In our final content strategy deep-dive of the month, I was on the hot seat answering questions about creating a strategic editorial plan. Over the course of the #ContentChat, we covered a wide range of topics around content marketing editorial research and planning. For those of you who hate editorial calendars and aren’t sure you should read on, our special guest host Maureen Jann and I made a short video to share our POV on why everyone hates editorial calendars but should actually be using them.
Q1: What is an editorial plan and why do I need one for my content strategy?
An editorial plan documents and organizes how your planned content rolls up against your content strategy.
A1a: An editorial plan covers the topics, content types, audiences, funnel stages, and channels you are using to reach your audience. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/3nx4W1VnK1
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A1b: An editorial plan ensures you are giving the right messages to the right audience at the right funnel stages in support of your business goals. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A1 An editorial plan is a documented view of your proposed communications for the year. It includes what you’ll say, who’s responsible and where/when the message will be published and promoted. It’s the first step of the delivery stage. #contentchat pic.twitter.com/iYy4JHUeOb
— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) May 21, 2018
An editorial plan gives you needed structure for executing your content strategy.
A1: Having a content strategy without an editorial plan isn’t a full strategy. The editorial calendar helps you set themes that ladder up to biz goals & gives you structure. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) May 21, 2018
A1: An editorial plan comes AFTER your content strategy. The strategy is the why and the plan is the when. #ContentChat https://t.co/T97KQhDcON
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) May 21, 2018
A1: I would say it’s an excellent tool for staying consistent and keeping a good cadence with your messaging #contentchat
— Olivia Griffin (@OliviaGriffinMA) May 21, 2018
An editorial plan keeps your content from being reactive while keeping you on track for your goals.
A1. You need an editorial plan so you
1) stay focused
2) don’t just be reactive
3) have communications that build on itself over time#ContentChat— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) May 21, 2018
A1: It’s a strategy tied to specific deadlines. It keeps things organized and makes it easier to stay on top of your goals #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 21, 2018
Q2: How much content should I be publishing and how often?
Publish as frequently as you can realistically deliver high-quality content.
A2a: There is no magic bullet when it comes to content frequency. It’s really all about how frequently you are able to publish high-quality content. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A2b: My friends at @ScoopIt found that consistently publishing high-quality content over time is what drives results. https://t.co/zzsz9EkUyZ #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A2c: Try to publish a few times per week, but only publish when you can create a piece of content that’s worthy of being on the front page of Google results for your topic. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
Look at both industry benchmarks and your internal data to determine your optimal frequency and timing for publishing.
A2. @Forbes published a great article outlining when and how often you should be publishing both blog posts and social media #content. #ContentChathttps://t.co/DKGOG7GUPH
— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) May 21, 2018
If it’s all about the right content at the right time, publishing something new every day, or multiple times a day, or multiple times a week, can be seen as excessive. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) May 21, 2018
A2 how much content does your audience WANT you to publish? Your timing depends on the needed help you’re able to provide #contentchat
— LUCYrk (@LUCYrk78) May 21, 2018
At a former job (like, 5 or 6 years ago), we would publish 3 or 4 blog posts EVERY DAY. Holy excessive, Batman! 😉 #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) May 21, 2018
Your content strategy and business objectives will also help determine the right publishing cadence.
A2: Cadence depends (here I go again!) on channel, audience, and business need. Current thinking seems focused on quality over quantity, but your social and other followers might need to hear from you frequently #ContentChat https://t.co/EMGWUphErs
— LaDonna LaGuerre (@ladonnajonze) May 21, 2018
A2: Ideal content quantity depends on your goals, program maturity, audience, & resources. If you’re feeding enterprise demand gen (inbound & outbound), I suspect you’ll be creating more content than if you’re working on brand awareness. #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas | B2B Content & Comms Leader (@pisarose) May 21, 2018
A2. It depends on the platform you’re using, the industry you’re in and your audience. For some industries, one post a week on FB is all you need. For others, you need to Tweet all day, every day! #ContentChat
— Jansen Communication (@JansenComms) May 21, 2018
Q3: How do I know what my community wants from us when it comes to content?
Start by asking your audience what they are looking for from your brand when it comes to content.
A3a: The best way to find out what content your community needs is to ask them! #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A3: How do you find out about anything you’re unsure about? Ask. Specifically, ask those you’re looking to serve. It’s amazing what people are willing to tell you when they know you’re genuine in your desire to listen. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/kN21qP0oT6
— J Reno(e) 🤘🎙🤘 (@Renoe) May 21, 2018
A3b: In last week’s chat @superDeluxeMo and our chat participants did an awesome job of sharing tips for persona interviews—you can get this info from them. https://t.co/HRFofmBdNN #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
Conduct readership surveys to validate your assumptions.
A3c: I’m also a big fan of conducting readership surveys to identify where your audience gets their information, and to test some of your assumptions through ranked-vote questions. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
Dive into your metrics and gain an understanding of how your content has performed historically.
