How I Develop My Content Strategy
Two years of building Marketing Examined. And when I first started, like everyone, zero subscribers. The content strategy then? Post. Post. Post. And post again. That helped me gain traction but wasn’t smart growth or sustainable growth.
And when the plan is to build a media company for the long run, you need to figure out how to build both smart and sustainable growth.
90,000+ subscribers. We’ve figured out a few things that work.
It starts with our 3Ps framework: Potential, Platforms, Pillars.
Potential: Which platforms or forums have the potential to build and help grow my product?
Platforms: Which of these platforms play to my strengths?
Pillars: What are my pillar pieces of content?
Here’s what it looked like for me:
I went with Twitter.
It had the most potential for me to create great content because:
- Many people built successful newsletters on Twitter.
- It played to my strengths: Writing.
- And marketers and founders hang there.
Now, for the content. A great content strategy works top-down like a funnel with an added step. Action.
How I Created A Funnel For Content
Top of Funnel - Content that casts a wide net | Share known broad topics
Middle of Funnel - Content that attracts followers | Share expertise
Bottom of Funnel - Content that converts followers into fans | Share one of one personal experiences
Action - Content that moves people from a rented audience to an owned audience | Social to email
Here’s What It Looks Like:
But a funnel is only as effective as the content you create. A good content strategy prioritizes value over action.
Curate. Inspire. Educate. Motivate.
Then ask.
How My Content Falls Into This Funnel:
And do this for a long time. Because in the world of marketing, value compounds and eventually drives exponential action. Never the other way around.
How I Promote My Newsletter: Snacks & Entrees
90% of my content is free value. The remaining 10% is promotional output.
5% is direct promotions. The devil is in the details. Tease. Create curiosity. Fomo. And share snippets of value.
5% is building bridges from high-performing content to owned platforms. For example, I set a KPI (impressions or engagement based), and when a piece of content hits that KPI, I build a bridge and promote the extension of that content.
I share the snackable content on platforms. To then share the entrees on owned platforms.
Example:
For the last few weeks, I’ve been testing the same strategy on LinkedIn. So far it’s working. But still so much room for improvement - I’ll share more as I grow.
