There's no point in creating content without a strategy in place.
This page will guide you through the meaning of a content creation strategy, the way it can be done efficiently, and offers you some great resources to help you start your content creation process.
What is a content creation strategy?
A successful content marketing campaign is based almost entirely on content creation. This means that a content creation process represents the process of gathering information through research, defining the structure of the content, and creating flawless content to attract the targeted audience. An efficient content strategy will bring great results for any marketing campaign.
How is a content creation strategy done properly?
There are seven important steps to follow for developing a perfect content creation strategy:
- Brainstorming – preparing the subject, making a list with the best ideas on that subject, select the ones that fit in and get to the final list.
- Research – conduct extensive research for information about your subjects to get a look at what you should write.
- Choose the format of the content – based on the preferences of your audience, you should focus on the content format that suits your needs.
- Define the structure of the content – create a list of all important things you should mention in your content so you do not forget anything.
- Creating the content – this is the moment you have been waiting for. Start writing the words and see what you came up with.
- Testing the content - you should test your content to see if it has reached your targeted audience and if it has brought you website traffic in return.
- Refining the content – after a couple of days, look at your content and see if you can make any improvements or if you want to change something.
Useful resources for a perfect content creation strategy
Are you planning to start a content creation process to grow your business?
Contact us here to find out more about our content marketing services and how we can offer you the guidance you need to make the most out of your business.
In the meantime, take a look at these useful resources that can help you learn more about the content creation process:
- Are you having trouble creating new content? Get in touch with us here or read our ultimate guide to content creation here.
- Start planning a new content marketing strategy using this free content marketing calendar template and create a schedule for your blog content using our free editorial calendar template
- Content creation tools that might be of assistance: take a look at our list of content marketing tools here or read the list of 50 free content creation tools here.
Related: tools that repurpose your content
A worked example: what a content strategy costs and returns over 90 days
Say a B2B services business with a five-person team decides to commit to content. No agency, just a marketing manager and some budget for freelance writers and a designer. Here is roughly how the numbers play out, because this is where most content plans fall apart: nobody does the maths before they start.
Budget for 90 days: £9,000. That covers a part-time strategist (10 hours a month at £75/hour = £2,250), two freelance writers producing 8 long-form pieces a month at £250 each (£4,000), a designer for graphics and repurposing at £1,500, and £1,250 left for distribution: some paid boosting on LinkedIn, an email tool, and a scheduling platform.
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Output over the quarter: 24 long-form pieces, roughly 70 social posts pulled from them, 12 email sends, and 3 gated assets used for lead capture. That is not a huge volume. It is deliberately restrained so quality does not collapse.
Here is what tends to happen by week:
- Weeks 1 to 4: almost nothing measurable. Traffic might rise 5 to 10 percent from baseline, mostly from existing subscribers and social followers. This is normal and it is the point where most businesses panic and quit.
- Weeks 5 to 8: the first pieces start ranking on page 2 or 3 for their target terms. Email open rates settle around 28 to 35 percent if the list is warm. Maybe 15 to 25 leads come through the gated content, most of them low quality.
- Weeks 9 to 12: two or three pieces break into page 1 for long-tail terms. Organic traffic is up 40 to 60 percent from baseline. Lead volume from content specifically sits somewhere between 20 and 40 for the quarter, and of those, maybe 3 to 6 turn into actual sales conversations.
If the average deal is worth £4,000, and even two of those conversations close, that is £8,000 against a £9,000 spend. Break-even, roughly, in one quarter. That is not a failure. Content compounds; the pieces published in month one keep earning traffic in month four, five, six with zero extra cost. Run the same model for two more quarters without increasing spend and the return curve usually bends sharply upward, because you are not paying twice for the same asset.
The number that matters here is not leads or traffic. It is cost per qualified conversation, tracked against your paid channels for the same period. If paid search is getting you a qualified conversation for £180 and content is getting you there for £220 in quarter one but £90 by quarter three, you know the strategy is working even though the early numbers look unimpressive. Most businesses kill content programmes before they get to see that second half of the curve.
Other questions worth answering
How long before content strategy shows a return?
Budget for 90 days minimum before judging anything, and expect the real payoff between months four and nine. Anyone promising faster is either selling paid promotion dressed up as content, or setting you up for disappointment.
What is a realistic content budget for a small business?
Somewhere between £2,500 and £10,000 a quarter covers strategy, writing, design and basic distribution for most small teams. Below that, quality usually suffers to the point where the content does not rank or convert well enough to matter.
Should I measure content ROI by leads or by traffic?
Neither on its own. Track cost per qualified conversation and compare it against your other channels over the same period. Traffic and leads are just steps on the way there, not the answer itself.
Related reading: What is content creation? and Breaking News Boundaries: AI's Role in Modern Journalism and Content Creation.
