising may also include social media promoted posts, pay per click, print advertising, etc. In addition, digital assets may include photography, video, etc.
Creating a content plan in advance is well worth it. Planning this far ahead for the upcoming year will save you time and energy later on. While this will help you stay on track, remember to also allow for flexibility to the schedule and provide opportunities to slip in real-time engagement. When you implement the seven building blocks we’ve provided, you will be more than prepared for what’s to come in 2016.
Do you have any content planning secrets? Share them with us below.
