It can be difficult to come up with ideas for publications on a company’s blog or community on social media in time. A content plan can help you avoid failure. And it doesn’t matter if you want to advertise Habanero games or a local flower store. Let’s find out what it is, how to create it and turn it from a “check-the-box” document into a useful tool.
What Is a Content Plan and Why Do We Need One?
A content plan is an orderly schedule of publications for a website, blog, social network or media outlet. It’s drafted for two weeks to a month, rarely more. Usually, a content plan is made in the form of a table for clarity and ease of navigation.
A content plan helps:
- Organize a large amount of information. It lists everything: publication dates, topics, content, main points and sub-paragraphs, references, auxiliary links, and additional materials.
- Save time. You don’t have to think about what content to post and when: everything is ready, designed and coordinated in advance.
- Make quality content. If you prepare publications in advance, you still have time for editing and quality design.
- Organize the work of content managers and the SMM department. Everyone involved in the production of materials sees when and what they have to do.
- Post content regularly. Cluttered posts can alienate the audience and sometimes ruin the appearance of the site, blog or social networking page.
- Promote content properly. With a clear content plan, it’s easier to analyze your audience’s interests and keep them in mind as you continue to create content.
The Main Formats of a Content Plan
Calendar
It’s suitable for those who are used to relying on time frames and making to-do lists for the day. It’s great for those who know how to meet deadlines.
A content plan in a calendar format is visually familiar and handy. It allows you to plan your content in detail and distribute topics, headings and publications by date. The calendar is easy to understand and almost impossible to miss the day when you need to post a particular content.
Rubricator
It’s formed on the basis of rubrics. You need to create a table with as many columns as the number of headings planned for the site, blog or media. Topics for content and dates are written in columns.
Content plan in the format of the rubricator is more flexible than the calendar: you can change the rubrics in the process, rotate the publication, delete or add new topics.
Intellect Map
It’s more suitable for creative people. The mind-map eschews the clear framework of the table and opts for abstract shapes and flowing lines. The center of an intellect-map is usually the word “Content”. From it, branches and subbranches with views, headings, topics, and everything else branch off at will.
Unlike a calendar or a rubricator, an intellectual map is more difficult to navigate. But this format is more flexible and gives more creative freedom – provided that the map doesn’t turn into a jumble of ideas.
Content Types
All content categories are divided into two types depending on the purpose and format. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Content Depending on Purpose
All publications cannot be entertainment or advertising. Content needs to be created depending on the purpose that the brand, company or public persona is pursuing. Here are the types of content depending on purpose.
Sales
Its purpose is obvious: to sell a product. Ideally, the amount of sales content shouldn’t exceed 10-15% of all publications, otherwise, it will alienate readers.
Examples:
- Presenting a product in the form of a subreddit or review.
- Discount offer.
- Promotion announcement.
- Posts that motivate the purchase of a product.
Reputation
It should form and maintain a positive reputation for the brand and its products, and inspire trust in the audience.
Examples:
- Customer reviews.
- Company and market news.
- Reports of meetings and interactions with opinion leaders.
Engaging
It’s needed to attract the attention of the audience to the company. Motivates readers to take certain actions with the content on the site or in social networks: like, repost, quote, save.
Examples:
- Contests. Competitive spirit stimulates activity and makes people want to visit the site, social network, or the website to find out the results again.
- Gifts to active subscribers. The audience also has a desire to be active and receive bonuses.
- Games. The same psychology works as in the case of contests.
- Topical discussions. They increase the level of audience engagement.
Entertainment
If the site or blog is interesting and fun, subscribers will want to come back.
Examples:
- Memes and funny videos.
- Quests and challenges.
- Open-ended “think” questions, logical problems, and puzzles that you want to solve.
Identifying the Needs of the Target Audience
It’s needed to understand what interests potential customers and what product they will want to buy.
Examples:
- Surveys and tests – suitable for “unspoken”, unprepared and unheated audiences.
- Open questions – for trained and open to dialog audience with active subscribers.
- Contests – most importantly, their prerequisite is an answer to a product question.
Relieving Objections
The audience may have doubts before buying the product. The content should dispel all the fears of subscribers and potential clients.
Examples:
- Testimonials from customers who have already bought the product.
- Stories from authoritative sources, such as public figures and media.
- Answers to questions from developers.
- honest product reviews.
- product usage guides.
- debunking myths about the product.
- Cases with a step-by-step story of how the product helped solve a problem.
Viral
Take your videos and convert to a gif then share it on all your social channels.
It’s needed to promote a website, blog, or web page. With the help of viral content, you can increase your reach and make your brand more recognizable.
Examples:
- Topical picks.
- Repost, like or comment contests.
Expert
The format implies any type of content – the main thing is that the expert in it should be a certain person. The review, article, or video lecture should be in his person. This will increase the audience’s trust in the brand and products.
Examples:
- Online interviews.
- Reviews.
- Infographics.
- Experimental or research results.
Content Depending on the Format
Readers like variety: Too much text and too many pictures can get boring. Create content in a variety of formats:
- Textual – case descriptions, surveys, interviews, stories, reviews, articles.
- Graphic or visual – pictures, photos, comics, memes, charts, infographics, diagrams, presentations, and mind maps.
- Audio – music, podcasts, audio books, recordings of lectures and webinars.
- Video – reviews, courses, interviews, videos.
- Game – games, tests, puzzles, crosswords, problems, rebuses.
- User – comments and everything that subscribers create.
Where to Get Ideas
Analyze the interests of your audience. Surveys can help you understand what kind of product customers are interested in and what they want to see.
Address highly specialized topics and bring in experts to implement an unusual idea and increase the level of expertise.
Work around significant events and dates, holidays and relevant infographics. Creating content around dates and real events is easier than coming up with abstract topics. For example, if your company has a birthday today, make a celebratory post: solve the issue of publication and at the same time tell the audience about the company.
Observe your competitors – this will allow you to learn from others’ mistakes and make your own publications of higher quality.
