How to Create a Content Marketing Plan
“Content” is a buzzword you’re likely seeing everywhere these days. And deservedly so—content marketing is a powerful way to build brand awareness and find new clients. Whether you’re new to freelance web design or run a growing agency, content marketing is an essential component of a well-rounded marketing strategy. It establishes a dependable, winning formula for acquiring clients while ensuring your content remains relevant.
Benefits of content marketing
Content marketing is a means of delivering value to your target audience. While you may immediately think of blog posts, content can also come in the form of guides, courses, FAQs, support articles, podcast episodes, videos, e-books, infographics, webinars, training materials, social media posts, and more. With the right content marketing strategy, you can engage site visitors who find your content valuable and reinforce your position as a go-to source of web design knowledge.
Content marketing is one of the most effective tactics because it builds trust and establishes authority before a prospective client contacts you. By providing valuable insider tips, tackling relevant industry news, sharing your favorite tools, or giving access to helpful resources, you can inspire your target audience to interact with (and later hire) you.
Content marketing is also one of the best ways to boost your traditional search engine optimization (SEO) and AI search optimization (AIO) efforts. By creating content that includes relevant keywords and answers genuine questions, you can grow your ranking on search engines, AI search, AI tools, and social media. In doing so, you increase the likelihood that potential clients find you online and establish your reputation as a thought leader.
Creating a content marketing strategy in seven steps
The outlets for producing content to market your services and expertise may feel endless. However, creating an effective content marketing strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, you can accomplish a lot in seven steps.
1. Set a goal
Identify what you hope to achieve with your content marketing strategy by setting a measurable goal. Some considerations may include:
Are you looking to attract web design, graphic design, or copywriting clients?
Do you want to serve new or established businesses?
Are your target clients in a specific industry?
Do you want to work with local clients only or go global?
These clarifying questions are a great way to define specific goals so you can ensure all the content that you create is relevant and actionable.
Pro tip: Every piece of content should drive some type of action from visitors. That’s what makes it marketing and not just content. As you set your goal, consider what action visitors should take to get you there.
2. Clarify the call to action
A key element of your content marketing strategy should be defining your call-to-action (CTA). Your main CTA is the most important action you want users to take. Transitional CTAs support the main CTA by attracting and interacting with your audience.
For example, if your main CTA is for prospective clients to book a consultation, your transitional CTAs could be to subscribe to your newsletter, watch a video, view your portfolio, download a free ebook, and so on.
Learn more about crafting effective calls to action.
3. Define your audience
Define two to three ideal audience personas to give you a clear sense of who your content should speak to. You can gain a better understanding of your personas by identifying answers to the following questions:
Are they a novice or expert?
Do they respond best to a formal or conversational tone?
Do they prefer high-level or in-depth explanations?
What are their fears and concerns?
Answering these questions can help you determine what content to produce, what type of content your audience will value, and how you can use content to effectively grow your brand.
4. Choose a content type or medium
Based on how you’ve defined your audience, you’ll want to find ways to meet them where they’re at. This means understanding who your audience is, what their interests are, and how they discover and interact with content. From there, produce forms of content that your target audience will find valuable and want to consume.
The following are examples of content types you can add to your strategy:
Short-form content: An article or blog post fewer than 800 words, a social media post, or a newsletter used to drive brand awareness.
Long-form content: A longer article or guide of 2,000 words or more that’s educational in nature and can be leveraged to build SEO and AIO.
Books: A physical book or an e-book that features educational content in your area of expertise.
Video: Presentations, live streams, educational content, or tutorials that build brand awareness and establish your value.
Courses: A series of educational resources such as videos, articles, or podcasts that highlight your specific authority and expertise and are a great format for interacting with prospective clients.
Case studies: Resources that showcase your expertise, value, and past successes drive action and educate prospective clients.
Downloadables: Templates and digital guides provide value to your prospective clients. Plus, downloadables are an effective way to generate leads.
Podcasts: An audio experience that highlights your knowledge, experience, and personality. Podcasts can get you in front of a busy, on-the-go audience.
Webinars: An educational opportunity that empowers you to engage with your audience in real-time.
5. Pick topics that resonate with your audience
Regardless of the medium you choose, the best and most effective content effectively solves your client’s problem or need. Anytime you’re creating new content, start by identifying the potential issues that someone in your target audience might face. Look to your past and current clients to better understand what content could help them achieve their goals or objectives, and consider how your content could inspire action and resolve.
Feeling stuck? Look at search data and relevant keywords to determine what people are searching for online. Take note of the topics you can speak to and come up with content that can address those issues.
6. Set a schedule
Once you’ve ironed out your ideas, it’s time to plan your content calendar. A content calendar sets you up to consistently deliver value over time and holds you accountable to factor content creation into your day-to-day workstream.
As you get started, you may find it tempting to create multiple blog posts, videos, or other pieces of content, but it's best to slowly build up momentum. The key is maintaining your pace of content production so that you can establish a sustainable, long-term content strategy and avoid burnout.
Pro tip: From both engagement and AIO and SEO perspectives, it’s better to be slow and consistent than fast and inconsistent with content marketing. Start by posting one piece of content a month and focus on consistency. As you become more confident in delivery and timing, you can then increase your output.
7. Create, create, create!
Last but not least: the fun part. It’s time to actually create the content. Set aside ample time in your schedule to produce, edit, and publish your content. If you’re having a hard time justifying time away from client work, remember that creating content is part of your overall marketing strategy.
Distributing your content
Once you publish content, you’ll want to ensure it gets the most visibility. From social media to newsletters, there are many approaches to distribution. The following are some of the most effective:
Share it in a newsletter
Email marketing is a tried-and-true way to get your content out there. Tools like Squarespace Email Campaigns help you reach your audience right where it counts: their inboxes.
Amplify on social media
Through a wide variety of social media channels, you can connect and communicate with prospective and current clients, as well as establish your online identity. On Squarespace, built-in social sharing helps you distribute content across channels in just a few clicks.
Optimize for traditional and AI search
To make it possible for search engines and AI tools to find and index your website, use proper headings, relevant alt text, internal links, and a clear page structure. Learn more about site discoverability best practices.
Engage your existing audience
Monetize your content by selling memberships to online courses, videos, paid newsletters, and more. With Squarespace Member Sites, you can create and offer exclusive content for subscribers.
Repeat, and repeat again
Share your content more than once. To simplify the process, take advantage of automated scheduling through email campaigns and social media to ensure people keep seeing your content weeks, or even months, after it's published.
Develop a winning content strategy
Content marketing can certainly be an investment of your time and resources. However, by following the above steps, you can establish an effective content marketing strategy that compounds over time with a rewarding return on investment.
Related resources:
This article was originally published on February 6, 2023. It has since been updated.
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional designers and web design agencies. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings experts together from across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
