Creating content is an essential part of marketing.

But many small and medium brands (and even big brands) don’t have a clear strategy for why they’re creating the content they’re creating. And this means when you create content, it can feel like it’s not really doing what it needs to do to grow your brand and business.

The answer to this problem, is having a documented content strategy.

A content strategy will help you to strategically align the content you’re creating with the broader goals of your business.

By taking the time to understand what it is you’re trying to achieve, what your audience is trying to achieve and how you fit into their view of the world, you’ll be able to more easily create content that resonates with them, and generates leads into your business.

Add to that the fact that when you’ve got a strategy written down and documented, it becomes that much easier to execute, and you’ll start to understand why having a documented content strategy is the driving force behind all good content creation.

In this article, I’ll share the 8 key elements of a successful content strategy so you can create one for your business.

What is content?

As with all marketing terminology, you’ll find many definitions of the term across the internet. Some people define content as all of your marketing. Some people define it as part of the digital marketing mix.

I like to define it like this –

Content is any piece of marketing communication that is designed to inform, inspire or create an interaction with your ideal customer.

It’s information presented with purpose, through your chosen channel - be that visual, written or audio.

Content is your website, blogs, social media, video, webinars, podcasts, email, lead magnets, whitepapers, books, eBooks and even presentations at live events.

The Challenge of Content Creation

With so many channels available now to publish content, creating content has become an essential part of marketing for small and large businesses alike.

It’s a lot. No matter what size your brand is.

There’s blogs and podcasting and social media and lead magnets and building an email list and all the other content that we need to create on a daily basis.

And I see so many businesses become disillusioned, confused, unmotivated and frustrated with all this content they need to create, that leads to no apparent return on the time and resources and effort they put into creating it.

A documented Content Strategy is the beginning of taming the content beast.

It’s the answer to the challenge of content creation.

What is a Content Strategy and why does your brand need one?

Content Strategy is a key part of the solution to the content creation challenge.

A documented Content Strategy helps you to strategically align the content you’re creating with the broader goals of your business.

A Content Strategy helps you bring structure to your content creation.

It turns what you’re creating into information with purpose by clearly defining what the purpose of your content is.

When you’ve got a documented content strategy, you’ll find that you spend less time in content frustration, because you’ll be able to put your energy into content creation that aligns with your business objectives, instead of creating content for the sake of creating content.

What are the elements of every good content strategy?

Every successful content strategy consists of eight key elements.

Here’s what your content strategy should include.

#1 Your business goals

Believe it or not, great content starts with being clear about what you want to achieve in your business over the next 12 months.

How many new clients do you want? Are you seeking to grow, or just maintain the status quo? Is your focus going to be on thought leadership? Expansion?

Whatever it is, get really clear on it and document it as the first thing in your content strategy – because it’s only after you’ve gotten clear on your business goals, can you work out what content you’ll create to help you achieve them.

# 2 How you’re going to use content to achieve those goals

The next step is what I like to call content alignment.

What content is going to help you achieve the business goals you’ve set for yourself across the next 6 – 12 months?

Get really specific and be goal oriented.

If your business goal is to hit a new client target, or increase sales by 30%, how are you going to use content to help you do this? What numbers are you going to need for new leads in order to reach your goals?

#3 An editorial statement

Creating content without an editorial statement is like showing up to interview someone without a list of questions you want to ask.

Your editorial statement sets the intention for your content.

What type of content are you going to create and who is it for?

It should clearly state -

WHO the content is for
WHAT type of content you’re trying to create
WHY you’re creating it

As with everything in life, purpose is key.

If you give your content creation purpose through an editorial statement, you’ll find it easier to move forward.

#4 A clear outline of your target market

Let me get really blunt for a moment.

When content doesn’t work for you and you can’t seem to get your messaging right, it’s because you don’t know enough about your ideal client.

If you don’t know who you’re creating content for, is it any wonder that it can be so hard?

You need to know who your clients are if you’re going to market to them effectively. An ideal client persona will help you create content specifically for this person.

The more you know about your target market, then more you’ll be able to choose the right types of content, answer the right questions and communicate the right message.

