Hey there, and welcome to the Marketing 101 for small business owners podcast. I am your host Philippa Channer, a content marketing strategist. I am passionate about helping small business owners develop a content strategy that educates their customers and encourages the sales they are looking for.
During the month of August, we will be spending our time learning about the power of Long-Term content planning and how to use it to set your business up for success. So what is a long-term content planning strategy, and how do you know if it is right for your business?
What is long-term content planning?
Long-term content planning is a process that can help you figure out a few things for your brand and content strategy. It starts with:
- what content do you need
- who will create it
- and how to distribute it.
At this point, we haven’t discussed the exact topics you will discuss in your content. We merely considering the type of content you will create. Whether you are doing a blog, podcast, video, or all of them combined. Knowing the type of content you need will help you figure out how much time and resources you need to allocate, which will help you determine how many pieces of content you can create each month. Some of the benefits of this process are:-Helps you figure out your content strategy-Helps you identify gaps in your current strategy-Helps with the budgeting process by making sure that all the costs are accounted for-Provides a road map for the futureUltimately, preparing a long-term content plan helps you identify gaps in your current strategy and provides a road map for the future.
How to Fulfill Your Marketing Goals with the Right Planner
Entrepreneurs and small business owners are always looking for ways to get ahead of the competition. Having a marketing plan is key to achieving your goals and objectives, and the success of any business relies on its ability to market itself and its products to consumers. The right planner will help you do this by providing a detailed roadmap for your marketing activities and a timeline.There are many different types of marketing planners available that will help you think through and plan your long-term content strategy. Each marketing planner has its own strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to find one that fits your needs and that you can stick with through the long haul.For some people, all you need is a good, well-thought-out spreadsheet template that you can use to plan your content for each month. While others need a more sophisticated system. For those that are digital planners, I found CoSchedule to be a great resource. Their interface and layout are wonderful for planning and visualizing your content. And better yet, you can connect your counts and post social, blog, and email marketing content from the platform. Very helpful.
The 3 Must-Have Principles of a Great Marketing Planner for your Long-Term Content Strategy
Now, to create a strong content plan that can withstand long-term planning, you need to have a deep understanding of the following three principles.
1. Know your customer: You need to have an understanding of who your customers are and what they want from your product or service. You need to know where they go, how they behave, and what their needs are.
2. Understand the competition: When you understand where your customers are spending their time, it’s easier to figure out who is already trying to reach them with similar products and services.
3. Know what motivates customers: It’s important that you know what motivates your customer base to create an effective marketing campaign that resonates with them emotionally.
Today we covered what makes a long-term content strategy. We also introduced the concept of using a solid content marketing plan to help keep your content in line and keep you focused on planning ahead. I mentioned two different types of planners, a spreadsheet template and a digital planner like CoSchedule. Today I have a special spreadsheet download of a content planner for you. I built this planner based on a combination of examples others have shared online and personal experience and have come up with what I feel is a solid, easy-to-use tool that will help you plan your content more effectively.
Next week I will continue this series and will be digging deeper into the creation of a long-term content strategy. Have your free template on hand next week so you can learn how to start using it right away. In case you didn’t know, I offer a free marketing consultation session to everyone who needs help with a marketing challenge. You can schedule that today.
