How to Create the Ultimate Customer-First Content Marketing Plan

A company that markets a product or service to the wrong audience may as well be performing a play in an empty room.

Content marketing plans that fail to both align with business goals and accurately account for the customer will nearly always miss their targets by a mile.

So how can you create a content marketing plan that is both tied to your objectives and what your customers need and expect?

Let’s look at the steps you need to take in this in-depth guide.

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1. Start With Your Overarching Business Goals

While your content marketing strategy has to revolve around specific audiences, there’s no question that your business should come first.

You need to ensure that your strategy is rooted in reality and has firm objectives.

First, you need to audit. This means looking at where your business is now. Questions might include:

• What are your revenues and profit margins?
• How big is your marketing budget?
• How successful are your current marketing efforts?
• Who are your biggest competitors?
• How are you differentiating your business and winning new customers?
• What is your current customer retention rate?
• What’s the makeup of your marketing team and current skill sets?

Next, using your answers, you’ll be better placed to write objectives. Your goals give you direction, enable you to set key performance indicators and metrics. They also ensure you can track progress as you deliver on the strategy.

When creating goals, consider what you want your business to achieve in the short (one to two quarters), medium (a year), and long term (five years).

Compartmentalizing your objectives this way will help you get things done, You’ll also have an eye on where your business is going in the future.

You should aim to be:

• Ambitious, yet realistic.
• Determined, but flexible.
• Goal-driven, but audience-centered.

2. Get to Know Your Customers

Once you understand your current situation and have objectives to focus on, think about who you are targeting and how you will solve their challenges with your product or service.