How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy (Step-by-Step)

Trying to grow your business with content but not sure where to start?

That was me, too. I spent months creating blog posts, videos, and emails without a clear plan, and it showed. Once I learned how to develop a content marketing strategy, I started seeing real results: more traffic, better leads, and content that actually converted.

In this guide, I’ll show you exactly how to develop a content marketing strategy step-by-step, using the same approach that helped me stop guessing and start growing.

Quick Summary: How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy

1. Set content marketing goals and write a mission statement
2. Turn your goals into measurable KPIs
3. Research your audience and build personas
4. Run a content audit and spot gaps
5. Choose the right content marketing channels
6. Pick the best content types for your strategy
7. Set up a content workflow and assign roles
8. Plan your content with a simple calendar
9. Write and design your marketing content
10. Promote your content across channels
11. Track performance and optimize over time

Without a solid content marketing strategy, your marketing team’s efforts may seem like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. That’s not a recipe for success.

Here are a few more reasons for building a content marketing plan:

• A documented strategy helps you feel more confident in your work.
• Content marketing challenges won’t seem so overwhelming with a plan in place.
• A documented strategy makes it easier to convince stakeholders.
• It’s easier to chart and measure your success with a clear process.

Now that you know what a content marketing strategy is, let’s go ahead and learn how to develop one.

How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy (Step-by-Step)

To create a content strategy for your website, you need to flesh out your reasons for building a plan, what you want to include, and how you’ll carry out your content marketing efforts.

Learning how to develop a content marketing strategy might seem scary at first, but don’t worry. We’ll break each step down so you know how to reach your digital marketing goals.

Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Set Content Marketing Goals and Write a Mission Statement

Writing a mission statement is one of the best ways to stay focused with your content strategy.

Your mission should cover three simple things:

• Who you want to reach
• What kind of content you’ll publish
• Why it helps your audience

Here’s a quick formula:

“We provide [audience] with [content] to help them [goals].”

Let’s say your audience is small business owners. Your content might include tutorials, templates, or comparisons. And your goal could be helping them get more customers.

That’s what the Awesome Motive mission statement does so well—it defines the audience, the content, and the outcome in one clear sentence.

Now let’s switch gears: What does your business get from content marketing?

Before writing a single blog post, you need to set clear goals. Are you trying to:

• Increase traffic?
• Generate leads?
• Improve brand authority?

Each goal needs a slightly different approach. But they all feed into the bigger picture—growing your business without wasting effort.

Step 2: Turn Your Goals Into Measurable KPIs

Setting goals is great. But unless you measure them, it’s all guesswork.

That’s where KPIs (key performance indicators) come in.

KPIs help you track what’s working and what needs a fix. You’ll want to attach real numbers to each goal, like:

• Reach $10k in revenue from blog traffic this quarter
• Get 1,000 email signups through a new lead magnet
• Boost organic traffic by 25% in 3 months
• Rank on page 1 for 3 high-intent keywords
• Get 50+ shares and comments on key blog posts

It’s also smart to track costs. Content marketing should be more efficient—not more expensive. You can learn how to calculate content marketing ROI here.

Step 3: Research Your Audience and Build Personas

If you don’t know who you’re talking to, your content will miss the mark.

That’s why audience research is step 3.

There are three parts to this process:

1. Collect demographics – Use tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Insights to learn your audience’s age, location, job title, and more.
2. Gather feedback – Ask your readers or customers what they like, what they need, and where they’re stuck.
3. Build personas – Combine your research into a clear picture of your ideal customer.

Let’s say you notice most of your traffic comes from 30–40 year old freelance designers in the US. Their biggest struggle? Finding paying clients.

With that info, you can focus your blog posts on tools, strategies, and examples that speak directly to them.

Step 4: Run a Content Audit and Spot Gaps

Before you create anything new, take stock of what you already have. That might include blog posts, videos, social media content, or even webinars.

Some of that content may already be working. Some of it might need updates—or need to go entirely.

This step includes three parts:

1. Log all your existing content
2. See how well it’s performing
3. Find gaps you can fill with new content

Logging Your Content

Use a tool like SEMRush to run a content audit. You can choose the blog or section you want to analyze, then click Start Content Audit.

It shows you the title, content length, backlinks, and shares for each post. Export this data to a spreadsheet so you can start reviewing it.

Learn How Useful Your Content Is

Next, check performance. Which content is ranking, getting clicks, and earning links? Which posts have zero traction?

• Are there strong backlinks pointing to the page?
• Does it rank well for relevant keywords?
• Is it getting shared or engaged with?

