Content Marketing Strategy Template

Document your company's stage, revenue targets, and how content supports the business model. Be specific: 'Increase organic demo requests by 40% in 6 months' beats 'drive more traffic.' Content without business alignment is just blogging.

Define 2-3 ideal customer profiles with demographics, psychographics, and content consumption habits. Where do they search? What questions do they ask before buying? Map their journey from problem-aware to solution-aware to your product.

Audit 3-5 competitors' content programs. Note their publishing frequency, top-performing content, keyword gaps, and positioning. Find the whitespace — topics they ignore or cover poorly that your audience needs.

Define 3-5 content pillars that align with your product's value propositions and your audience's pain points. Each pillar should support a topic cluster of 10-15 pieces that build topical authority over time.

Choose 3-4 content formats based on your team's strengths and audience preferences. For most B2B startups: long-form blog posts, comparison guides, and how-to content. Don't spread across 8 formats — master a few first.

Outline your keyword strategy, on-page optimization standards, and AI citation optimization approach. Every piece should be structured for both Google and AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity.

Define your primary channel (organic search) and 2-3 supplementary channels. For each channel, specify format adaptations, posting frequency, and success metrics. Don't distribute everywhere — focus where your ICP actually is.

Define leading indicators (rankings, impressions) and lagging indicators (traffic, leads, revenue). Set up attribution so you can trace content to pipeline. Review cadence: weekly for metrics, monthly for strategy adjustments.