---
name: content-strategy
description: "Build a content strategy that connects every piece to an audience need and a business goal: goals and metrics, audience questions from research, a distinctive point of view, three to five pillars chosen on need, value, credibility and saturation, formats and channels, funnel mix, resources and what to stop, and measurement. Use whenever someone asks for a content strategy, content pillars, editorial direction, what content to create, content plan for the year, thought leadership themes or why content feels random."
license: CC-BY-4.0
metadata:
  author: Afeez Adebayo
  author_url: https://afeezadebayo.com
  author_linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/
  author_x: https://x.com/za_icon
  source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/content-copy-pr/content-strategy/
  category: marketing
  subcategory: content-copy-pr
  version: "1.0.0"
  created: "2026-10-10"
  updated: "2026-10-10"
---

# Content Strategy

A content strategy decides what a company publishes, for whom, why and how it will know it worked. Without one, teams react to requests, chase trends and publish whatever is easiest to write. With one, every piece connects to an audience need and a business goal, the team knows what not to make, and results compound because topics build on each other.

This skill builds content strategies for marketing teams: goals, audiences and their questions, a point of view, content pillars, formats and channels, the mix across the funnel, resources and measurement. It complements the Content SEO `topical-map` skill, which plans search coverage in detail.

## Operating principles
1. **Goals first.** Awareness, demand, sales enablement, retention or reputation: each needs different content.
2. **Audience questions drive topics.** Use research, sales calls, support and search data, not internal guesses.
3. **Have a point of view.** Distinctive opinions and evidence make content worth reading and sharing.
4. **Few pillars, done deeply.** Three to five themes the company can own.
5. **Plan distribution with creation.** Every piece has a channel plan before it is written.

## Strategy components
| Component | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Business goals | What should content achieve? | 30% of pipeline influenced by content in 12 months |
| Audiences | Who are we writing for? | Finance managers at mid-market companies |
| Audience needs | What do they need to know or do? | Close faster, reduce errors, prepare for audits |
| Point of view | What do we believe that others don't say? | Month-end is a process problem, not a people problem |
| Pillars | Which themes do we own? | Faster close, audit readiness, finance automation |
| Formats | How do we deliver? | Guides, templates, original research, newsletter, webinars |
| Channels | Where do audiences find it? | Search, LinkedIn, newsletter, partners, sales |
| Funnel mix | What share of effort at each stage? | 40% awareness, 40% consideration, 20% decision and retention |
| Resources | Who makes it, how often? | Two writers, one designer, subject matter experts monthly |
| Measurement | How do we know it works? | Leads, assisted pipeline, newsletter growth, links |

## When to use, and when not to
Use it when starting or resetting content, after an audit, when entering new markets or segments, during annual planning and when content feels random.

Don't use it to plan search coverage page by page (the Content SEO `topical-map` skill) or to set positioning (the Product Marketing `positioning` skill).

## Inputs to ask for, in one message
1. Business goals and the role content should play.
2. ICP, personas and customer research.
3. Positioning and messaging.
4. Audit findings or current content performance.
5. Competitor content and what stands out.
6. Team, budget and subject matter experts available.

## Workflow

### Step 1. Set goals and metrics
Specific, time-bound and connected to business outcomes.

### Step 2. Define audiences and their questions
From interviews, sales calls, support tickets, community threads and search data.

### Step 3. Define the point of view
What the company believes, can prove and is willing to say publicly.

### Step 4. Choose pillars
Themes where audience need, business value and credibility overlap.

### Step 5. Choose formats and channels
Match formats to audience habits and team strengths.

### Step 6. Set the funnel mix
Balance awareness, consideration, decision and retention content.

### Step 7. Plan resources
Cadence, roles, experts and budget; what the team will stop doing.

### Step 8. Define measurement
Leading and lagging metrics per goal; review cadence.

### Step 9. Document
A short strategy document everyone can follow.

## Pillar selection grid
| Candidate pillar | Audience need (1-5) | Business value (1-5) | Our credibility (1-5) | Competitor saturation (1-5, low is good) | Pick? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faster close | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Yes |
| General accounting tips | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | No |

## Point of view prompts
- What do we believe about this problem that most of the market gets wrong?
- What have we seen in customer data or experience that others haven't?
- Where do we disagree with common advice, and why?
- What would we stand behind publicly, with evidence?

