How to Streamline Content Marketing for Your Business

Watch the video version of this blog here: https://youtu.be/70CI5MQQSDY

Streamlining your content marketing processes for your business doesn't have to be complicated! When we hear "content marketing" one might think, "Oh! Like social media?", and the answer is yes- definitely. But there's more to content marketing than just social media, and there SHOULD be more to your content marketing strategy if all you're currently doing is social media. Let's break this down even further.

Google defines content marketing as "a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services."

This, by definition, means that content marketing can be implemented into ANY business strategy, and if you are an online business, content marketing is even more critical. Think of the usage of content marketing as your middle-man to building your community for online businesses, and a tool for engaging more people for physically operated businesses. It's content that allows businesses to extrapolate on the subjects that relate directly to their offering/service, and in doing so, they can provide value/shed light on, entertain through, or even inspire others in the subject matter.

I know what you're thinking, and I want to clarify that implementing a content marketing strategy doesn't have to be intimidating! Not at all! If you're somebody that cringes at the thought of showing your face on the internet, posting on social media, etc- there are strategies you can try to make the whole thing more approachable for you and your business- which I will touch on below. All in all, there is an importance in streamlining your content marketing for your business, and that important factor is that you are ensuring consistency, building authority, and ultimately doing the foundational ground work for what your business will stand on. Content marketing is not only the value you are going to provide, but think of your content marketing strategy as your very own brick & mortar (if you're an online business). It is the very container, with all of it's aesthetic, personality, and energy that other's are going to be able to visit, observe and absorb your offering through. They will be able to get a "feel" of you and your business from your content marketing strategy, and with this- there is a world of possibility in creating it to be whatever your heart truly desires!

So let's get into the steps! How does one streamline their content marketing strategy for their business? I've come up with 4 steps on how you can do this in it's simplest form. Mind you, there are other ways to build out a content strategy, but if you're a solopreneur and want to understand how to do this in the simplest way possible, keep on reading because this is for you.

1. Decide what your short-form and long-form platforms will be. This is the first thing to make sure you think thoroughly about! Where do you want to show up? How do you want to show up? Do you have more fun creating video, or do you enjoy creating really informational graphics? All of this should be considered when deciding where you want to be. Also, research what will be best suited based on your industry. If you're an Etsy business and have physical products, you may be better off on TikTok or Instagram, while someone who works in the B2B space providing consultation services may find more success on LinkedIn. Once you've done the research, decide on the short-form and long-form content platforms that you'd like to be present on. A good rule of thumb is to start with 2 short-form platforms, and 1 long form platform. Short-form platforms are usually utilized best through social media apps as they are 'bite-size' content pieces. Consider platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, Pinterest, Threads. Long-form platforms are the more important aspect of your content marketing strategy because it is the place you will drive folks to to hear, read, see MORE of you from your short-form content. Long-form content could be considered as blogs, video, podcast, e-books, and even a newsletter- especially if it offers something more exclusive for your subscribers. Platforms that you can share your long-form content on are places like your website (and this is the best place to share long-form content, IMO), podcast platforms like Apple Podcast and Spotify, YouTube for videos, and a viable place you can sell your e-books like Etsy, your website, Shopify, and MailChimp for newsletters.

2. Set up the backend systems. The next step once you've decided on your platforms is the backend systems you will implement to create, plan, manage and publish your content This can be done for FREE using Google Drive, so I encourage you to utilize this especially if you are just starting out. You will have access to creating spreadsheets, slides, documents, folders, forms, etc that all have the ability to truly run and maintain a business. Your backend systems should be focused on making your life easier, so don't overcomplicate things by using multiple tools for one aspect of your business. For instance, if you want a content calendar, just use one of the tools Google Drive has to offer. You could use Google Slides as a visual forward option, Google Spreadsheet as the more traditional calendar look, or Google Docs as the word-forward option. We just so happen to have the perfect FREE resource for you called the Social Media Content Calendar/Planner Google Drive Bundle if you don't know where to start in creating a social media content calendar. Get immediate access by signing up for our monthly newsletter HERE! Setting up this backend will allow you to plan in advance the content you will post on these platforms, and trust me, it will become your lifesaver as you get more and more busy in your business and need the organization and structure to keep you on track.

3. Once your systems are finalized, create a monthly timeline to outline your monthly responsibilities that will keep your content marketing consistent. This is the step where we incorporate all forms of content you will be creating throughout a given month, such as your newsletter, social posts, blogs, etc. This is going to be super helpful to visualize so that you can understand on a monthly timeline what your month in full looks like when it comes to your content marketing. This step will also allow you to make decisions on what makes the most sense based on the time you have during a given week. For instance, if you have a newsletter that you want to go out at a certain day of every month, you can make a decision on how much time you will need to prep that newsletter and this is something you can define and then outline in this monthly timeline. This timeline is also intended to be adaptable and changeable based on your work capacity as it changes throughout the year, but for the most part, should stay the same every month. If you are looking for guidance here, we offer another completely FREE (and new) resource in our Free Resource Vault called the Content Marketing Spreadsheet Master- the tab where this is outlined is called Monthly Editorial Outline. You can write in/call out your prep days and your publish days of the month for each content type. Get instant access to the Free Resource Vault HERE!

4. Match your monthly timeline schedule with your preferred digital calendar tool. This is where the magic happens! If you are somebody who looks at an online calendar in your day-to-day, this is going to be a simple addition for you. If you're not someone who does this already, I encourage you to start doing this now, especially if you are looking to launch your business into the next level. There are so many reasons to use a digital calendar and the main reason is so that you can see ALL of your commitments, goals, aspirations, etc in one place, and in one view that incorporates pretty much any and all aspects of life that you need or desire to see. I have a complete video on how I utilize my preferred choice of digital calendar, Google Calendar, and you can watch that on my YouTube channel HERE. What you're going to want to do is make sure you're in the monthly view (on whichever digital calendar you decide to use). Create an event in your digital calendar for each of the monthly timeline tasks you created in the last step. This will ensure that you always are aware of what you should be working on in a given week, even if you give yourself 5 days to work on your newsletter, for example. You can then decide at what times you want to implement this work when you plan your weeks!

I hope this outline truly helped you in your process of streamlining your content marketing strategy. Let me know in the comments if this helped, or leave a comment for what you'd like to hear more about!