How to Plan Your Marketing Content by Listening to What You Say

Marketing content is more than clever words placed well in a phrase. Effective content must be planned, created and revised, and sent to the right target audience to engage them.

Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book Plan, Create, Engage -- Your Guide to Creating Winning Content:

Plan Your Content - What is a Plan

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A plan for your content becomes a map, blueprint, or framework that has a strategic planning function. What you say about your company reflects your thoughts, your mission statement, and your company strengths.

You perform this function to benefit your customers-clients and a significant portion of your content should focus on meeting their needs, wants, and desires.

Have three goals for planning content:

1. Find three to five significant phrases that will lay the foundation for website content, brochures, social media posts, and other messaging needs.
2. Enter the content into a calendar so you can begin using it strategically and be aware of future events and needs that can help you create a more effective message.
3.  Write a statement why someone should do business with you instead of with absolutely any one else who provides the similar product or service.

Action Step - Review and Listen to Yourself

 

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Review Your Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Core Strengths

This may be personal if you're an independent sales rep or it may be corporate if you're the owner, executive, or on the management team. 

Your mission statement and vision statement should encompass the words and phrases you use. Your marketing collateral should also reflect everything in your mission and vision statement. If it does not, you will need to determine if you need to make adjustments in what you say or how your mission statement is written.

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Listen to Yourself

Write down the phrases you say about why your business exists, what you do, and what you want to accomplish. Be aware of what you say on phone calls and at business mixers or events like trade shows and you write in emails.

--> Why My Company Exists  

--> What I Do and Why I Do It

--> Problems We Solve 

--> Needs-Wants We Fulfill 

--> What Separates Me From Competitors? (personality, vision, goals, service, name, colors, area served) 

--> If You Could Only Say One Thing What Would it Be?  

 The next post and excerpt from Plan, Create, Engage will focus on listening to customers.
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Don Simkovich is a journalist and copywriter with a background in nonprofit management and marketing. He holds a Master of Arts, Communication Management, from the Annenberg School of Communication at University of Southern California.