The perfect plan for content marketing

Is content marketing fashionable or is it something that has come to stay? Is my company prepared to take full advantage of the potential it offers us? In this article I share with you the essential considerations before implementing a content marketing plan.

The marketing content already present in 82% of companies according to a recent article from this medium. Said in a very simple way, in opposition to the traditional marketing strategies in which we “push” messages to the different audiences to get from E (our Company) to A (our Audience), content marketing focuses on A come to E, and as a result of this this activity leads to a benefit for E, be it immediate or medium and long term.

How do we get A to come to E? I include below an abbreviated guide of the most important points to keep in mind when making the content marketing plan …

Analysis of the company’s situation

About us? Where we come from? These questions have to be asked frequently again because the market changes, and for some companies it is a question of adapting or dying.

Are we clear about the mission of the company? Your challenges, position in the market, goals and aspirations? Possibly it is the part in which we must consider with greater honesty the current situation, in order to identify the most urgent or important changes or improvements.

Market research

You can consider primary market research with questions like: have you interviewed influential people in your sector? And to potential users of your products or services? Or, secondary research: do you observe and evaluate what people say about your sector on the Internet? What is the size of your market?

Identification of niches and target audience

What are the entry barriers to your market? Are there niches where to position your company and focus on the content marketing strategy?

Who is your target audience or public? Can you define your profile / s? Where do you find them?

goals

What we want? What objectives and results are expected from this plan?

As I have already mentioned, not all objectives should focus on achieving sales. The online medium ter allows you to measure a large number of results. Now, do not measure to measure, but determine which objectives and metrics are essential for your business.

Strategy and tactics

How do we get A (Audience) to E (our Company)?

What tactics can be used? Online, offline, combine online with offline, the possibilities are enormous.

Internal organization and responsibilities

Who is sailing this boat? Define objectives and responsibilities and assign internal and / or external professional resources for the implementation of the content marketing plan.

Technology and infrastructure

How are the contents in the company managed?

There are usually 4 different types of CMS and each has its advantages and disadvantages:

  • Internal developments
  • Commercial
  • Software as a Service (SaaS)
  • Open software, free to use

Publishing plan and dissemination

Based on the information and conclusions obtained from the previous points, now you will ask yourself: what content do you need to attract your audience or audiences?

The content editorial plan, to be able to be original, can consist of a content planning classified by: audiences, objectives, responsible, types of contents and dates of publication or diffusion. There may be a situation in which the company has content that has not yet been used online, and can give them new life.

The diffusion can have a multiplying effect in a content marketing strategy. Do you use broadcast channels such as newspapers, blogs, newsletters, social networks, applications and social bookmarking, etc?

Measurement, evaluation and improvement

The PDCA Circle also called the Deming Circle: “Plan, Do, Check, Act” has been studied in MBA schools for many years and can be applied here as well.

You have to consider online reputation metrics such as: brand awareness, interaction with users, traffic to my website, number of page views per user, bounce rate to know if the contents of the website or landing page are useful, number of contacts registered to my blog or newsletter, or have completed a contact form, number of recommendations, online sales, etc.

Periodically review what you have proposed in the plan and if you are getting it or not. Try to apply improvement initiatives as soon as possible to align your activities to the achievement of objectives.

Budget

And how much will it cost us? Perhaps the opposite question could be posed: what is the cost of not carrying out a content marketing strategy for an organization on the Internet? Can your company achieve its objectives based on buying online advertising from the usual suspects? If so, congratulations, you may belong to 1% of the companies that may not need it … or do you? 😉

Give him a budget, and maybe an additional amount as a contingency. Consider external investment and internal resources. If you do not value your time, or worse, they do not value your time in the company that you work, it is that the “time is money” (Benjamin Franklin) has not yet been captured.

What reflections does this article of the content marketing plan propose?

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