Content and social: how to build a content marketing strategy

Publish on a schedule you can keep for months, since a steady pace is easier to measure than bursts. Set the cadence per channel in the content calendar template and adjust it once you see which pieces bring visits or signups.

The strategy says why and for whom you publish, and how you measure results. The plan is the list of pieces with dates and channels that carries it out. The glossary entry on content strategy vs. content marketing strategy vs. content plan walks through the three terms.

Choose a blog if your buyers search for answers before they buy, because articles can be found long after you post them. Choose social media if your buyers spend time on one network and decide fast. Start an email list in either case, since it is the one audience you keep if a platform changes.

Tie each goal to one metric, such as visits from search or email signups. Review those numbers on a fixed date each month and drop or rework topics that bring nothing. The guide on measurable content goals in the Content plan group covers how to set them.

Its Content stage makes the launch posts with their visuals and videos; Go to market costs $99 once, has 13 steps and needs your concept first. You still sign off on each post before it goes out. With Pro, at $50 a month, the Scheduled posts module prepares a week of posts and publishes them on schedule.

Evergreen content answers a question that stays the same over time, such as how a product category works. It suits a new business because one article can bring readers for a long time without updates. The glossary defines it, and the guide on content pillars among the planning guides shows how to group such pieces.