The best part of your content marketing plan is obviously content. But you’d be surprised how many business owners neglect the quality of the content they provide to their readers. The right content can attract loyal customers and build retention.

Your new content marketing plan will need to encompass your new role as publisher. Yes, publisher. Every time you post on Facebook, tweet, email your newsletter or blog about your brand’s story, you are publishing.

All publishers know the importance of strong content marketing. A recent article explains some of the critical steps to acting like a publisher and delivering the content your customers crave.

In order to truly know the effectiveness of your content marketing plan, you will need a way to manage and measure it. Content marketing poses serious challenges for a majority of companies. From resources and regulatory compliance to the hiring of writers and the content itself, issues can plague a strategy.

Start off by establishing some guidelines and content marketing goals. The goals you implement at the beginning will shape the sort of content you look at delivering. The main objective is to engage customers and build your brand’s awareness. These are two of the most important components in content marketing as well as increased leads, thought leadership, customer loyalty, and increased revenue.

Once you have outlined what your goals will be, draw the map to get there. Prospect engagement will force you to look at the top five questions a potential client may have about your company, product, and services. Develop content to cover these specific topics and get them engaged. It’s important to connect with consumers. Giving them the answers to their questions is the quickest step.

However, the quickest route isn’t always the only one. Marketing experts will tell you that social media and blogs are great opportunities to generate content. You should take advantage of every channel available and supply the appropriate content for each. This includes websites, email newsletters and video.

For example, an airplane banner wouldn’t consist of long-form content from an advertiser, right? Make sure you match messages and content with your medium and audience. Long-winded content should be found on the pages of your newsletter or blog. For Facebook and Twitter, engage your followers with short messages and an image or video. And don’t forget to share.

You also need to keep in mind the various channels you are providing content for. In order to keep people from viewing the same message, mix things up a bit over the different touch points. Studies show that more than half of content marketing plans don’t account for different channels. You need to have a plan in place for each.

Contact us, we can help you overcome these hurdles with a successful content marketing plan. Remember, it is important to not only execute your strategies but manage and monitor them.