Learn how to create a long-term content strategy that provides a solid foundation and built-in flexibility to help you achieve your long-term goals—even when they change. 

1. HOW TO BUILD A LONG-TERM
STRATEGY IN A REAL-TIME WORLD

2. WHY LONG TERM?
Content marketing can be chaos. When brands like Oreo and
Airbnb are the content marketing masters of real-time relevance
and your consumer conversation changes minute by minute, it’s
difficult to think beyond the latest headlines and hashtags. Yet
your content marketing success relies on a steady stream of
consistent, quality material that can’t just be produced overnight.
How do you satisfy everyone from your sales team to your
social following? And can you do it with your sanity intact? With
the right long-term strategy, it is possible.
The best strategy provides a solid foundation to serve your
business goals, while remaining flexible enough to let you
capitalize on the latest cat meme. It’s a blueprint to keep you
moving in the right direction, even when a delayed product
launch or news story forces you to take a detour. In short,
a long-term strategy is more control over the chaos. Ready
to start?
1

3. Content marketing is like investing, in that it requires a consistent and sustained effort to yield the best results. The
reality is that you can’t always predict what will be most successful, but planning ahead helps you work smarter. A
long-term content strategy doesn’t mean you have every single piece of content mapped out for a year; it means
you have established parameters and guideposts to help you stay close to your larger goals as you go.
Improve Quality: Whether it’s a seasonal
infographic or a major foundational piece
for your brand, a long-term strategy lets
you focus your energy on creating strong
content ideas and adapting in real time.
Increase Impact: A solid strategy ensures
you’re creating a steady flow of content—
not sinking all your resources into one
“viral” effort that may end up flopping.
BENEFITS OF A LONG-TERM STRATEGY
Improve ROI: Instead of investing in one-off
pieces or scattered efforts, a long-term
strategy lets you take a more holistic
approach to content creation and
publishing, helping you get more bang
for your buck.
Save Time: A solid strategy gives you
a map to follow, making it easier to
streamline production and plan ahead.
2

4. Before you brainstorm a single piece
of content, you need a strategy to
make sure that content is aligned
with your goals. Luckily, there’s no
need to get overwhelmed. Take this
step-by-step approach to crafting a
content strategy that works.
DON’T BE AFRAID
OF COMMITMENT
3

5. The first step is the most important: deciding
what it is you’re trying to achieve. Your core
objectives will inform everything going
forward, from the message you communicate,
to the platforms you use, to the types of
content you create. Are you looking to
increase conversions? Build brand awareness?
Build trust? Clearly identify your objectives to
form the foundation of your strategy.
1) IDENTIFY YOUR OBJECTIVES
Who is the audience
you want to reach?
What message do you
want to send to the world?
What content will be
valuable for your audience?
What response should your
audience have, or what action
do you want them to take?
These questions can help inform your objectives.
4 QUESTIONS TO ASK
4

6. Build brand awareness
Create eye-catching
content that stands out
from the crowd.
Build trust
Increase conversions
Create content that showcases
expertise and provides value
to the audience.
Create robust content that
targets sales-qualified leads.
Once you know what you’re working toward, you can focus on identifying content initiatives. If your objectives are
“what” you’re trying to achieve, your initiatives are “how” you’re going to do it. Note: This isn’t the time to identify
specific creative yet. Content initiatives are more like content pillars for you to ideate within later. They provide
guideposts for your strategy—even when you need to replace an objective or shift focus.
As you craft your
strategy, focus on
outlining a flexible
framework that
you can continue
to refine or adjust
as needs arise,
without derailing
your overall goals.
2) CREATE YOUR INITIATIVES
OBJECTIVE INITIATIVE
5

7. For each initiative, you will want to identify the type of content that will most effectively achieve your objective.
(You’re still not delving into actual creative ideas yet.) Again, things may change. The goal here is to provide a
blueprint to reference as you go. In general, your content will fall into three buckets.
1) Core Content: These are
foundational pieces that are
directly tied to your content
initiatives. They may be evergreen
or crafted around a specific event,
such as a new product launch,
but they are robust pieces that
provide tremendous value.
SlideshowsE-books Motion
Graphics
Videos
Interactive
infographics
3) BUILD CONTENT CLUSTERS
White
Papers
Case
Studies
6

8. 2) Divisible Content: This is lean content that is repurposed from your
core content; it is meant to extend the reach of your core pieces and
allow for a steady stream of publishing. For example, information from
a white paper can be turned into several mini graphics to be spread
through social media or posted on your blog. (Check out this
infographic for more.)
3) Newsworthy Content: This
is any timely content that
capitalizes on news, trends, or
industry events. Scheduling this
in enables you to be proactive
instead of reactive, which is
especially vital to stay ahead
of the curve.
MICRO-
CONTENT
INFOGRAPHIC
BLOG POST
SLIDESHOW
CORE CONTENT
BLOG
CONTENT
7

9. What channels are best to reach your audience? How can you optimize distribution to get
your content in front of the right eyes? Check out “How to Determine the Best Distribution
Channels for Your Content” to help you decide.
Distribution Channels
As you decide what content would work best for each initiative, consider the following:
Any creative you produce will need to align with your audience and your objectives.
Check out “5 Ways to Know if Your Content Idea Will Work” once you’re ready
to brainstorm.
Creative
What type of content is most effective to communicate your message? For example, if
you are trying to prove your expertise, a white paper or e-book may be the right
format. For brand awareness, infographics or social content might be the right choice.
Formats
8

10. Create content clusters for each initiative, and map them accordingly.
Build brand
awareness
OBJECTIVE INITIATIVE
Create eye-catching
content that stands
out from the crowd.
Behind-the-scenes blog post,
quote cards, GIFS
DIVISIBLE CONTENT
Video
CORE CONTENT
NEWSWORTHY
CONTENT
Mini graphics,
social memes
9

11. 4) FILL IN YOUR
EDITORIAL CALENDAR
Now, you are ready to create your
editorial calendar and fill in your
initiatives. Consider which initiatives
might be more effective throughout
the year, according to seasonal,
social, or industry events. Depending
on how many initiatives you have,
you may want to map things monthly
or quarterly.
Download our
2015 Editorial Calendar
to help you plan.
1 2 3
8 9 1054 6 7
15 16 171211 13 14
22 23 241918 20 21
29 30 312625 27 28
Video
Launch
Graphic
1
Blog
Post
News
Piece
Social
Post
GIF
1
Blog
Post
Graphic
2
Meme News
Piece
Social
Post
GIF
2
Social
Post
Blog
Post
News
Piece
Graphic
3
JANUARY
10

12. You will likely need outside
help with your content.
When looking for a new
vendor, choosing a creative
partner who intimately
understands your brand is
important. Switching vendors
from project to project is
inefficient, as each vendor
must learn your brand.
Building a relationship with
a vendor who can provide
your services is the key to
producing quality creative
at scale.
Creating your content is the most exciting and challenging part of this
process. Once you have your strategy and content types outlined, you
must decide how you are going to execute your creative. Consider
each project’s needs to determine whether you can accomplish what
you need internally or if you need significant external support.
Depending on your creative, you may need:
5) ASSESS YOUR RESOURCES
Editors DesignersCopywriters
Art
Directors
PR/DistributionProducers/Project
Managers
11

13. info@columnfive.com
949.614.0759
@columnfive
For more help with your content
strategy or creation, contact us.