Content Marketing Checklist (SEMNE Digital Marketing Association)

2022-2023 Edition
Content
Marketing
Checklist

Content
Marketing Cheat
Sheet Whitepaper
www.semne.org
Content Marketing Checklist - Cheat Sheet Whitepaper (2022-2023 Edition)

SEMNE Digital Marketing Association

is providing free basic information
and is not responsible for any
results that are achieved based on
the advice contained within this
document.
Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation 2


Content marketing is one of the most reliable ways to build an active

following online. From blog posts to YouTube videos, informational content is
a valuable commodity on the internet with competition for readers in every
profitable niche.
Every content producer is a marketer, but the term “content marketing”

typically applies only to producers with a commercial intent. Successful
content marketing fulfills an audience’s need for information while promoting
a business’s products or services.
The points on this checklist will help you plan your content marketing
strategy and consistently produce valuable content for your audience.
1. Research your target audience.
Without a target audience, you don’t have a viable business. The ideal target
audience is highly engaged, passionate about your niche and ready to spend
money on your products or services.
Many content marketers will know their target audience very well before they
begin their campaign. In some niches, however, the target audience is less
obvious. To learn more about your target audience, you can perform research
on social media or study the findings of other businesses in your niche.
Your target audience may comprise 75% to 90% of your customer base. While
you should continue to serve all your customers, your content marketing
strategy should focus only on your target audience, which may exclude a
small portion of your total audience. Rather than ignoring these marginal
customers, you should optimize your business to suit their needs while
primarily focusing on your target audience.
For example, a cosmetics company may cater to women from 18 to 40 while

a small portion of its customers will fall outside this range. Ten percent of its
customers may be over 40, and 2% may be men. This hypothetical cosmetics
company should treat every customer with the same level of care and
professionalism, but it should optimize its content marketing strategy around
women from 18 to 40.
Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

SEMNE Digital Marketing Association is providing free basic information and is 3
not responsible for any results that are achieved based on the advice contained within this document.

2. Create a robust strategy.
The business model of content marketing is simple. It works the same way as
any form of media that presents advertising to an audience. Your job as a
content marketer is to hold your audience’s attention while persuading them
to use your products or services.
Content marketing has several advantages over television or radio

advertising. With content marketing, instead of paying to present your ads to
a general audience during a commercial break, you serve your informational
content only to potential customers. Whether you rely on organic web traffic
or paid advertising, you have the opportunity not only to reach a passionate
audience in your niche but to engage that audience with promotional content
about your business.
Your content strategy should bring you closer to your business goals with
every blog post. The challenge is creating relevant content that will motivate
your target audience to spend money on your products or services.
In the early days of the internet, many websites built their content strategy
around publishing clickbait on Facebook but soon found that they couldn’t
sustain their initial success. While clickbait headlines can send traffic to your
website, most readers will immediately click away, creating a high “bounce
rate” and signaling to Google that your site isn’t trustworthy. Instead of giving
your audience empty promises, give them valuable, research-backed
information even if it takes time and effort to create it.


3. Create a content blueprint.
A content blueprint is essentially an algorithm for streamlining your content

creation. Without a blueprint, you could find yourself wasting a lot of time in
the brainstorming and planning stages of the process.
A blueprint will help you standardize your content for continuous publication
so that you can answer your audience’s most pressing questions without
getting stuck. A blueprint consists of a set of prompts to guide you through
the thought process from doing your keyword research to choosing a format
and, finally, uploading your content to a website. The heart of your blueprint
will contain prompts to remind you to focus your content on your target
audience.
When you’re just starting out in content marketing, you’ll begin the process
with research to find the most current long-tail keywords in your niche.
Because about 15% of internet search terms are new keywords that no one
has ever searched for before, there will always be new long-tail keywords in
your niche. These low-competition keywords are ideal for targeting an
audience that’s always asking new questions about a particular subject.
After making a list of long-tail keywords to target, you must decide on a