## Audience question sources
| Source | What it gives |
|---|---|
| Sales call recordings | Questions and objections before buying |
| Support tickets | Problems after buying |
| Customer interviews | Goals, triggers, language |
| Community threads and forums | Unfiltered questions and frustrations |
| Search data | Demand and phrasing at scale |
| Social comments | Reactions and debates |
Collect questions into one list, tagged by audience, pillar and funnel stage, then prioritise by frequency and business value.

## Format choices
| Format | Strength | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Practical guides and templates | Useful, evergreen, linkable | Medium |
| Original research reports | Authority, PR and links | High |
| Newsletter | Owned audience, repeat attention | Medium, ongoing |
| Webinars and events | Depth and direct engagement | Medium |
| Case studies | Proof for buyers | Medium |
| Short video and social posts | Reach and discovery | Low to medium |
| Opinion pieces | Point of view, reputation | Low to medium |

## What to stop
A strategy is also a list of things the team will no longer do: topics outside the pillars, formats that never perform, channels with no audience and requests that don't serve a goal. Writing this list protects focus when new requests arrive.

## Review cadence
Review metrics monthly, pillars and formats quarterly and the whole strategy yearly or after major business changes.

## Edge cases and judgement calls
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Small team | One pillar and one flagship format done well |
| Several audiences | Prioritise one primary audience per pillar |
| Regulated industry | Build review into resources; plan compliant formats |
| Founder-led brand | Use the founder's point of view as a pillar |
| No subject matter expert access | Schedule expert interviews monthly; build the habit |

## Handoffs to related skills
- Audit: `content-marketing-audit`
- Calendar and workflow: `editorial-operations`
- Voice: `brand-voice-guide`
- Thought leadership: `thought-leadership`
- Research reports: `original-research-reports`
- Newsletters: `newsletter-strategy`
- Search coverage: the Content SEO `topical-map` skill
- Positioning: the Product Marketing skills

## Worked example
An HR software company published generic HR tips across dozens of topics. The new strategy focused on one primary audience (HR leads at companies with 50 to 500 staff), a point of view that most compliance problems come from manual processes, and three pillars: compliance, people operations efficiency and employee experience. Formats shifted to practical templates, an annual state-of-HR-operations report and a weekly newsletter. Output fell by half, but content-assisted pipeline doubled within a year.

## Output format
```
# Content strategy: <company>, <date>
## Goals and metrics
## Audiences and their questions
## Point of view
## Pillars
## Formats and channels
## Funnel mix
## Resources and what we will stop
## Measurement and review cadence
```

## Common mistakes
- Topics chosen by internal preference.
- No point of view.
- Too many pillars.
- Creation without distribution plans.
- Metrics that don't connect to business goals.

## Questions to ask before you plan
- What should content achieve for the business this year?
- What do audiences ask that nobody answers well?
- What can we say that competitors can't?

## Self-check before you answer
- Are goals specific and tied to outcomes?
- Are topics grounded in audience research?
- Is there a clear point of view and a short list of pillars?
- Are distribution, resources and measurement planned?

## Further reading
- Content Marketing Institute: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/
- Joe Pulizzi, Content Inc. (2nd edition, 2021)

---
Created by Afeez Adebayo, Marketing, SEO & Growth Expert
Website: https://afeezadebayo.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/
X: https://x.com/za_icon
Source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/content-copy-pr/content-strategy/

Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). You may copy, share and adapt this skill, including for commercial use, as long as you credit Afeez Adebayo and link to the source URL above. Keep this notice in any copy or adapted version.