Content planning… filling in that blank piece of paper

Content planning made easy

Over the past 18 months to two years it seems there has been ever-increasing volume of advice on content marketing. You would have to have been on a very long holiday or living under a rock to not notice how content marketing is a huge topic and an industry worth $44 billion and that's just in the United States.

While there are many posts exhorting us to "create awesome content" there is a big practical challenge of how you plan and resource this content creation. One specific problem many of us face is how to encourage other specialists in our companies to create content which we have covered in this post based on a discussion on persuading others in your company to create content for you.

I wanted to add to this by reviewing the issue of when you're face with a blank piece of paper…..what content are you asking colleagues to write in the 1st place?  It's an ongoing challenge, it sounds like a symphony being played in St Pauls Cathedral, although more annoying,  it sounded more like my neighbours children playing the same song on a recorder, on repeat.

Ideas on planning your content and content-based campaigns

Just how do you plan in advance your newsletters, blog posts, or other SEO link bait that ticks all the boxes and will genuinely be worthy content, and not the rubbish that penguin and panda updates are targeting?

Staring at a blank piece of paper trying to find the inspiration for that useful, exclusive and valuable piece of content is not as difficult as you may think.

I have created a simple content plan that can be used as a template for your newsletters, social media, and SEO link bait needs. There are more detailed editorial calendars available; however this template is ideal for the smaller SME Company, with limited content budgets and marketing resources. I have used it in larger companies too, but it works well for smaller companies too.

Below are some top-level tips for you to never sit with a blank bit of paper again.

Getting started with your content

• Personas

I do like to bang on this drum, but creating a persona and understanding what that hook is going to be is gold, and it will help filter into all your marketing activities.

If you have some budget there are companies that can data mine and produce valuable personas , previously I have used Mosaic (Experian) and when I have had no budget, I have used templates similar to (Smartinsight's persona guide) and filled in data from Sport England’s segmentation which is great for Spa/ Gym companies, adding postcodes of your target market will show you a dominant profile.

Even if you’re not a spa or gym, you can still take away valuable insights such as preferred tone of voice, how to market to them, what activities they like to do (non-sport) and what brands they are receptive to.

Add to that a detailed workshop with front line staff such as sales, membership, customer services, to thrash out a detailed persona based on real life interactions also help shape a persona.

• Timing is everything

Once you have an idea of what hooks you need to focus on, now you need to write something that will keep their attention. Engaging content that users are compelled to share with their networks.

How do you know when to publish? Use the Google Trends tool and see when your topic has been searched for over the last few years, mass groups of people are surprisingly very habitual so it will provide insights as to when you should publish your topic.

Hook..

Now you know what you’re audience are interested in by linking your persona interests with insight to when they are seeking and consuming the topic, for a quick win, go through your previous marketing content. What have you got that can be repurposed? Do you have a gap?
…..line and sinker
Package your content into an engaging piece of content that your key target audience is going to love. I am going to use an example to show you how to do this.

Case study of a Travel Company using this method

• Travel Company Goal: selling Ski Holidays.
• Persona insights: Audience is interested in getting fit for the slopes, searching for Skiing in January for the late weekend / week deals, but interested in getting fit in September.
• List of content types to schedule monthly: For example, Top 10 tips; How Tos (pack, get ski fit, eat); Q&A, current news, checklist, what to wear, celebrity skiers, interviews, trends)

How to approach this?

Go through a content brainstorm of content types you’re comfortable writing and have the budget to create, ask staff or potential partnerships for support/guest posts; can you partner with a local ski shop for content, or a local gym for PT advice?

• Publish

Now you have your top 10, how to, or interview, publish via your newsletter with a link to view the full piece on your website. Don’t forget to make it easy for your users to promote on social media sites for you, and ramp up engagement by promoting on your social networks inviting people to comment ,vote, like, rate, or feedback on your content.