Quick Takeaways<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A content marketing strategy<\/a> is the guiding document for executing how you\u2019ll use content to meet business goals. It sets the parameters for what you\u2019ll do, how you\u2019ll do it, and where you\u2019ll do it.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get one thing straight: a content plan is NOT a strategy. It\u2019s like confusing the recipe with the meal. The plan is your ingredient list; the strategy is the culinary genius that turns those ingredients into a Michelin-star dish.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a living document that will change and evolve as your business, products, and target buyers do.<\/p>\n Image source\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a trip down memory lane. The pandemic year of 2020 was a year that had us all rethinking our game plans, including content marketers.<\/p>\n According to the Content Marketing Institute\u2019s B2B report<\/a>, a whopping 94% of us had to shake things up and pivot our strategies.<\/p>\n Now, here\u2019s the kicker: despite this massive shift, only 43% of organizations actually have their strategies written down. Yeah, you heard that right.<\/p>\n And get this: 70% of organizations are pumping money into content marketing. So, it\u2019s kinda mind-blowing that so many are still winging it without a documented strategy.<\/p>\n Making an investment to consistently publish content that your target audience wants to consume to drive business outcomes (leads, sales, etc.) is impossible to sustain without a strategy.<\/p>\n As noted, it will keep you organized and consistent. However, there\u2019s more to it than just logistics. Content marketing<\/a> is a way to shape thought leadership and earn trust.<\/p>\n Content marketing isn\u2019t just about churning out articles; it\u2019s about shaping conversations and building a tribe that trusts you. It\u2019s your ticket to becoming the go-to guru in your industry.<\/p>\n Content is pivotal in driving target audiences to your website. The way B2B buyers make purchasing decisions is much different now. The typical B2B buyer consumes 13 pieces of content before making a decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n Within that 13, 8 will be from the company. They find it most often directly on the website, through search, and social media<\/p>\n Image source\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Your company can\u2019t drop the ball on content to get found, which is the leading reason you need a strategy. If you don\u2019t have this foundation, you don\u2019t know critical things like:<\/p>\n Without these things clearly spelled out in a strategy, you\u2019re just going to be reactive, not proactive. You\u2019ll be throwing the darts, but they won\u2019t hit the bullseye.<\/p>\n If you do all the work to build a strategy, will it pay off? What kind of benefits can you expect?<\/p>\n So, how should you go about creating a content marketing strategy? It\u2019s not a simple endeavor. It\u2019s also not something that only one person develops. All stakeholders should participate in some way.<\/p>\n Content marketing is the consistent publishing of relevant content that drives business outcomes. That\u2019s the general definition, but what does it mean for your company?<\/p>\n In this introduction to your strategy, you\u2019ll be formulating the goals of producing content. Such goals may include:<\/p>\n In this section, you also want to define the tactics that will help you achieve these goals \u2014 consistent content production, more gated content, optimization of content to rank well, nurturing leads, and mastering amplification.<\/p>\n Lastly, you need to make the connection between content and revenue. This is for the stakeholders that aren\u2019t content marketing astute who make budget decisions.<\/p>\n If you can\u2019t connect the dots for them, they\u2019ll continue to look at you as a cost center, not a revenue generator.<\/p>\n That means you have to track efforts on the backend. For example, if you can attribute traffic and conversions to organic search, it demonstrates that optimized content delivers new customers.<\/p>\n Content pillars are the main categories from which all ideas originate. They keep your content creators focused. Once you begin to build your content calendar, tagging pieces with the pillar helps with auditing to see if you have gaps.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also want to document the types of content you\u2019ll create. There\u2019s more to content marketing than just blogging, which is, of course, critical.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also have long-form content, case studies, infographics, video, social media posts, webinars, and more.