What is a content plan? Plus tips for successful planning

A content plan is your roadmap to an effective content marketing strategy. While many businesses don’t have a content plan, it’s a critical component to help you meet your goals. In fact, about 50% of marketers attribute their success to a documented strategy.

But what is a content plan, and how can you create one that drives more leads and conversions? In this blog post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the content planning process, including the benefits and key steps for creating one. We’ll also share a free planning guide and content calendar template.

What is a content plan?

A content plan is a strategic guide that details your target audience, types of content, marketing channels, posting timelines and metrics for success. The purpose of a content plan is to ensure your marketing efforts make sense, are well organized and can help you meet your goals.

Your content plan and calendar should be a go-to resource that's always handy to help you create and share content on any platform you use, such as blogging, social media and email marketing.

Get a free 5-page content planning guide and calendar template.

Benefits of content planning

Creating content without a plan can quickly lead to overwhelm and inconsistency. A solid content plan helps you stay focused on your goals for an effective marketing strategy. 

The most important benefits of a content plan include the following:

• Aligns content with goals: A content plan helps support your overall marketing and business objectives. This allows you to stay focused and measure results more effectively.

• Helps organize content: Planning lets you map out topics, formats and publishing timelines in one place. This makes it easier to manage multiple audience segments, content types and channels without losing track. 

• Simplifies content creation: A clear plan removes the guesswork about what you create and when. This streamlines your workflow, helping you  maintain momentum.

• Supports team communication: Content planning helps clarify roles, deadlines and expectations, ensuring everyone stays on the same page. Even if you're a team of one, having a plan keeps you organized and accountable. This way, you can stay consistent over time.

• Improves website SEO: Planning ahead for blog content allows you to incorporate keyword research, internal linking and topic clusters into your strategy. This strategic approach enhances your SEO for more visibility and higher rankings in search results.

• Allows for consistent content: With a plan in place, it’s easier to publish content on a regular basis. And consistency is key to brand messaging, recognition and sustainable business growth.

• Builds trust with your audience: You become a reliable resource when your content continually provides value and aligns with your audience’s needs. Over time, this helps you build stronger relationships and brand loyalty.

How to make a content plan: 7 key steps

Creating an effective content plan requires a clear and strategic approach. From defining your goals to distributing and repurposing content, each step helps you stay focused and consistent. 

1. Set clear goals

Knowing your marketing goals can help you plan content accordingly. What does success look like for you? 

You may want to increase your visibility, improve brand awareness, generate more leads or expand your email list. You can also have more than one goal.

Research confirms you’re more likely to meet goals if they’re specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and time-bound – known as SMART goals. For example, your goal might be to double your organic website traffic in the next six months by updating or publishing one article per week.

2. Identify your target audience

To create effective, high-quality content, you need to make sure you’re speaking to the right people in the best ways. For example, your audience might prefer video content on YouTube and long-form written content via blog posts.

The following questions can help you identify your target audience:

• Who are they? 

• What are their challenges?

• What topics are they interested in?

• Which channels do they use?

• What formats do they prefer?

3. Reflect on topic ideas 

Content ideation begins with sourcing relevant topics to discuss in your marketing content.

Collect these ideas from your customer base, team members, and broader industry trends. You might also do keyword research using a paid tool like Semrush or a free tool like Answer the Public. This helps you see what people are searching for. 

Once you have topic ideas, you can have a brainstorming session to narrow down the list. Identify ones that align with your goals and audience needs to include in your content plan.

4. Map out your buyer’s journey

Show potential clients or customers that you understand them by creating content that speaks to them at each stage of their buying journey: awareness, education, decision and loyalty. 

If you’re only producing content that drives brand awareness but not providing educational information or helpful comparisons, you’re missing an opportunity to build a deeper relationship. An effective content plan ensures you’re guiding your audience along the entire path to purchase and beyond.

5. Assign tasks and create a schedule

Commit to a realistic timeline for publishing content. It’s better to post less frequently with consistency and quality than to overextend and fall behind. 

If you’re working with a team, identify who’s responsible for ideation, writing, editing, publishing and promoting content, as well as deadlines. Whether you’re a one-person show or have a team, a clear schedule helps keep content flowing smoothly and ensures accountability.

6. Distribute with intention

How will you share your company's content? A strategic distribution plan ensures that your content reaches a wider audience and works more effectively for you. For example, you can promote a podcast episode on social media, link it to your email newsletter, turn it into a blog post and repurpose it into short video clips or quote graphics. 

You can also expand your reach by thinking beyond one platform and encouraging partners, guests or collaborators to share your content as well.

7. Measure your performance

Tracking your content performance shouldn’t be a guessing game. Decide which metrics matter most, such as organic traffic, social media engagement or email click-through rates. Then, check in regularly. 

Analyzing results helps you understand what’s working and where to adjust your plan to get better results over time.

8. Repurpose old content 

About 40% of marketers say that creating enough content is a challenge. A great way to combat this is by repurposing old content. This saves you time and extends the life of high-performing pieces.

Not only can you audit and update existing content, like improving a blog article for better SEO, but you can also redistribute existing content across different channels. For example, turn a popular blog post, YouTube video or podcast episode into social media posts.

What is a content plan? takeaway & support

We hope you found this article helpful and have a better understanding of what a content plan is and how to make one. Creating a content plan and calendar should be done with intention in order to achieve desired results and make changes accordingly.

If you need support with your content strategy, Scribe National is here for you. We can work with you to create a content plan that works for your business and goals. Learn more about our content strategy service or book a discovery call.