Content Strategy vs. Content Plan vs. Content Calendar

“Content strategy.” “Content plan.” “Content calendar.” Three terms that marketers can toss around casually, almost interchangeably, in a single meeting.

But they’re actually different, or can be. And recognizing their distinct roles can lead to more valuable content, more time in your workflow, and more opportunities to meet your marketing and business objectives.

In this note, I’ll define each, highlight how they differ, and call out the elements that are essential to create them.

The TL;DR of “Content strategy vs. content plan vs. content calendar”

Content strategy, a content plan, and a content calendar all belong in the same family of strategic tools and infrastructure. But they are not parallel or synonymous. They fall in a hierarchy, with content strategy at the top.

• Content strategy defines what are you using content to do (e.g., generate and qualify leads), and, just as important, what you are not going to use content to do (e.g., upsell to customers).

  • A content plan reflects the type of content and the topics you need to produce to fulfill the strategy. (It may also clarify how you’ll create the content.)

    • A content calendar schedules exactly when you’ll publish and promote the content within your plan. (If you’re ambitious, it may also show project steps or milestones.)

What is a content strategy?

Content strategy articulates what you need the content you are going to produce to do. Stronger content strategies even go so far as identifying what content will not do.

Examples of content strategy

Below are three examples of a content strategy, albeit likely oversimplified.

• Generate and promote via social/SEO/email digital content for single-office practice managers to generate 300 new leads each month and qualify 150 of them

• Develop four persona-based email tracks to qualify 200 existing leads 50% faster than current rate

• Develop top-of-funnel content to gauge in-market intent and engage 10 ABM health plan accounts

What isn’t a content strategy?

• A calendar

• Messaging architecture/hierarchy

• A content project plan

• A content mission statement

Who to involve in creating it

• Marketing leadership

• Demand generation

• Customer marketing

• Digital marketing

• Sales

• Design

• Marketing operations

What inputs will help you define it?

• OKRs, or marketing and corporate objectives

• Marketing and content analytics

• Customer’s business calendar/seasonality data

What is a content plan?

In short, a content plan specifies the content (e.g., topics/keywords and types) you need to create and promote to execute your strategy and meet business objectives.

Examples

Often, your plan will encompass more than just one of these examples:

• Publish 40 blog posts in 2020 based on 40 targeted keywords with a volume of 50-plus, difficulty of 35 or less, and relevance of 80-plus

• Create 1 lead-generation asset per month based on keywords with a volume of 150-plus, as well as necessary promotional assets

• Develop a lead-nurture email campaign to qualify leads 50% more quickly than one year ago

• Launch a bimonthly webinar series on high-value, low-adoption product features to boost customer retention by 10%

What isn’t a content plan?

• A calendar

• A Gantt chart

• A mission statement

• A list of random/routine content to produce

Who to involve in creating it

• Marketing leadership

• Demand generation

• Digital marketing

• Marketing operations

• Design

Which inputs can help define it

• Corporate and marketing OKRs

• Content strategy

• Analytics

• Scoring criteria

• Keyword strategy/targets/data

What is a content calendar?

This is the easiest, most concrete of the three: simply, the calendar is a deliverable that maps when you’ll publish and promote the content assets on your content plan.

Examples

• March 1

  • White paper: The Payer’s Guide to Value-based Healthcare Teams

  • Facebook ad #1: The Payer’s Guide to Value-based Healthcare Teams

  • LinkedIn ad #1: The Payer’s Guide to Value-based Healthcare Teams

  • Landing page: The Payer’s Guide to Value-based Healthcare Teams

  • Blog post: Chapter 2 of The Payer’s Guide to Value-based Healthcare Teams

What isn’t a content calendar?

• A random list of content to create that does not impact business objectives

• A schedule of content that departments have requested

• A list of the content you normally produce

Who to involve in creating it

• Demand generation

• Digital marketing

• Design

• Sales

• Marketing operations

Which inputs can help define it

• Corporate and marketing OKRs

• Content strategy

• Content plan

• Product roadmap

• Customer business calendar

• Industry and competitor intelligence

• Marketing and content analytics

Final thoughts

Differentiating these may seem academic or cumbersome. And some can argue that they’re futile—spending time to define each of these doesn’t guarantee more business, more brand awareness, or more leads.

But on the other hand, having them in place gives content marketers a powerful comprehensive, data-driven response to a pressing, justifiable question from not just marketing leaders and corporate sponsors but also members of the content team:

What is the content team doing and, more importantly, why?

Some acknowledgements

A lot of these insights and observations come from my experience and teammates at RevenueWell, especially Steve Susina and Jonathan Bass.