Content marketing is more than just creating content and spraying on the wall of the Internet in hopes that something will stick. You have to have a plan. But which plan is the best plan?
The best content marketing plan is the plan that works for you, but one plan to consider is what I call the “Hub and Spoke” content model.
With this plan, what you do is establish your home base – your hub. That should be your website with a blog. You want a blog because it’s the easiest and most effective way to keep your website up-to-date with fresh and unique content. But if you stop at the hub, then you’ll miss out on opportunities to connect with your audience and drive them back to your home base.
That’s why you need the spokes.
The spokes are your outlying bases. These are the posts you set up in social media circles, other blogs, forums, and where ever your target audience can be found. Don’t spread yourself too thin, but pick as many spokes as you can manage effectively. That could be three or four or it could be a dozen. It depends on your strengths, your budget in money and time, and what’s available in your niche.
You should plan to post something to each of your spokes at least once a day. Ideally, you’d stick around and interact with your audience in those outlying bases. Build your audience, engage with your audience, then send your audience back to your hub where you’ll take your relationship deeper.
This is a simple online content model, but it works. Give it a try.