I used to say "I suck at marketing." This is my way of fixing that problem. I'm writing digest posts while I'm learning Content Marketing from Hubspot's Free Course. In this article, you'll learn with me the Importance of a Long-term Content Plan.
Here on HIVE, I've been writing content without much planning. It usually goes like this: I get excited about an idea and I write about it. This led me to have unorganized articles about every topic that are scattered everywhere. This also reduces my output as too much time and energy are spent on thinking 'What to do next...?'
That's why I was happy that the third lesson of the Content Marketing Course I've been in is about Long-term plans for the content.
If you're more interested in why I took this course, please read my first "Learn with Me: Content Marketing" article. If you want to take the course yourself Here's the Link!
The course is aimed at businesses of course, but I can make a smaller model of what I learned for my HIVE Journey.
Why a Long-term Plan?
Planning ensures easier decision-making and also helps track progress through the journey of Business. (Or in my case HIVE.) Having a plan helps regain focus after encountering obstacles. It also helps determine which parts of the content journey need improvements when there's a struggle following the plan. That's something I never thought about before this course.
One important aspect of the planning is having SMART Goals. (Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant. Timely.) For that, I'll try making a clear planning sheet to track the progress of my article writing goals and if I fail any, I'll have notes on the reasons for failure so I could avoid them next time.
The Buyer's Journey
The course focused a lot on having a Buyer Persona and Inbound Marketing Strategy. The goal is to have a Content Plan that covers all the stages in the Buyer's Journey: The Awareness Stage. The Consideration Stage. The Decision Stage.
In the awareness stage, the Buyer is searching for information about the problem. They might not have a name for it yet. An ebook, blog post, or video that explains common problems in the business feed is perfect content for someone in that stage. This should be a purely educational content.
In the consideration stage, the Buyer is seeking a solution for the problem they have. Now they're aware of multiple brands that could help and are comparing them. A Case Study, a Product Comparison, or an Expert Guide will be helpful in that stage. Of course, in this part of marketing, you should present your solution.
The decision stage is when the Buyer has learned enough about the problem and is choosing between the multiple solutions to try. Comparing Reviews and Pricing details. The way I imagine it in my mind is like an elimination contest with products' Pros and Cons competing with each other. Presenting a good track record (reviews, testimonials,) is great at this stage.
Since I'm thinking about how to apply these for HIVE, I'll present @dbuzz as an example:
In the awareness stage, D.Buzz could present an ebook about the benefits of decentralization in an age where your account could be deleted on someone's whim. In the consideration stage, @dbuzz should make a case study of people they onboarded on HIVE and how their lives changed because of it. What benefits have they gained, and what worries have reduced after making an account on HIVE/D.Buzz. In the decision stage, they could make onboarding easier by presenting the community's strengths or helping the creation of new communities on the platform.
For Businesses, the Content Plan should have content of various types (blogs/videos/infographics/ebooks) for each Buyer Persona for each stage of their Buyer Journey.
For me, however, I believe I should make a Reader Persona for each of my ideal readers of my HIVE Blog and map out a Reader's Journey so I have a better Content Plan for my HIVE Journey. Especially since I'd like to reach my HIVE goals sooner rather than later.
Content Audit
So, I didn't know the meaning of the word Audit before this course. A Content Audit is an inspection of all the content that we have in the business to identify any gaps or opportunities to improve the Content Plan. One way to do that is by using (Google) Spreadsheets.
A content Audit for my HIVE article will list each article and try to identify what Reader Persona(s) will be interested in reading the article, and which stage of their journey the article is for. It'll be fun, and (probably) hard to make one for all my articles.
Having a searchable list of all content in one place will help me find links to other related posts I wrote easier, and the only negative I see in this idea is the long time it takes to organize all of them.
Seeking Contributers
The last part of the third lesson was about collaborating with influencers. The main advice is is ask people who have similar audiences for quotes while writing your article, then let them know after finishing writing the article. This makes the Influencer feel like a part of the article's progress!
"The number of people waiting for the article you're writing must always be above zero."
On HIVE it'll be collaborating with other Hivers and having contact with them. Asking to incorporate their viewpoints on a topic I'm thinking of writing.
What Do Hivers Say?
I asked around while writing this article if anyone plans their HIVE posts in advance. I usually write my upcoming articles in drafts, but it's not like I plan them. I publish an article as soon as I finish it, and I'm usually slow at writing it. I'm trying to fix this #perfectionism. When I asked others about their routines to see what they say.
The responses I got were about as I expected, a lot of us on HIVE don't have a long-term plan for our content. @ifarmgirl used to make drafts in advance but she doesn't have time for that anymore. (💬 LINK) @tsunsica makes templates to help her create content faster (💬 LINK)
Some, like @coquicoin (💬 LINK) and @tonton23 (💬 LINK) post without planning at all, while @mehmetfix (💬 LINK) schedules his posts to publish something every two days. Finally, @edb (💬 LINK) used to have a spreadsheet of topics weighing various factors to determine his priorities.
I'm sure every one of us has a writing routine for their presence on the platform. I'm interested in knowing yours too, so why not post a comment?
Digest: What I Learned So Far?
So far, this Course taught me about the importance of stories in Content Marketing, how to approach story writing to reach a marketing goal.
It made me realize the importance of having an ideal customer to write my content with it in mind. That making them as detailed as possible (even giving them names) helps.
With the third lesson, I have a clearer idea on what I'm doing wrong in marketing myself, and that I need to have SMART goals from now on. Whether on making my website, writing my fictional worlds, or being a Hiver who's loved by the community.
What do you think?
If you haven't yet, check the first article of this series in which I talk about Stories in Content Marketing. I consider myself a storyteller, so if you're a new reader, please check out my "Where to Start?" article to learn more about my works of fiction.
* Images in this post are made using Clip Studio Paint.
* 16% of this post's rewards is divided on the users mentioned above alongside @les90 who also provided an answer. (💬 LINK) and @eturnerx who's a member of my Beneficiary Rotating List.