content format, which could be a blog post, newsletter, video, podcast
episode or social media post. Most of the time, your thought process and
creation model will remain the same from one post to the next. However, to
avoid getting stuck in a rut, be sure to vary the process as much as possible.
4. Optimize your website design.
Web design is a big part of content marketing. Whether you use a basic
WordPress theme or hire a programmer to create a custom theme, you can
manually adjust the font and page layout for each blog post or across your
entire site.
As long as your font is large enough to display properly on all types of

screens, you can leave it as it is. With a responsive website based on
WordPress or a similar framework, your pages will automatically adjust to the
size and shape of your readers’ screens.


Even with responsive web design, it’s important to format your content for
maximum readability. Page optimization is a critical step in the content
marketing workflow, and it’s an essential point on this checklist.
Page optimization begins with the formulation of lists, headers, image

captions and other HTML elements for your blog post. The layout should
present important information where your readers will naturally look as they
scan the article, usually immediately following headers and images.
With a large typeface and bold text style to highlight important sections, your
blog posts can grab your readers’ attention and hold it long enough to tell
your story.
5. Work with multimedia content.
Content marketing is more than just blogging. With content marketing, you
have the flexibility to reach your audience with any type of media. Whether
you create graphics, videos, animations or slideshows, you can optimize your
content for any platform.
For example, Instagram marketers can reach their followers with regular
posts, temporary Stories or cinematic Reels. Each format shapes the
message in its own way and determines how readers will engage with it. The
average internet user may not pay much attention to a content marketer’s
Instagram post, but the same user may notice a strategically timed Story or
Reel that presents highly relevant information.
Multimedia content is more engaging than plain text-based information. With

modern smartphone technology, producing video and audio content is just as
easy as writing blog posts. In Google search results, web pages with video
content tend to rank above pages of plain text and still images. Moreover, the
Google algorithm usually gives preference to YouTube videos over other types
of content.
As a content marketer, you don’t have to abandon blogging to become a

full-time YouTuber. Instead, simply incorporate multimedia content into your
blog articles and social media posts as often as possible.


6. Create viral content.
When content becomes viral, it usually happens by accident. However, some

savvy marketers have learned how to create viral content on demand. When
content accidentally becomes viral, it usually doesn’t have any commercial
value. It can be challenging to create viral commercial content on purpose.
In order for your content to go viral, your readers must share it with their
friends and social media followers. You can come up with ideas for viral
content by modeling them on previously successful ideas or by searching for
a completely novel approach. With original, relevant content, you can reach
new long-term customers through viral sharing, so it’s worth the time and
effort to create valuable content.
If you don’t immediately find

an original idea for your next
blog post, simply write about
trending topics in your niche.
Your content should always be
timely and responsive to
current search data, and your
most viral posts will probably
start with basic keyword
research.
Viral content is good marketing only when it spreads your brand’s message. If
your most popular content simply entertains people without educating them
about your products or services, it isn’t effective marketing.


7. Make your content engaging.
It’s not enough for your content to be attention-grabbing. It has to be

attention-holding, as well. You can grab and hold your audience’s attention
with compelling headlines and valuable, relevant content.
Holding your readers’ attention is a skill that takes practice, and to do it

successfully, you must compose your content with a critical eye. Your delivery
of information should unfold uniformly over the length of your story, beginning
with a compelling opening statement or paragraph that sets your readers’
expectations.
Possibilities for compelling intros include personal stories, remarkable data

points and unusual facts relevant to your niche. For example, a blog post
about dental hygiene could begin with “The average American spends almost
1,000 hours brushing his teeth in a lifetime.” After establishing your intent with
the intro, hold your readers’ attention with a stream of useful data dispersed
evenly throughout the article.
To keep your post relevant to the end, treat every section as an article in
itself. Write a compelling opening sentence for each section and ensure that
every subsequent sentence adds value to the content. Keep your readers
engaged throughout the blog post with eye-catching graphics or
photographs with interesting captions.
While stock images can improve a generic blog post, readers in some niches
could react badly to the use of unoriginal content. For example, do-it-yourself
instructions should include original photographs illustrating each step in the
process so that readers can easily visualize it.
High-resolution photographs have the dual benefit of engaging readers with

visual content while presenting useful information in the form of captions. By
strategically placing images throughout your posts, you can hold your
readers’ attention until the end.


