Your Content Marketing Strategy Template And Checklist

Summary

your
CONTENT
MARKETING
strategy
TEMPLATE
AND
CHECKLIST
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
If we had to pick one key
theme that has emerged from
90%
this year’s B2B research, it
would be this: If you want to 80% >
be more effective at content
marketing, document
your strategy

- Joe Pulizzi and Ann Handley, Content Mar-
70%
keting Institute: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets
and Trends Report

Audience-driven content is a central focus for
both B2C and B2B inbound marketers. This 60% >
type of content is aimed at providing valuable,
useful information to potential and current
customers in order to drive qualified leads,
build brand authority and trust, and solidify
customer loyalty

Prospects are more informed before
the point of purchase than in any other
point in history -- Forrester reports that
potential buyers are now 70% to 90% 40% >
of the way through the sales process
when they finally connect to a salesperson

What’s more: potential customers reward
businesses who provide them with honest
and helpful content

So that’s great, we know businesses
need to publish quality content. But
how do we actually go about creating
effective content that resonates with
potential customers and turns curious
site visitors into leads, and ultimately
20% >
into customers?
The answer: it all starts with a
documented content strategy

2 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
What is a content strategy? Start with a content
A documented content strategy doesn’t have to be strategy template
a 50-page document or a 75-slide PowerPoint pre-
sentation. You can make your content strategy as Content strategies do not have to be made
robust or simple as your time and budget allows. All from scratch. For most businesses, if you
you need to create is an informed, realistic, and ac- can answer these questions for the following
tionable plan that outlines how content will help you 8 checkpoints in at least one full sentence
achieve your larger business goals. This document then congratulations, you will have docu-
will help align your people, processes, and priorities mented your first content strategy!
around common goals and accelerate any efforts
you make. Business Goals: Why are you
creating content?
Your content strategy should be: Content Goals: What do you want
the content to do?
• Informed: Well-researched, educated on indus- Audience: Who will your content
try, audience, competitors, and business chal- speak to?
lenges/opportunities Competitor Research: What are your
• Realistic: Practical, content recommendations competitors doing online and where can
and insights are relative to your business you find a competitive advantage?
• Actionable: Step-by-step plan that can easily roll Format: What are the content formats
into execution and be scaled up/down by budget you can realistically create?
• Data-driven: Your content plan is centered on Distribution: Where will the content live
evidence and is measurable and how will it be shared? How often will
you publish content?
Implementation: What is your budget
for content? Who will produce, publish,
Why create a content strategy? and promote your content?
Measurement: How will you measure
An effective content strategy gives you a dedicated success? Set 1 realistic milestone for
action plan with a prioritized roadmap to help you your content for the first 90 days. Repeat
maximize the return on your content investment. A after each defined measurement cycle

2015 study by the Content Marketing Institute found
that successful inbound marketers shared a com- Let’s go over these 8 core checkpoints in
mon practice: 52% of those surveyed whose content greater detail. At the end of this template
was (self-reported) most effective said they had a you will be able to draft your own content
documented content strategy and they followed it. strategy and move on to producing
great content!
Percentage of B2B Marketers Who Have a Content Marketing Strategy
4% 16% 32% 48%
Unsure Yes, and it is documented Yes, but it is not documented
No Source: Content Marketing Institute
3 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #1: Why are you creating content?
Business Goals: Why are you doing
content marketing?
Examples: Increase qualified lead gener-
ation, become a thought leader, expand
to new markets or audiences
Your business goals drive your overall
content strategy. All content should
Your business
directly support or complement your goals drive your
larger business goals. Most companies
create content to drive additional leads overall content
to increase revenue

strategy. All
Other common goals include estab- content should
lishing a business as a thought leader
or primary authoritative voice within directly support
an industry, or expanding your brand
to reach to a new market or audience

or complement
Always make sure you have a clear
business purpose for why you are
your larger
specifically using content in your business goals

