A content strategy proposal outlines a plan for creating and managing content to meet business goals. It acts as a roadmap for content creation and optimization efforts. Writing an effective content strategy proposal is key to getting stakeholder buy-in and securing budget and resources for content activities. Here are some tips on how to write a compelling content strategy proposal:
Define the business goals
Start by clearly defining the business goals that content efforts will support. Common goals include:
– Increasing website traffic and conversion rates
– Generating more leads
– Improving brand awareness and credibility
– Educating customers and prospects
Ask stakeholders what content should accomplish from a business perspective. This ensures your proposal is aligned with broader organizational objectives.
Analyze the current state
Take stock of existing content. Audit the website, blog, social channels, and other owned media. Identify content gaps, outdated assets, opportunities for consolidation, and areas needing optimization. Assess how well current content is (or isn’t) meeting business goals. Back up findings with data and metrics.
Understand the target audiences
Get crystal clear on who you are creating content for. Define target buyer personas and customer segments. Dig into what motivates them, pain points, and questions they have along their buyer journey. The more insight you have into your audiences, the better you can tailor content to their needs.
Set content KPIs
Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to track how well content achieves desired results. KPIs provide concrete metrics for success. Examples include:
– Website traffic from organic search
– Time spent on page
– Content downloads
– Social shares and engagement
– Leads generated from gated assets
Choose KPIs that align to business goals and can be monitored on an ongoing basis.
Map out content types
Outline the different formats and types of content to create. This may include:
– Blog articles
– Ebooks and whitepapers
– Videos
– Podcasts
– Infographics
– Interactive tools
– Social media posts
Think about content that matches audience preferences and moves them through the buyer journey.
Create an editorial calendar
Plot out a tentative editorial calendar showing the cadence for producing content over time. Factor in resource bandwidth, seasonality, product launches, conferences, and any other events that impact content. A calendar provides an organized, methodical approach for content creation.
Assign roles and responsibilities
Define clearly who is responsible for each content activity, whether writing, editing, design, promotion, etc. Include any outsourced work with vendors or freelancers. Establish processes for content review, approval, and governance across stakeholders.
Estimate costs
Calculate the costs associated with content production and optimization, from talent to tools to paid media. This demonstrates the investment required to execute on the strategy. Identify any cost savings from consolidating tech stacks or repurposing existing assets.
Outline the Strategy
Now pull together the elements above into a formal content strategy proposal. Articulate how content will advance business goals by reaching and engaging target audiences.
Executive Summary
Briefly summarize the opportunity, proposed solution, timeline, team, and budget. This top-level overview gets stakeholders on board.
Goals
List the specific business goals content will support. Provide background on how these align to broader organizational objectives.
Audiences
Describe the buyer personas and target segments you will create content for. Include relevant details on their challenges, interests, and role in the buyer journey.
Content Audit
Summarize findings from your audit of current content. Call out strengths to build on along with weaknesses to address.
Gaps and Opportunities
Call out specific content gaps and opportunities you identified during the audit. Explain how filling these gaps will better meet audience needs.
KPIs
Define the key metrics that indicate content success. Tie these back to business goals.
Content Format Types
List the different content formats and types you will produce, along with a brief explanation of how each helps engage audiences.
Editorial Calendar
Share the tentative editorial calendar showing the planned cadence and volume of content over time.
Workflow and Governance
Explain the workflows, reviews, and approvals required to take content from ideation to publication. Outline how you will govern the process.
Team Structure
Identify all roles involved in content activities, whether internal or external. You may optionally include short bios of those involved.
Technology and Tools
List any technology, tools, or systems needed to execute the strategy, like CMS, analytics, CRM, etc. Note if these are existing or new investments.
Budget
Provide budget estimates for content production, optimization, tools, staffing, and other costs. Identify fixed vs. variable costs.
Next Steps
Close with next steps for finalizing the strategy, securing budget, and kicking off content efforts. Offer to answer any additional questions.
Use Data Visualizations
Data visualizations make your proposal more compelling and easier to digest. Consider including:
Charts showing content performance vs. goals
These reveal how well current content is achieving business objectives. For example:
Goal | Metric | Current | Target |
---|---|---|---|
Increase organic traffic | Monthly organic visits | 1,500 | 2,500 |
Boost lead conversion | Landing page conversion rate | 2% | 5% |
Persona profiles or journey maps
These illustrate target buyer personas to tailor content to. For example:
Persona | Role | Goals | Challenges |
---|---|---|---|
Operations Manager | Evaluates solutions | – Increase efficiency -Reduce costs |
-Lack of resources -Tight budgets |
Engineer | Recommends technical options | – Find innovative designs -Evaluate options thoroughly |
-Too many choices -Time constraints |
Editorial calendar preview
Share a sample month from the editorial calendar so stakeholders can visualize the proposed cadence.
Conclusion
An effective content strategy proposal aligns to business goals, demonstrates audience understanding, provides data-driven insights, and outlines a comprehensive plan for content creation and optimization. Focus on conveying the opportunity, strategy, resources required, and value to be delivered. Use visualizations and summaries to make your proposal easy to digest. With a compelling proposal, you can secure buy-in and budget to execute impactful content efforts.