8. Give your readers facts and figures.
Remarkable data points can make your videos and blog posts more
compelling by vividly illustrating your point. Unusual facts and statistics are
attention-grabbing and valuable to readers looking for authoritative
information.
You can find data points for your blog content by following the social media
accounts of influencers in your niche. Social media apps such as Facebook,
Instagram and Pinterest are full of posts containing remarkable facts and
figures in every niche.
By spending a few minutes a day on various social media sites, you can stay
updated about the state of your niche and bookmark interesting posts.
Alternatively, type your keyword into the search bar on a social media
platform to scan for posts containing useful information.
Social media is ideal for this kind of research because it gives you important
data while showing you the audience’s reaction. With a comparable Google
search, you can find similar data, but it won’t come with such a robust record
of reader comments.
Following influencers on social media helps you keep a finger on the pulse of
your niche so that your content will always be relevant. Because the
influencers in your niche are your competitors, their activity can be valuable
to you as you build your following.
Popular blogs, podcasts and YouTube channels in your niche offer important
clues about what your audience wants to know. While it’s okay to respond to
your competitors’ activity, it’s a bad idea to react to every comment they
make. Simply pay attention to the influencers in your niche to stay in tune with
your audience’s interests.


9. Use a smart SEO strategy.
Whether you are uploading content to Facebook, YouTube or your personal

website, search engine optimization will help you reach a larger audience.
When you enter a new niche, the first step in the SEO process is long-tail
keyword research.
By targeting long-tail keywords with your content, you’ll gradually build an

audience of the most attentive people in your niche. While this strategy
requires a lot of effort in the beginning, it’s an effective way to build high-
quality traffic in any niche.
The reason long-tail keywords are so effective is that they target the most
knowledgeable readers while avoiding the intense competition of broader
keywords. Long-tail keywords can help you rank higher on Google, YouTube,
social media and other search engines.
The key to using long-tail keywords is knowing your readers’ intent. Search
engines are getting smarter as their machine-learning algorithms improve.
The Google algorithm is good at telling the difference between high-quality
and low-quality writing, and it can discern a user’s intent with a high degree
of accuracy.
For example, a user searching for

“traditional indigenous Mexican
food” may be looking for dinner
recipes but more likely wants
information about indigenous
Mexican cuisine and culture.
Consequently, targeting this
keyword with recipes will exclude
your blog post from the top
Google search results.


10. Publish content on social media.
While you’re waiting for Google to notice your website, you can promote it to
a highly engaged, passionate audience on social media. Platforms such as
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest offer content marketers
an opportunity to directly connect with an audience.
Social media users tend to sort themselves into categories by following

influencers and joining groups, so there is always a demand for new content
in any niche. The most engaged users will follow almost every account in their
niche of interest, giving content marketers a virtually built-in audience.
Even with low-quality, formulaic content, it’s possible to gradually build a

social media following. However, publishing high-quality, targeted content will
speed up the process and increase your audience engagement. If your
followers are passionate, engaged enthusiasts, it will be very easy for you to
convert them into paying customers on your landing page.
Scheduling your posts can marginally improve your social media

engagement, but knowing your audience is the most important factor in the
equation. When you speak to your audience as if you share their interests and
belong in their group, you gain a measure of credibility that analyzing metrics
will never give you. On the other hand, if your posts come off as too
promotional or agenda-driven, many users will ignore them or even unfollow
you.


