Before you start diving into content marketing, you need to have a solid plan in place.

Your plan describes your strategy with a big-picture view.

Once you are clear on your strategy you know exactly where you’re headed.

You can make the right decisions along the way to get you there.

A content marketing plan increases your content production efficiency.

It prevents you from wasting time on activities or channels that won’t help you reach your goal.

A content marketing plan is just like any business’s marketing plan, but it relates specifically to your content.

It’s a document that succinctly explains what your plan is all about.

Mission Statement

Your plan should include a mission statement.

This explains the “why” behind what you do.

Another way to think of it is, how does your business seek to make the world a better place?

Your mission statement is the ultimate reason why you’re creating this content.

Target Market Profile

A key component of your content marketing plan is a profile of your target market.

Sometimes called a Customer Avatar, this is the person, described as a specific individual, who most benefits from your content, products and services.

You’ll appeal to others as well, but this is where you want to focus your energy and you’ll get the most results.

Your Avatar should include demographics as well as psychological factors such as values, attitudes, and problems they face.

The Nuts and Bolts of Your Content Marketing

Identify the types of content and topics you’ll cover and where you will engage your audience with this content.

The target market includes where your audience members spend time online and what help they’re looking for.

This part of the plan describes how you will engage your audience and where.

Your Unique Value Proposition

Your plan should explain your unique value proposition, or UVP.

The UVP explains how only you can meet the needs of your audience.

If you haven’t thought about what makes you unique, this is a good time to do so.

Your UVP demonstrates your position in the market and the reason why people would choose to consume your content rather than a competitor’s.

Set Key Performance Indicators

Included in your plan should be KPIs, or key performance indicators.

These are the metrics you will use to determine whether you’re reaching your goals.

Choose only the most important metrics that will help you track your success.

It could be a sales target, audience size, or number of interactions to show engagement.

As you implement your plan, you’ll use your KPIs to check what’s working and what isn’t.

Plan to Change

There is no magic bullet that will make your content marketing a success.

Your plan gets down the basic outline and you can always change it later as your content marketing evolves.

What is most important is to have a plan in place to get you started.