How To Build A Content Marketing Strategy And Plan

Without a solid content marketing strategy and plan any inbound or content marketing process is destined to fail, wasting a significant amount of time and money. This article suggests some important steps to take to build a robust strategy and plan.

The steps to take to build a sound content marketing strategy and plan are, in principle, no different to the long established standard marketing planning process. The main steps are

• Establish the required outcome
• Analysis
• Review and build scenarios
• Select a scenario and define objectives
• Build strategies to achieve those objectives
• Break down those strategies into elements and build a plan

Establish The Required Outcome

This required outcome must come from senior management. What does the business wish to achieve, where is it headed, what are the key numbers, what are the timescales, what resources are available. From this overall mission it is important to define the role of inbound marketing and content marketing as a major element. What define success (or otherwise) and what are the numbers?

Analysis

Without defining precisely where the business is now, how it got there, its customer base, why they buy and what segments they fall into, products and services, organisation and capability then it is not possible to define a way forward. Analysis is the foundation upon which any successful content marketing plan is built.

Scenarios.

With a solid grasp of where the business is now and a definition of where it needs to get to it is possible to conceive several potential routes to get from A to B. Each route needs to be thought through in detail before deciding on a way forward and how inbound marketing can contribute to achieving that goal.

Marketing Objectives

With a route in place it should then be possible to set a number of short to medium term objectives (way markers along the route) with timescales and measures to ensure the objectives are delivered.

Strategy and Plan

Strategies can then be designed to achieve each objective and these may be broken down into individual elements to be built into a plan that specifically defines what is to be delivered, by whom and when.

The content marketing strategy and plan therefore delivers focus, timescales and required outcomes. Without a plan it is all too easy to drift, deliver content that is not appropriate to the task, on an ad hoc basis and fail as a result.

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