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To answer the question: maybe, probably, depends.
Disclaimer: This question does not apply to whatever you've got going on in your personal life. There's a chance a content plan could help ease your woes, but whatever happens outside of your 9-5, that's for you and your BFF to hash out over a bottle of Pinot. Trust me, I wish a simple spreadsheet could solve all of my probs, too...
Content planning is all the rage. If you search "digital marketing tips" on Instagram, you're guaranteed to see thousands of posts and "pros" spilling their secrets on How to plan a month's worth of content in just 15 minutes!
Look... if it were that easy, they wouldn't be wasting time and money promoting their "top secret strategy" on Instagram.
The truth is that creating content is challenging and time-consuming. Good content creation requires much more than slapping some ideas into Chat GPT and duplicating those ideas across various posts, platforms, and mediums.
The good news is that there are some steps you can take to ease the pain. The other good news is that I will tell you what those steps are without requiring you to comment "WORKSHOP" and download my PDF. 💅🏻
Step One: Brainstorm some ideas.
Yes, it's that easy.
Grab a notebook, open a Word doc., create a new sheet in your notes app—wherever you go to "jot things down," this is your starting place.
First, think about your business. What do you do? What do you sell? Who are your customers? What do your customers like about you? What do your customers like about what you do and sell?
Second, think about what makes you special. How are you different from your competitors? What do you do that makes you stand out? What is one thing you can offer your customers that your competition can't?
Third, write down a few of YOUR favorite things. Do you have kids and love hanging out with them? Do you love to travel, read, cook, play tennis, or lay on your couch binging Gilmore Girls?
Once you feel like you've made some good headway on your three lists, step away. Take a breather. Go for a run (if you're into that kind of thing). Grab a cocktail with some friends.
LET THE LIST SIT. 💆🏻♀️
Step Two: Build your content themes.
Pro Tip: Content themes are similar to content pillars. If you hire me to build your brand toolkit, I'll develop your themes/pillars for you. Less work for you and more business for me. It's a win-win, am I right? 💁🏻♀️
Start with your first list. What types of content do you want to create that are focused on your business?
Is your product or service exclusive? Is your offering top-quality? Do you provide the highest-level customer support?
Example: If your business is a local bookstore, your first theme might be: In-store inventory of over 5,000 books.
Do the same thing with your second and third and list.
Following our bookstore example, our second theme might be: A selection of rare first-edition classics.
To tie in your family's involvement in the business, the third theme could be: What are my kids reading?
Three: Now that you have your themes, it's time to create sub-buckets under each.
Here's how:
In-store inventor of over 5,000 books:
Special Section of Local Authors
Travel Guides to All Seven Continents
NYT Best Seller's Early Arrivals
A selection of rare first-edition classics:
Classic American Authors
Female Protagonists
Books That Shaped Modern Politics
What are my kids reading?
Kids Read For Free Event
Nostalgic Baby Books
What's Trending With YA
Four: Start developing your content.
Using your themes and sub-buckets, you now have an outline for at least 12 pieces of content.
I advise creating the content that will take you the longest to complete first.
That might be a YouTube video, email, podcast, blog post, etc.
Once your long-form content is completed, break it down into smaller chunks for platforms like social media and Google ads.
BAM. You're done. You've planned and created your content. Now, all that's left to do is schedule, post, and watch it perform. 💃🏻
As I said at the beginning of this blog post, content planning is not easy.
However, there are simple steps and a few tricks that you can implement to make it not so hard.
So, will a content plan solve all of your problems?
No.
But it will save you time, money, and most likely your sanity, and if you're asking me, those are three problems that I'd accept help solving any day. 🙋🏻♀️
Happy planning.
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