11. Become an influencer in your niche.
Influencers are the most popular and authoritative content producers in a

niche. To become an influencer takes years of dedication to an audience and
rising up search engine rankings.
This point on the checklist is a long-term goal that every content marketer
should have. As an influencer, you’ll be able to target broader keywords and
see your content go viral on a regular basis.
With every post to your blog or social media account, you should ask yourself
whether it will build upon your credibility as a content producer. Building
credibility will gradually make you an influencer in your niche, and the way to
do it is by publishing authoritative content with personal authenticity.
To create content with a measure of authenticity, you must write about what
you know and what truly interests you. Simply remixing other writers’ blog
posts isn’t a viable strategy for becoming an influencer.
While it’s not necessary to be an influencer in your niche, it will greatly

expand your opportunities to generate an income from your website.
Therefore, it’s important to choose the right niche in the first place.
Once you’ve found a subject that really moves you, the next step is to get
attention from existing influencers. Take the time to create the best blog post,
video or infographic you possibly can and then send it around to influencers
on social media. With patience, determination and the right subject matter,
you’ll eventually get your foot in the door.


12. Plan an advertising campaign.
While organic traffic from search engines is the most cost-effective source
of business leads, it isn’t the fastest. Paid advertising can send traffic to your
website right away, and the right campaign can ensure that those leads are
likely to convert to sales.
Paying for ads is an effective way to spread awareness of your brand and get
your content in front of as many people as possible. Whether you buy ads on
Google, Facebook or YouTube, you could see overnight results. However,
there’s an art to advertising effectively, and simply buying ads without a
strategy will only waste your money.
Using paid traffic as part of your content marketing strategy requires the
same amount of research and care as any other method. When you take this
route, you’ll continue to produce high-quality, targeted content, but you’ll
boost your traffic and engagement with ad purchases.
Online advertising networks offer a selection of marketing options for every

type of campaign. For example, one campaign can serve to spread brand
awareness while another can generate leads to your landing page. By
carefully targeting an audience for each campaign, you’ll ensure that your
advertising is always successful.
13. Use email marketing.
Email marketing is one of the most effective channels for content marketers.
With a carefully curated email list, you can reach a highly engaged audience
more consistently than with any other format.
The strategy for email marketing is essentially the same as it is for other
forms of content marketing. You’ll begin by defining the goals of your
campaign and then crafting content to reach those goals.
The advantage of email marketing is that it offers better engagement and

audience trust while avoiding the pitfalls of social media marketing. While
most honest marketers will never run into problems, social media platforms
can change their algorithms at any time, rendering some content marketing
campaigns obsolete.


With email marketing, your content goes directly into your readers’ inboxes
without competing for search engine rankings. An email service provider can
help you turn your email list into a profitable content marketing campaign. By
automating your email collection routine with website plugins, you can
gradually acquire the most valuable asset in your content marketing
business.
With such a huge potential for free advertising, the last thing you’ll want to do
is betray your audience’s trust with low-quality content. Keep your marketing
emails relevant and unobtrusive and always aim to add value to your
readers’ lives.
14. Post content on YouTube.
With a small investment in video and audio equipment, you can make
YouTube marketing part of your business model. Video reaches a wider
audience on the internet than any other medium, and Google gives
preference to YouTube videos in its search results.
Creating a popular YouTube channel takes the same amount of research

and creative consistency as a blog or social media account. You don’t have
to be a talented broadcaster to produce engaging YouTube videos, but good
on-camera skills can be helpful.
Whether you personally stand in front of the camera, hire a presenter or

simply use a voice-over track, your videos can attract a large, organic flow of
traffic. YouTube is ideal for brand awareness campaigns, product
comparisons and how-to videos. With a following on YouTube, you can send
traffic to a website, podcast or brick-and-mortar store.