You can get most of this data directly from SEMRush using their position tracking and site audit tools.

This helps you decide what to keep, what to improve, and what to remove altogether.

Find Gaps in Your Content

Now find the missing pieces. These could be:

• Keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t
• Questions your audience is asking but you haven’t answered
• Content that’s underperforming but could improve with updates

To find these gaps, go to the Keyword Gap tool in SEMRush’s Competitive Research Toolkit. Add your site and competitor URLs, then hit Compare.

This shows keyword opportunities you’re missing out on—perfect for planning future content.

Step 5: Choose the Right Content Marketing Channels

Not every platform is worth your time. You need to find where your audience actually engages with your content.

Start by checking your Google Analytics under Acquisition » Social » Overview. You’ll see which networks send you the most traffic.

You can also use BuzzSumo to break down your shares by content type, social network, and length.

With that info, you can focus your promotion on the channels that actually move the needle.

Step 6: Pick the Best Content Types for Your Strategy

Now it’s time to decide what kind of content you’ll create.

Your blog should be the home base. From there, you can repurpose content into videos, infographics, and social posts.

So what formats work best?

Use BuzzSumo to see what content types already perform well for your audience. Look for total shares by format.

For example, if listicles and how-tos perform best, make those a priority.

You’ll probably want a mix of:

• Blog posts: guides, lists, case studies, tutorials
• Videos: explainer videos, product demos, interviews
• Visuals: infographics, charts, illustrations
• Lead magnets: ebooks, checklists, templates, webinars

Pro Tip: Different content types work for different businesses. B2B might focus on white papers and LinkedIn posts, while B2C could lean into short-form videos and listicles.

Once you’ve chosen your formats, it’s time to map out how you’ll actually get them created.

Step 7: Set Up a Content Workflow and Assign Roles

Now that you know what to create, it’s time to figure out how to get it done.

Think of this step as answering the 3 big W’s:

1. Who’s creating the content? This could be you, your team, or a freelancer—depends on your setup.
2. What tools do you need? Writers, editors, designers, and maybe video editors depending on the format.
3. What’s the workflow? A clear process helps everyone stay on track—outline, draft, edit, publish.

Once your workflow’s in place, the next step is to organize your content plan in a calendar.

Step 8: Plan Your Content With a Simple Calendar

Planning ahead keeps your strategy from falling apart. That’s what a content calendar is for.

You can keep it simple with Google Calendar or use a dedicated tool like Asana.

Asana even has a free Editorial Calendar Template that you can customize for your team.

Just map out your post ideas by date, assign responsibilities, and make sure deadlines are clear. That way, everyone knows what’s going out and when.

Step 9: Write and Design Your Marketing Content

This is where all your planning comes together—it’s time to start writing, designing, or filming.

If you’ve followed the earlier steps, you already know what topics to cover and which formats work best for your audience.

Start with a title from your content calendar, then research similar posts.

To do this, open a private browser window and search your keywords. Look at the top results and think about what you can do better or explain more clearly.

Then scroll to the bottom of the results page and check the suggested searches—these are called LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) terms. They’re great for finding supporting ideas for your post.

Next, organize your notes into a simple outline. Write your draft with real people in mind—not just search engines. Keep it clear, useful, and easy to skim.

For more help, check out this list of SEO ranking factors to make sure your post is easy to find online.

And remember—always write like you’re talking to a friend. Helpful beats perfect every time.

Step 10: Promote Your Content Across Channels

Publishing your content isn’t the end—it’s the start of getting it seen.

Here are simple ways to promote your content effectively:

• Use a social media scheduling tool to share posts across platforms
• Send it to your email list using email marketing tools
• Reach out to influencers or experts to share it with their audience

You can also promote new content with tools like OptinMonster. For example, LeadGuru used it to convert 81% of visitors.

It’s also helpful for showing offers, delivering lead magnets, and reducing bounce rates with features like Exit-Intent®.

Step 11: Track Performance and Optimize Over Time

Now it’s time to look back at the KPIs you set in Step 2 and see how your content is performing.

You can use tools like:

• Google Analytics — track traffic, bounce rate, and session time
• BuzzSumo or social platforms — track shares and engagement
• OptinMonster — check conversions from your marketing campaigns

Use this data to figure out what’s working and adjust your strategy moving forward.

Content Marketing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

And that’s it!

Now you know how to develop a content marketing strategy that helps you reach the right people and grow your business in a sustainable way.

Want to keep growing? Learn how to create a retargeting strategy to bring visitors back and turn them into customers.

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