Content strategy and content planning are not the same thing much to popular belief. Strategy is the process you go through to get to the planning step, which then leads you to execution.

Strategy, then planning, then execution.

If you intend to be successful with your content creation and your content marketing, you need to be able to separate one from the other and do them in the right order.

Content planning is the part where you decide what you will do and when. This is where you create topics to address your themes, choose specific content types and tactics to address your goals and audience’s preferences, and then put it all into your content calendar.

Part A –Content Strategy

Part B – Content Planning

Part C – Content Execution

You have the strategy organised now how do you put the plan in place? Follow these five steps:

Determine your objectives 

What goal are you hoping to achieve? What change or activity do you want to deliver? How will you know if this has been achieved? How will you measure this?

Identify and understand your potential audience

Where might they be found? What are their interests and priorities?

Generate content ideas 

What is going to work to deliver or get you closer to your objectives? Which platforms will you use for each type of content? Will you include a range of different approaches and treatments, for example lists, reviews, how-to guides, a gallery, behind-the-scenes, and so on.

Use the right language 

Think about the tone of voice, style, format and make sure it is appropriate to the brand, audience and platform.

Create a content calendar 

You can find numerous templates online which are so simple to use but a calendar should outline when, where, what and who for, along with how you will measure impact, and any keywords.

Conclusion

According to Statista, social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2020, over 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025. With these figures highlighted ask yourself this – Do you have a social media content plan for your business and what are you doing to stand out from the crowd?