Creating a content marketing plan can be very overwhelming, especially if you’re new to it. You might be struggling with knowing what to post, when to post, how to create an editorial calendar, but don’t worry, this is all normal. And that’s why I have written this post, to share with you 4 hacks to help you plan a great content marketing strategy for your business.
I’ve been doing this for a while after my freelance journey began, but initially, I didn’t have to fully plan content as I had different responsibilities for my first client. Then I started planning social media content for my other clients and I still do it now, but since I’ve launched this blog the pressure has been a lot.
Don’t get me wrong, I love creating content but if you do it all yourself -which I imagine most content creators do especially in the beginning-, you will have your hands full with so many things to manage. Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Email list, Youtube, and the list can go on, so it can be very overwhelming. Plus, if this is not your full-time job, doing it alongside working full-time and attending all the other demands of life can make it a little hectic.
This is why I like to plan all my content in advance and work in a smart way so that:
- I won’t burn out. I don’t want to be so obsessed with creating all the content but not doing it in an organized way that in the end, I’m stressed, and it ends up being messy and not give me the results I wanted.
- I can remain consistent. When you are a content creator and you have an audience, you’re constantly working to build trust with them, and one of the ways you do it is by remaining consistent in the way you show up. Many content creators found it much easier to remain consistent when they had their content fully planned in advance and only needed some last-minute edits.
What is a content creator?
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According to this very interesting article by Hubspot, the meaning of content creator is “[someone] that produces entertaining or educational material that caters to the interests and challenges of a target audience. The content he/she produces can take many forms, including blog posts, videos, ebooks, photos, and infographics.”
So basically, if you are producing any kind of material that can educate or entertain people, and you typically do that in a digital format, then you are a content creator!
Whether you’re making money out of it yet or not, whether you do it as a hobby, or you want to build your personal brand, or you’re trying to establish your business, you also wear the hat of content creator.
Below, you are going to find my super easy – and great – tips on how to plan a content strategy for your online platforms, whether that’s for social media, your blog, etc.
How to plan and create content as a content creator
1. BRAINSTORM
Before you plan your content schedule, you need to know what you’re actually going to be posting/talking about on your channels. One thing I do that really helps me to put all my ideas out there is to brainstorm. This step doesn’t need to be perfect at all, you can do it on a piece of paper, a Google Doc, as long as you do it somewhere that’s all that matters. What I would suggest is that you do it in categories, so if you have a blog, a social media account -or more-, an email list and so on, do the brainstorming activity separately for each category. Then feel free to write, delete, scribble, whatever it is you’ll do that will help you write down all your ideas so that you can then organize them at a later stage.
2. CREATE A MASTER CALENDAR
This is the second most important step you need to follow. I don’t know about you but I’m quite a visual person and I like to see all the things that I need to do in one place so that I know what is going to happen in all the different areas. If you scroll to the bottom of this post orclick here, you will find a template of MY personal master calendar that I use to plan all my content for the blog. You can get it straight in your inbox and use it for your own brand. In this calendar -which is on a monthly view- I take all the ideas I brainstormed from step 1 and I write them down in order depending on what I think is most suitable for a specific day, what I know I will be able to create and have ready sooner, and what my audience demands. Bear in mind I never post at the weekend, but only post Monday to Friday so the calendar includes the weekdays only. I feel that it’s almost like doing a puzzle; I start with one platform at a time and fill in each day -if I want to post each day-, then I go onto the next platform using a different color, and so on. Sometimes I only write a general topic I want to talk about, while others I write a headline for a specific post, and then I’ll expand later on. By the end of it, you will have a colorful spread with all your content laid out, and you’ll feel like a lot of the pressure is gone already.
3. BATCH WORK
This is another important step I take in my content planning journey. Essentially, batch working means that you focus on one task at a time ONLY. Although I’m a huge fan of multitasking when possible and if done efficiently, when I create content I prefer to focus on one area at a time before I move on to the next. So what does this practically look like? Once I’ve created my master calendar, I will start by picking one platform and creating ALL the content for it. If I choose Instagram first, that means I’ll write down all the captions for my posts following the order of the master calendar. If I want to work on blog posts, I will spend a few hours writing all the posts for that specific month, and I save everything on my Google Drive. Then I’ll move onto my email list, where I write all my emails for the month, then it will be Pinterest and so on. If you’re a Youtuber, try and film as much as possible on the same day. Have all your different outfits planned, and then film a few videos in a row, changing looks each time.
4. SCHEDULE YOUR CONTENT
Scheduling tools will become your best friends. Ideally, you want to use one that can schedule content on all your platforms, but personally, I use two different ones at the moment as I prefer one specific platform for Instagram and one for Pinterest (I schedule my blog posts and emails through the websites themselves). Let’s be honest, no one has the time to be on their phone/laptop all the time, and you also want to make sure you post at the times where your audience is most engaged, so a scheduling tool is your best option. You can then schedule all the posts, pictures, captions, hashtags, and posting times in one go and not worry about it anymore. Also, some of them offer a free version as long as you don’t post over a certain number of posts per month, and that can be a cheaper option if you don’t want to invest too much money in it.
Are you curious to know which ones you should use? Then read this post with my top 4 content planning tools!
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Summary of the 4 hacks to plan a great content strategy
That was a lot of information that I shared, but once you are familiar with it, they will become very simple and straightforward. Put these 4 simple tips into practice and I’m sure content creation won’t be so daunting anymore. If you would like to get more advice from me on content planning and social media coaching, get in touch to book a free 20-minute discovery call, and I’d be more than happy to help you!
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