A3. You can tell by:
-Tracking engagement on #content you’ve shared in the past (likes, shares, click through rates).
-Asking them (social media polls, Q&A sessions)! #ContentChat— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) May 21, 2018
A3b: Once you’ve begun publishing, take a look at analytics but don’t stay beholden to the metrics. Surveys/polls are GREAT for learning about audience needs. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) May 21, 2018
Do some keyword research.
A3a: At the beginning, do your research for topics that are relevant to your target audience. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) May 21, 2018
A3: Look at what your audience is searching for on a targeted keyword/phrase. Start typing in search and see what appears. Ta-da: There’s something people want to know. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/hkK6YfLWTG
— Alan Fleming (@alan_fleming) May 21, 2018
Talk to your customer-facing employees.
A3: Ask them. Also ask customer-facing employees (sales, custserv, conference attendees, customer panels). Read what your community reads (and check the comments section). #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas | B2B Content & Comms Leader (@pisarose) May 21, 2018
Listen.
A3 Listen. Don’t just ask. What are people saying about and doing with your content when you DON’T ask about it. #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) May 21, 2018
A3: Ask them. Also ask customer-facing employees (sales, custserv, conference attendees, customer panels). Read what your community reads (and check the comments section). #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas | B2B Content & Comms Leader (@pisarose) May 21, 2018
A3 It’s really, “What does my audience need (that we can provide a solution or resource for)?” We tend to think we have all the answers before our audience gets a chance to ask their questions.
Build a list of their top 15 challenges = 12+ months of content topics. #contentchat
— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) May 21, 2018
Q3 So many ways! Talk to people at events, talk to your peers, read, and correlate with your own metrics #ContentChat
— Dan Goldberg (@Jonas419) May 21, 2018
Q4: What tools can I use to research content topics?
Look at question-focused social platforms and use social search.
A4a: Quora can be a good place to see what questions people are asking that haven’t gotten comprehensive answers. https://t.co/nLm6UPgWyj #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A4: I like to use social channels as a resource to find content topics. I usually search popular hashtags and I pay attention to the conversations that are attached to those keywords. When I notice a trend, I’ve found my topic. #ContentChat
— Maria Marchewka (@_MariaMarchewka) May 21, 2018
Become BFFs with Google.
A4. The good old search bar. See what’s trending in your industry on social media and what topics related brands have been covering on their own blogs. #ContentChat
— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) May 21, 2018
A4: @Quora, @GoogleTrends, Google Keyword Planner, and @BuzzSumo are some of my favorites. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) May 21, 2018
A4: Any keyword research tool, Google (the “searches related to” and “people always ask” sections in particular), answer the public, industry pubs and blogs #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 21, 2018
Don’t forget to look at your website’s internal search terms.
A4: Can be Google, your own website’s search box data, or a tool like @BuzzSumo. https://t.co/WrSv1JWyAa #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas | B2B Content & Comms Leader (@pisarose) May 21, 2018
More tools to check out:
A4b: I also love to use @AnswerThePublic @Buzzsumo and @Moz for topic ideas too. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A4: I use Google TagManager (SEO), @semrush, @BuzzSumo and all of our analytics (Marketo, Salesforce, GA…and social metrics) to see what topics work best. #Contentchat https://t.co/5N5h0uyHlQ
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) May 21, 2018
A4) Moz gives you an idea of the kinds of topics you should right about. Tools like Curata can give you ideas of current events that you can use to speak to the topics at hand. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/hUr5mTjduh
— J Reno(e) 🤘🎙🤘 (@Renoe) May 21, 2018
Q5: I’m struggling to identify enough pieces of content to create for my topic. What should I do?
Tap your internal subject matter experts (SMEs) for content topic ideas.
A5: Have you tapped into internal resources? You have SMEs within your organization – have them contribute. And think about UGC. #ContentChat https://t.co/MA7nsHFf88
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) May 21, 2018
A5. Utilize your employees. They’re the subject matter experts! Whether you interview them or ask them to create #content themselves, it’ll provide you with more to use from a different perspective. #ContentChat
— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) May 21, 2018
Repurpose your big rock content—you can turn one big piece of content into a number of derivative pieces.
A5: Scrutinize your pillar/showstopper content pieces. Can they be broken up into several different pieces? #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas | B2B Content & Comms Leader (@pisarose) May 21, 2018
A5: Repurpose, reuse and divide and conquer. Many times you can take a larger piece of content and make 100s of adjacent topics. #ContentChat
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) May 21, 2018
A5: Atomize your work. How can what you’ve already done be repurposed for other media, or even built upon for future content in the future? #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/3VWathz2hT
— J Reno(e) 🤘🎙🤘 (@Renoe) May 21, 2018
A5: Break down topics by formats. Topic A can become blogs , a million different types of social posts, a slideshow, a whitepaper, a podcast episode (or mini-series), a webinar, a video, etc. Decide which formats are right for you, and mix-and-match for each topic #ContentChat
— LaDonna LaGuerre (@ladonnajonze) May 21, 2018
A5 With one short paper, you can get a couple blogs, an infographic, social posts, and a PPT deck for Slideshare – assuming no resources for video #ContentChat
— Dan Goldberg (@Jonas419) May 21, 2018
Use mind mapping to create a content map of topics and subtopics.
