Build a Successful Content Marketing Strategy in 7 Steps

This post was co-written by CMI’s Chief Strategy Officer, Robert Rose.

Regardless of whether you are exploring the feasibility of content marketing or have already developed a cohesive strategy, you probably want to better understand the precise forms of content that your specific audience wants to connect with.

Don’t have time to build a complete content marketing strategy? Take a look at how you can simplify the process with a one-page plan.

There are no “silver bullets” or one-size-fits-all plans that apply to every organization. However, there are some core, common elements across successful content marketing programs. At CMI, we’ve been blessed to work with some amazing brands to help them operationalize the process of content marketing. We’ve learned so much from this practical experience, and have begun to recognize some interesting patterns — patterns that form a “chain,” if you will, that can increase the likelihood of content marketing success.

While we’ve seen many of the principles from our book, Managing Content Marketing, put into practice in exciting ways, it is only recently that we’ve really been able to identify these common elements and compile them into a cohesive framework.

The CMI Content Marketing Framework from Content Marketing Institute

(Note: If you would like to download the PDF, select Save via the SlideShare link.)

In this white paper, The CMI Content Marketing Framework: 7 Building Blocks to Success, we share the best practices and principles we’ve learned from the aforementioned experiences.

In Managing Content Marketing, we explored — in great detail — the practical steps companies can take to create, organize, and optimize their content marketing programs. We also included resources, tools, methodologies, and more — all packaged like a “manual,” if you will. However, for the CMI Content Marketing Framework, our goal is much simpler: It’s a chance to provide a high-level view of the core elements we believe will make any content marketing program a success.

In this white paper you’ll learn:

1. What questions your content marketing strategy (i.e., “plan“) should answer

2. How to engage your audience early, and often, throughout your journey

3. The importance of unveiling your brand stories as a way to communicate your company’s passion and purpose

4. How to determine which channels will best meet your specific needs

5. Methods for turning your content strategy into action, with some concrete processes and resources you can use

6. Why listening to the conversation is so crucial (with some simple tips)

7. How to develop meaningful — and sustainable — measurement processes that will support your content efforts throughout the long haul.

We hope you use this framework as the springboard for your own content marketing plans: Whether you are new to the journey, or looking to revisit and improve current programs, incorporating each element in this framework will help keep you on the path to success.

Learn how to build a distinctive, engaging, and scalable content marketing program from the ground up. Download our step-by-step workbook, Launch Your Own Content Marketing Program.

Please let us know your thoughts in the comments. Do you follow a similar process? Is there anything missing?

Learn more about every step in the content marketing framework with CMI’s comprehensive Online Training & Certification Program, which contains over 19 hours of must-know strategies, tactics and best practices, delivered by leading experts. Sign up now.