15. Produce a podcast.
Podcasting is an affordable broadcasting medium that is always increasing

in popularity. With podcasting, you can reach a section of your target
audience that won’t read your blog posts or watch your YouTube videos. This
point on the checklist is optional, but a growing number of online marketers
and entrepreneurs are discovering the potential of podcasts to help build
their brands.
Producing a podcast can seamlessly fit into your existing workflow. The trend
of digital marketers converting their podcast transcripts into blog posts is a
sign that podcasting is worth the time and effort.
The same advice for optimization applies to podcasts as to other forms of

media. Target relevant keywords and use SEO to increase the visibility of
every episode in podcast search results. For marginal gains in traffic, upload
each podcast episode to your YouTube channel. Podcasting is a versatile
marketing channel with exciting possibilities.
16. Publish content on Kindle.
With some editing, you can turn your blog posts into an e-book for the Kindle
Store. Publishing e-books is an effective content marketing strategy with
several potential streams of revenue.
E-book sales can generate some income on their own, but Kindle also gives
content marketers the opportunity to convert readers into customers. The
pages of your e-books may contain links to your website, YouTube channel or
affiliate offers, and your readers will forgive these intrusions as long as your
content provides value.
As a Kindle author, when one of your e-books becomes a hit, you’ll be able to
expand your audience again by turning your e-book into an audiobook. The
rapidly growing popularity of digital audio is a fantastic opportunity for
marketers.


The Takeaway
Content marketing is popular because it works. As long as you present

relevant information with an authentic voice, you can convert a portion of
your readers into paying customers.
The changing landscape of the internet gives marketers many new channels
for their content, and multimedia formats are always increasing in popularity.
With a versatile strategy that includes several formats, your content
marketing business will be ready for the future.


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2022-2023 Edition

SEMNE Digital Marketing Association

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation 2

Content marketing is one of the most reliable ways to build an active

Every content producer is a marketer, but the term “content marketing”

1. Research your target audience.

For example, a cosmetics company may cater to women from 18 to 40 while

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

2. Create a robust strategy.

Content marketing has several advantages over television or radio

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

3. Create a content blueprint.

A content blueprint is essentially an algorithm for streamlining your content

After making a list of long-tail keywords to target, you must decide on a

4. Optimize your website design.

As long as your font is large enough to display properly on all types of

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

Page optimization begins with the formulation of lists, headers, image

5. Work with multimedia content.

Multimedia content is more engaging than plain text-based information. With

As a content marketer, you don’t have to abandon blogging to become a

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

6. Create viral content.

When content becomes viral, it usually happens by accident. However, some

If you don’t immediately find

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

7. Make your content engaging.

It’s not enough for your content to be attention-grabbing. It has to be

Holding your readers’ attention is a skill that takes practice, and to do it

Possibilities for compelling intros include personal stories, remarkable data

High-resolution photographs have the dual benefit of engaging readers with

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

8. Give your readers facts and figures.

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

9. Use a smart SEO strategy.

Whether you are uploading content to Facebook, YouTube or your personal

By targeting long-tail keywords with your content, you’ll gradually build an

For example, a user searching for

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

10. Publish content on social media.

Social media users tend to sort themselves into categories by following

Even with low-quality, formulaic content, it’s possible to gradually build a

Scheduling your posts can marginally improve your social media

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

11. Become an influencer in your niche.

Influencers are the most popular and authoritative content producers in a

While it’s not necessary to be an influencer in your niche, it will greatly

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

12. Plan an advertising campaign.

Online advertising networks offer a selection of marketing options for every

13. Use email marketing.

The advantage of email marketing is that it offers better engagement and

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

14. Post content on YouTube.

Creating a popular YouTube channel takes the same amount of research

Whether you personally stand in front of the camera, hire a presenter or

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

15. Produce a podcast.

Podcasting is an affordable broadcasting medium that is always increasing

The same advice for optimization applies to podcasts as to other forms of

16. Publish content on Kindle.

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation

Content marketing is popular because it works. As long as you present

Learn about the SEMNE Digital Marketing Association: SEMNE.org @semneassociation