Have you ever wondered where to start when you sit down to plan your next content? Or maybe you have so many ideas, and you’re not sure which direction your ideation process is leaning towards.

Content planning is an important part of any content strategy. Whether you’re a small business or a global corporation, you need to plan out your next steps and know where to allocate resources to have the most impact.

An effective content plan is more than just brainstorming ideas for blog posts — it’s everything that goes into the online presence of your brand, from social media updates to newsletter copies.

Although there are different ways to create an effective plan, it’s important to remember that there is no one size fits all with planning content. What works for some may not work for others.

In this article, we’ve put together a few strategies that will help take some guesswork out of this process and help you get the most bang for your buck.

Read on:

What is a Content Plan?

A content plan is a strategy that helps you design, organize, and publish content to drive the success of your business.

A well-designed content plan helps you determine where you want to go and what type of content you need to make it happen.

Although, organizing your content can take some time to get used to, once you do it right, it’ll make planning for new content so much easier.

If you’re tired of jumping from one shiny, interesting strategy to another, the following tips will help you discover productive ways of getting the most out of your content plan.

Establish personas for each piece of content

By creating personas for the pieces of content you produce, you’ll see how well your content performs by determining if it meets the needs of your audience.

Considering that most businesses provide some good or service to their audience, it makes sense for that business to focus on those individuals who will become the buyers or users of their products.

Set specific goals for each content

While it is important to link personas to each piece of content, it’s equally important to set specific content goals.

Having a goal in mind while creating content is non-negotiable. Your content goal can be to:

Nurture leads into prospects
Rake in traffic via SEO
Promote products and services
Entertain or educate your audience
Get more newsletter subscribers

Your goal connects the needs of each persona to the overall business goals and provides actionable insights.

Ask your audience for feedback

To create an effective content plan, you must understand the needs of your audience. You can do this by speaking to them directly.

You should ask questions like:

What types of content do you like?
What do you find to be useful?
What’s missing from our current offerings?
What drove you to buy products in the past?
What is your preferred method of receiving information about a product or service?

Asking these questions is how you create a content plan that works for your brand.

Brainstorm content ideas

When generating new content ideas, it’s important to consider your specific goal for the project and make sure that it reflects during this process.

For example, if your goal is to create educational content for your audience, this should reflect in your brainstorming session.

This way, you avoid spreading yourself too thin whilst providing value.

Although coming up with content ideas can be a daunting task, it’s necessary to come up with as many as you can to plan out your content effectively.

Brainstorming content ideas will give you a plethora of options so that you don’t run out of material for future posts.

Here are 5 brainstorming techniques that will get your creative juices flowing:

Ask your community what they want from you.
Brainstorm by asking friends and family for ideas
Brainstorm content ideas using specific keywords.
Use copywriting tools like copy.ai, headlime, etc.
Brainstorm content ideas based on topics — follow the latest trends.
Read every comment on your social media pages.
Go through your live chat inbox — turn customer questions into content ideas.

Start creating content

Sometimes, we’re so caught up in how we’re going to do things differently or why we’re doing things differently that we forget to do the actual work.

Content is the nerve centre of your marketing strategy. It’s what customers search for, consume and share the most.

However, creating remarkable content isn’t always easy — it requires detailed planning.

Your content creation strategy should account for:

Type of content to create.
Frequency and length of content.
Distribution channels.

If you want to drive profitable actions for your business, you must start by creating content consistently, then measure its effectiveness as you proceed.

Develop an editorial calendar

Prioritizing the content you create is key to managing your workload, measuring results and building your business.

An editorial calendar does this effectively — it structures your content and serves as a knowledge bank.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that a content calendar is more than just a schedule.

It’s a guide that details your content, distribution channels, your audience, and the goals you want to achieve.

However, don’t just follow the calendar:

Keep content momentum.
Keep your customers engaged.
Stay on trend.
Schedule ahead.

Evaluating Your Content Plan

Think about your entire content plan as one long story. What is the main character aiming to achieve? What are the obstacles that stand in her way?

To do this, look carefully at your content plan, and ask yourself the following questions:

Does my content plan help me achieve my long-term strategy?
Does my story flow from one month to another?
Does my story connect from the short term to the long term?
Are there opportunities for developing greater depth in areas of particular interest to my target customer?
Are there improvements I can make that will add clarity or simplicity?

Develop an iterative process for evaluating and improving your content plan throughout the year.

Wrapping Up

Content creates a foundation for engaging with others online; whether that’s through storytelling or engaging visuals.

To get the most out of your content plan, you should:

Establish a persona for each piece of content you create.
Set specific content goals.
Ask your audience for feedback.
Generate new content ideas based on your content goal.
Create remarkable content consistently.
Develop an editorial calendar to organize and manage your content.

Content Planning 101: How to Get the Most Out of Your Content