<\/p>\n Buyer personas are pivotal to your strategy. You are creating content for them, so you need to know them well. This goes beyond demographics and titles.<\/p>\n You also want to define their pain points, assumptions, challenges, motivations, and objections.<\/p>\n Buyer persona creation should be a group exercise that would include content marketers, product managers, sales, and other SMEs (subject matter experts).<\/p>\n Revisit buyer personas at least annually to refresh them. If something big changes in your industry or company, that\u2019s also a good time to review them.<\/p>\n In this section, you\u2019ll need to identify what your content calendar will look like and where it will live. Check out these content calendar templates<\/a> for reference.<\/p>\n A content calendar is a living document that provides visibility across all projects. That\u2019s where your workflows are as well. There are many tasks involved to take a content piece from ideation to publication to amplification.<\/p>\n Brand voice and tone documents create parameters for content, attributes of the brand\u2019s voice, foundational language, and product language.<\/p>\n Your brand voice should have at least three attributes. For example, one could be conversational. Then you describe it: it\u2019s not formal; slang is okay; it\u2019s benefit-driven, not feature-focused.<\/p>\n Then, you can outline some dos and don\u2019ts. With the example above, a conversational voice doesn\u2019t use complex words and is friendly and personable.<\/p>\n Then, you\u2019ll define parameters around:<\/p>\n SEO<\/a> is critical to content marketing. However, write for people first, Google second!<\/p>\n You\u2019ll want to address:<\/p>\n Using a platform to track your SEO efforts is a good idea. You\u2019ll get insights and discover issues immediately. Tracking your rank position is also critical.<\/p>\n If you lose ranking, you\u2019ll want to understand why. Then take remediation steps to improve it.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got content. Now you need to send it out into the world. Within distribution, you\u2019ll have several buckets:<\/p>\n Content marketing can complement traditional marketing like trade shows, PR, and product launches.<\/p>\n In this section, you\u2019ll outline how content can contribute to these areas. For example, you can create pre-event blogs about a trade show, promote an exclusive piece of content for registrants, and then deliver that post-show.<\/p>\n How will you determine content marketing ROI? What metrics do you need to measure to discern if you\u2019re meeting your goals? The most crucial content analytics include:<\/p>\n Now that we\u2019ve explained the steps to developing one, you need to put it all together in a way that makes sense for all parties.<\/p>\n Not everyone that views or uses it will be an expert in content marketing. Consider that when reviewing these content marketing templates.<\/p>\n Here is a totally free content marketing worksheet<\/a> (google sheet) I give away and use with clients in our content marketing strategy workshops.<\/p>\n Our tool of choice is DivvyHQ<\/a> and they have a 30-day content marketing strategy template that offers lots of guidance on building a unique strategy that will support your business goals. It\u2019s 10 steps, but it\u2019s not overwhelming.<\/p>\n Backlinko<\/a> offers a content marketing template in three formats. It\u2019s fairly simple and doesn\u2019t include all the steps above, but it\u2019s a good starter version.<\/p>\n\n
What Is a Content Marketing Strategy?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe Pandemic Still Affects Content in 2025<\/h2>\n
Why You Need a Content Marketing Strategy<\/h2>\n
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The Benefits of Having a Strategy<\/h2>\n
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How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy<\/h2>\n
Step 1: Define What Content Marketing Means<\/a> for Your Organization<\/h3>\n
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Step 2: Determine Your Content Pillars and Types<\/a><\/h3>\n
Step 3: Create Your Buyer Personas<\/a><\/h3>\n
Step 4: Design Your Content Calendar and Workflows<\/h3>\n
Step 5: Develop a Voice and Tone<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Step 6: Develop Your SEO Strategy<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Step 7: Outline Your Distribution Strategy<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Step 8: Illustrate How Content Marketing Supports Traditional Marketing<\/h3>\n
Step 9: Identify the Metrics That Matter<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Choosing a Content Marketing Template<\/h2>\n
DivvyHQ<\/h3>\n
Backlinko<\/h3>\n
CoSchedule<\/h3>\n