marketing efforts

Why are you creating content?
Write or type notes here

4 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #2: What are your goals for your content?
Content Goals: What do you want the content do?
Business Goals Content Goals Strategy Initiatives
(e.g. Drive Leads) (e.g. Educate; Engage) (e.g. Create a
Resource Center)
Examples: Educate readers, create a community white papers, are discussed later in the strategy
dialogue, or showcase brand values and expertise process). In this checkpoint, you want to focus
on defining the elements each piece of content
Content goals take your business goals and should contain to effectively support your busi-
narrow them down into the specific context of ness needs

what the content needs to do in order for you
to achieve your business goals. If your goal is to If time and budget are on your side, you can
become an authoritative thought leader, your take this checkpoint one step further by iden-
content typically needs to be comprehensive, tifying concise and specific strategic initiatives
insightful, and educational. (Specific formats, that outline how you are going to achieve your
like how to decide between blog articles or content goals

What do you want the content to do?
Write or type notes here

5 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #3: Who is the intended audience of your content?
Audience: Who will your content speak to?
Example: Company ABC is a plastic surgery prac- simplify your persona profile to include only the
tice. Their target audience is between 30 and 50 basic information you’ll need to get going with
years old; is very comfortable with the internet and content production:
technology; wants to find the right medical practi-
tioner for an elective procedure; needs empathetic • Your target audience’s general demograph-
customer service and is concerned about results, ics: age, gender, and digital comfort level
pain and cost. • The problem your audience is trying to solve
• Your audience’s expectations from your
The most successful content marketing cam- industry, product, or service
paigns align production and distribution to • Your audience’s primary hesitation
the needs, goals, and concerns of a to convert
specific audience

Creating content for a generic audience is a no-
win situation. You’ll invest valuable resources
to produce content that attempts to speak to The most successful
everyone and usually ends up bland, with your
readers hitting the snooze button. content marketing
Instead, always speak directly to your core campaigns align
target market. Developing buyer personas can
be a comprehensive process, but for now we’ll
production and distri-
bution to the needs,
goals, and concerns
Who will your content speak to? of a specific audience

Write or type notes here

6 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #4: How are your competitors
using content to achieve their goals?
Competitor Research: What are your
competitors doing online and where
can you find an advantage?
3-4x
Example: My top competitors currently pro-
duce authoritative articles on their blog 3-4x a
week. Video tutorials are popular among read- a week
ers, earning several thousand views but lack a
written transcript and relevant calls-to-action. The number of times
Here you’ll want to identify how your my top competitors
competitors use content to achieve similar
goals, even if they are aspirational. A review
currently produce
of the sites and content offers can help you
determine where you fit within the industry

authoritative articles
Take note of how crowded the space is (for on their blog

content) and how far behind or ahead you
are — this can help you allocate additional
budget if you discover you’re significantly
behind your competition. Also take note of
any formats that seem to stand out such as
video, free guides, or custom visuals and
how your competitors distribute
their content

What are your competitors doing online and where can you find an advantage?
Write or type notes here

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Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #5: What types of content can you realistically create?
Format: What are the content formats
you are able to produce?
Example: With my budget and in-house resources I
can create 10 blog articles a month, allowing me to
post twice per week to my blog

This checkpoint is critical because it directly You want to
informs implementation. You want to make
sure you can actually create content with your make sure you
available resources and do so on a consistent
basis. Video content can be highly engaging but can actually
is often expensive and time-intensive to create

Infographics typically require several hours of
create content
design time and need additional promotional with your avail-
spend

able resources
Prioritize quality and frequency — even if that
means creating fantastic web copy and blog
and do so on
articles — over aspirational formats until you a consistent
have a solid library of content in place. Once
you have a good content foundation, feel free to basis

explore more creative and unique content types

What are the content formats you can actually create?
Write or type notes here

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Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #6: Where will your content live and how will it be shared?
Distribution: Where will you publish,
promote, and distribute your content?
Example: Free guides will live under our The important thing about promotion and
Resources section on our website, we will distribution is to go where your audience is and
promote our blog and free guides through where you can realistically achieve traction. This
LinkedIn and Facebook, and we will write a ends up being a combination of your available
monthly column for Huffington Post Small time, budget, and current level of credibility

