Even the best content marketing strategy will sputter if you don’t have a way to execute them at a high level. You want each piece of new content to fit into your strategy. At the same time, you want it to resonate with your target audience and help you reach specific goals.
As you consider high-level things like content marketing objectives and the types of content marketing you’ll use to achieve them, you want to take the time to develop templates that turn theory into action.
Let’s break down what a content strategy template is, why it’s so important, and how you can create one.
There are many different elements of a successful content strategy. You want to have an overarching content strategy framework in place. This helps you see everything, from your marketing goals and objectives to the content marketing resources you have available. Your content strategy itself functions as the roadmap, guiding you as you go along.
And a content strategy template? That factors into the equation with the actual execution of your content creation.
As the name implies, a content marketing strategy template should be something that is repeatable. It should serve as a formula for each individual piece of content that you create to keep things consistent and on target as you go along.
A template may sound simple on the surface. But remember, we’re talking about a content strategy template. Not just a content template.
The latter could be a simple outline structure or a step-by-step process to create an infographic or “how-to” video.
When you introduce strategy into the picture, your content templates become more sophisticated. Along with creating basic structural outlines (things like content length, paragraph size, or tone), you also want to incorporate big-picture elements.
How does your strategy factor into each piece of content that you create? What keywords are important to include? What CTAs matter in your current marketing campaign?
These are all important elements that should be intimately embedded into each content strategy template that you create.
Taken together, both the strategic and practical elements of a content strategy template can help you create a repeatable, high-quality content plan. These have multiple benefits. For instance, a good content strategy template can:
Content templates help streamline your content creation process and bear fruit both internally as well as with customer-facing interactions.
One example of all of this in action is creating a content pillar template for your website. This would likely focus on a primary long-form piece of content that is a few thousand words long and centers on the primary keyword or industry-specific topic you’re addressing.
From there, you can build out medium-length sub-pillar pieces that cover tangential topics. Each of these can come with their own supporting blog post.
As you flesh out briefs and content creation instructions for each piece, you can keep the larger pillar strategy in mind. You can choose keywords, use internal links, and generally point everything you create toward a single topic that addresses a pain point or need of your audience. 
Collectively, this creates a content strategy template that you can repeat with each pillar that you create.
There are many different elements of content strategy. On-site blog content, email marketing, social media, and countless other communication channels can play critical roles in each marketing campaign.
So, how do you develop content strategy templates that jive with each of your content marketing strategies? Here are a few steps to help you get started.
Once you’ve considered your resources, team members, processes, and, of course, your goals, it’s time to pull it all together. Create a template for engaging, effective content that includes all of these factors. From there, you can duplicate your template any time you create a fresh content strategy.
Great content marketing strategies come from combining vision with consistency, and a template is the best “boots on the ground” way to do that. A good template helps you turn thoughts and goals into actionable content creation. At the same time, it keeps every piece of content focused on your digital marketing objectives.
As you develop each content marketing strategy, don’t assume it will magically come to fruition. If you need an expert's help, consider working with a content team. Creating content strategy templates will provide the repeatable structure necessary for success.
