Making a content marketing plan: How to create a content matrix

When starting an online publication, it can be tempting to assume that, if you write it, they will come. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. You can write the most brilliant content imaginable, but it won’t reach its full potential if nobody sees it. But this isn’t just a matter of getting your content in front of people. You also want to make sure you’re reaching the right people. In this post, we’ll look at some of the ways you can make sure your content is being seen by the people who need it most.

The Vicar of Dibley is one of my favorite TV shows. It’s about a female Anglican priest named Geraldine Granger (played by Dawn French) who serves a parish deep in the English countryside. I was recently rewatching “The Christmas Lunch Incident” and there’s a scene where Geraldine is freaking out because it’s Christmas Eve and she still doesn’t have her sermon written. “Right, now some frightening facts,” she says. “It’s the biggest gig of the year. It’s a one-woman show. There’s 12 hours to go. I have no ideas at all.”

I recently discussed how creators can provide value to their audience by engaging in content arbitrage. In order to do that, you’re going to have to find suitable material. Now you may think this is no big deal–after all, you probably perform dozens of searches each day. But while your regular search engine can certainly help you find worthwhile material, it needn’t be the only tool in your arsenal. Information databases such as LexisNexis and ProQuest can be an excellent way for you to discover high-quality opportunities for content arbitrage.

Perhaps you, a person with a passion for writing and a very specific knowledge base, also harbor dreams of writing. If you’re anything like most beginning writers (myself included over a decade ago) it can be difficult to know where to start. Given the nature of the internet, a Web strategy is a critical component for success—but again, where should you start?

If you’ve ever taken a journalism class, your instructor probably stressed the importance of the ‘five W’s and an H’: Who? What? Why? Where? When? How? These six simple questions are the backbone of all journalism, and they help reporters construct a compelling narrative for their readers. But they’re not just for Woodward and Bernstein wannabes. A smaller subset of questions can be useful for anyone hoping to produce trustworthy, authoritative content: Who? Why? How? The stakes are high. There’s a good chance there are other publications writing about your subject matter, and it’s imperative that you make a good first impression as soon as possible. The beauty of these questions lies in their versatility. Not only can they help you write better content, but they’ll also go a long way to showing your readers and Google that you’re trustworthy.

Some people learn by hearing. Others learn by reading. And others learn by seeing. The basics of human psychology and neurology tell us that to successfully communicate with a wide audience, you need to create content that engages with those people based on the way they like to learn and consume information.

Around 1589, an English clergyman named William Lee asked Queen Elizabeth I for a patent. He’d invented a machine that could knit stockings, and he was eager to have the royal seal of approval. But when she saw Lee’s device, the Monarch is said to have replied “thou aimest high, Master Lee. Consider thou what this invention could do to my poor subjects. It would assuredly bring to them ruin by depriving them of employment, thus making them beggars.”

According to a recent study, 59% of links shared on social media aren’t actually clicked on, suggesting that they were shared on the basis of their headlines alone. Writing headlines is an often-overlooked part of the writing process. After working hard to craft a stellar piece of authoritative content, it can be really tempting to fashion a headline out of the first thing that springs to mind. This would be a mistake. Good headlines are an indispensable part of authoritative content, and today we’re going to look at how you can make your headlines shine just as brightly as the rest of your content.