If you aren’t clear on your ideal client and who they are, you can download my FREE workbook for Understanding Your Tribe here.

#5 Your Brand Voice

Brand Voice is one of the six pillars of Brand Story Strategy and is an often overlooked element when it comes to content strategy.

Having a documented brand voice is critical for content creation.

It drives both the written and verbal communication that makes your brand sound like your brand at every interaction.

Consistency is key to cut-through. And Brand Voice is a huge part of brand consistency.

#6 Content Pillars & Themes

Content Pillars and Themes help you to create categories for your content that make it infinitely easier to create content.

It’s exceptionally helpful to Google too, as when you load these into your blog (for example) and you sort your articles into categories based on your pillars or themes, Google will be able to rank you more accurately as it will know what your key areas of expertise are.

Here’s an example based on my own content:

I’ve used my key service areas to create four content pillars – they are Brand Story Strategy, Content Strategy, Content Creation and Brand Naming.
Under the Brand Story Strategy pillar, my themes are – How To Build A Brand Story, Brand Strategy, Brand Mission, Brand Vision, Brand Values, Brand Personality, The Tribe and Brand Differentiators etc.
Then I use these pillars and themes to create my topics.
So under Brand Values, one of my topics (the article I actually wrote) was called How To Take Action on Your Brand Values In Your Business.

#7 A Content Matrix

This section of your content strategy is all about choosing content channels based on what you’re trying to achieve with your strategy.

And if you know your target market, then choosing these should be relatively simple, because you already know the type of content your audience wants to see.

The Content Matrix is a quick glance or overview of all the content you’ll need to create, based on the channels you’re going to target.

Channels in your content matrix might include –

Blog
Podcast
Social Media Channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube)
Lead Magnets you want to create
Webinars
Video
Speaking
Public Relations (PR)
Newsletter

Once you’ve outlined your matrix, you’ll need to create a more detailed content plan for each channel making up part of your strategy.

Pro Tip: If you’re feeling overwhelmed when you look at your content matrix, then you’ll be overwhelmed by content creation. The matrix is a great way to narrow down your choices in relation to your strategy before you do more planning than you need to.

# 8 A Content Plan

Yes. You read that right.

Content Planning is part of Content Strategy.

While this is where most people start when it comes to delivering content, content planning should be the last step you tackle in your content strategy.

Your Content Plan will be your guide to creating the content you need to create, based on your content strategy.

It outlines all the finer details of the actual content tactics you’re going to use to achieve your content goals (which are driven by your business goals).

What should you include in your content plan?

For every content channel you have in your content matrix (see number 7 above), you need a content plan that includes the following elements -

1. A purpose

Why are you wanting to create this content? Why are you wanting to publish on Facebook, or write a blog, or create a podcast or build a lead magnet sequence?

2. Audience Position

Where in the buyer journey are my customer when they see this content? How can I create content that will help them make the next step in the journey?

3. Frequency

How often are you going to create content to publish to this platform? What days and times?

4. Topics

What do you want to communicate through this channel? Anything you’re going to do here that you don’t do anywhere else?

5. Distribution

Where else are you going to publish this content? Is there any way you can repurpose it across other channels?

6. Measurement

Based on what you’re trying to achieve in your strategy, how will you know that my efforts here are successful? What will you measure and how often will you measure? How will you make sure that this channel is helping you to achieve your strategic goals?

7. What next?

What do you want the customer to do after they engage with this content? What is the next step or call to action you want them to take?

8. Action Items

Who and What do you need to do to make this channel happen?

If you’d like some more help to create a plan for each channel in your content matrix, you can download my FREE Quick Start Content Strategy Workbook for a content planning template.

Write your content strategy TODAY.

Making content strategy part of your yearly goals and planning for your business, will help you take control of your content creation and clearly align it with what you’re trying to achieve for your brand.

Research everywhere shows that brands with a documented content strategy are more successful with their content, than those that don’t.

When you take the time to write your content strategy, you’ll feel motivated and clear on why you’re creating content in the first place, which I guarantee will make it easier (and more enjoyable) to create.