Business Voices

For most businesses, this checkpoint is
straightforward: the company website and
social media channels are the standard
promotion
promotion platforms. However, feel free to
add in other channels like email marketing,
blog syndication, or external publishers
relevant to your industry

your
content
Also, don’t forget about distribution. Whereas
promotion is about driving your audience
to your content, the goal of distribution is to
drive your content to your audience. Your audience
content can live off your site on distribution
channels like YouTube, Pinterest, or Tumblr

distribution
Where will the content live and how will it be shared?
Write or type notes here

9 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #7: Who will produce and publish your content?
Implementation: What is your budget for
content? Who will produce, and publish,
and promote your content?
Example: We will hire an editorial manager who will be
responsible for hiring 2 freelancer writers familiar with our
industry, managing employees’ written contributions, and
publishing content to our site following a set schedule

Find out how much quality content you can produce
within your budget and have at least one person in
your company dedicated to content marketing success

Depending on your resources, this person may be
responsible for overseeing your editorial efforts — like
finding and managing freelance writers — or even
writing the content in-house

Both options are fine, but decide who is ultimately
responsible for sourcing and publishing your content
to ensure you stay on schedule and on strategy. If you
have the budget, consider working with a reputable
content marketing agency or consultant to amplify and
streamline your efforts

What is your budget for content? Who will produce, publish, and promote your content?
Write or type notes here

10 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Checkpoint #8: How will you measure success for your content?
Measurement: Set 1 realistic milestone
for your content for the first 90 days

Effectively measuring your
Example: By November 2016, we will generate
100 new contacts with email addresses and 5 content is one the most
quality leads

important parts to
Effectively measuring your content is one of
the most important parts to any strategy. Set
any strategy

metrics and KPIs that align with your strategic
initiatives, content goals, and business goals
during the strategy process to help make
sure you analyze your results within the right
context. A spike in organic traffic is great but
if your goal was to drive 15% more leads, then
you’ll want to check to see if your increase in
organic visibility translates into qualified
visitors to site

Measurement will evolve as you begin to
produce and analyze content in a consistent
cycle. For now, put in place one SMART goal
for your content efforts and check in on your
progress at least every 30 days

How will you measure success?
Write or type notes here

11 verticalmeasures.com
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist
Don’t wait another
day to finish your
content strategy
It may seem overwhelming to
start your content strategy but if
you take it one step at a time and
write just one sentence for each
checkpoint above, you can have a
realistic and actionable strategy to
The hardest
kick off your content production

A documented content strategy
part is just
is the first step toward creating getting started
effective content but try not to let
your desire for perfection keep and above
you from getting that content
production wheel going. You
all else,
can always revisit your strategy remember,
later with new information or
reflections on your recent content done is
experiences. No matter how
fantastic a strategy is on paper,
better than
execution will always be the most
important part of any content
perfect

marketing plan – so focus on using
your strategy as a stepping stone
toward pushing content live. The
hardest part is just getting started
and above all else, remember,
done is better than perfect

12 verticalmeasures.com

Your Content Marketing Strategy Template and Checklist Example: Company ABC is a plastic surgery prac-tice. Their target audience is between 30 and 50 years old; is very comfortable with the internet and technology; wants to find the right medical practi-tioner for an elective procedure; needs empathetic

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a content marketing strategy checklist template?

This comprehensive content marketing strategy checklist template provides a clear, visual overview of every aspect of your marketing plan. Organize and assign team action items, due dates, budgets, and more to ensure each piece of your content strategy action plan is accounted for and completed.

How do you write a marketing content plan?

Use SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals to specify objectives, establish a strategy to meet them, and list the KPIs. Use this marketing content plan sample template with editable example text to organize and prioritize content by theme and necessary action.

How to create an effective content marketing creative brief?

Enter action plan details for specific channels, as well as for performance and results metrics to ensure your plan will be effective. Download Content Marketing Creative Brief Checklist Template Use this basic content marketing creative brief checklist to ensure that you account for all of the marketing content strategy steps.

How to create a strategic content plan?

A strategic content plan has many moving parts. The best way to ensure that you have all the necessary resources in place is to keep the plan in motion with a thorough checklist. Below are the content writing, brainstorming, and SEO checklists that are crucial to a smooth workflow.