A5a: Try using mind mapping. Start with your biggest 5 topic areas. Put each of them in the middle of a page in a circle. Then branch off with 5 big topic umbrellas for eahc of those topics. Then branch off with another 3-5 subtopics of those. https://t.co/n5OSwAbhxS #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A5b: Within those granular subtopics, you can think through multiple content types for each of those topics. The same idea may be adapted for blog posts, infographics, presentations, podcasts, and more. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A5: It’s a little immature, but I literally write my topic in the middle and draw lines to correlate subtopics. Then I take it a step further, (because I like original content) and try to see how I can provide a new perspective on these topics #contentchat pic.twitter.com/GrISlk3seR
— Jessica Dortch (@jaedotdortch) May 21, 2018
Ask your industry peers for content ideas.
A5: I ask my consultant network for topic ideas. What are their clients asking about? What isn’t being discussed, but should be? #contentchat
— Shelly Lucas | B2B Content & Comms Leader (@pisarose) May 21, 2018
Identify content buckets and build out from there.
A5 Of course you’re struggling! DON’T start by creating individual pieces. Back up and create a strategy that includes content buckets (categories, topics) and THEN create/curate content to fill each bucket, answering questions within. #contentchat
— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) May 21, 2018
Mine your existing content for adjacent ideas.
A5: When writing a post, I always go back and look for internal linking opportunities (back to old posts), if there’s a topic I can’t find an old post on – that’s an opp for new content #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 21, 2018
Q6: What is domain authority and why should I care about it when planning my content?
A6a: Domain authority (DA) is a score developed by @Moz which forecasts how likely it is a given site will rank on page one of Google search for any given topic. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A6a: Domain authority (DA) is a score developed by @Moz which forecasts how likely it is a given site will rank on page one of Google search for any given topic. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
Q7: What are some ways content planning can help improve my SEO and domain authority?
Through content planning, you make sure to thoroughly explore relevant topics.
A7a: If your site has 100 blog posts on an array of different, unrelated, disconnected topics, you are unlikely to be considered an authoritative source. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A7b: But once you have built up a solid collection of content around a topic, it signals to Google you have some expertise in that area. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A7c: Content planning ensures you make your way through the various elements of depth to a topic area, and create a hub of content that is more likely to be linked to and shared. All of which can help your SEO and DA. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
Content planning ensures you do not overlook content distribution or other content strategy execution details.
A7: Careful planning helps you hi all the different topic and keyword areas you want to target in the distribution that makes the most sense for your strategy. It also helps you plan for promotion as well as creation, which is important #Contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 21, 2018
A7 You want to align your social efforts with your content with your website with your audience to you get meaningful results (it’s complicated) #ContentChat
— Dan Goldberg (@Jonas419) May 21, 2018
A7) Planning gives you a focus so you can make a concentrated effort to grow parts of your presence without piece mailing it over an extended period of time. It’s a rough blueprint, even if written in crayon, and it’s always good place to start. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/IBRfnDtpyI
— J Reno(e) 🤘🎙🤘 (@Renoe) May 21, 2018
Content planning keeps you from competing with yourself in search and uncovers opportunities to improve your SEO.
A7: One reason: to make sure you are not competing with yourself for keyword ranking or authority. If your content is niche or super-focused, it’s surprisingly easy to get caught in this trap. Having a plan will help you see duplication and gaps #ContentChat https://t.co/cCQAZoiLNe
— LaDonna LaGuerre (@ladonnajonze) May 21, 2018
A7 Have a spreadsheet that maps keywords (& topics) to existing and planned #content. Prioritize by keyword importance, the blanks, and lowest scores. #ContentChat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) May 21, 2018
Q8: How can I manage my content workflows?
A8a: I prefer to use a project management tool like @RedboothHQ (former client) @Newscred or @Kapost that’s designed to manage content workflows and has built-in task assignment and approvals. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
We use @workfront for content and @basecamp for design #ContentChat
— Dan Goldberg (@Jonas419) May 21, 2018
A8b: But I know a lot of folks use @Trello boards for simple editorial workflow or even a simple spreadsheet. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
A8c: Heck I’ve even managed my editorial workflows on hard copies of content with a routing slip! You have to identify what will work best for your approvers. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 21, 2018
@DivvyHQ (former client) also works well. We use @asana since it helps keep our design and content team on track #ContentChat
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) May 21, 2018
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