Better content
You create better content in eight steps.
No calendar full of pieces nobody asked for. This step-by-step plan starts from what your business wants to achieve and from your customer's questions, and ends with leads, deals and revenue. Each step has a tool: a framework or a calculator on this site.
The step-by-step plan
From customer question to revenue, and back again.
- 01
Choose your goal and measure your starting point
What should content deliver: leads, deals, sign-ups, fewer questions to support, a stronger brand among people who are not buying yet? Choose one main goal. Note what you achieve today: visitors, enquiries, positions in Google and how new customers find you.
Result One goal, with today's figures to compare against later.
ToolContent simulator - 02
Describe your audience and their job
An SME owner in construction who is unsure about a first ERP package is an audience. Companies that want to grow is not an audience. Write down the progress your reader wants to make, in their own words. Five customer interviews give you the wording.
Result An audience you can describe, and a job in one sentence.
ToolJobs to be done - 03
Collect the questions that matter
Ask your salespeople and your customer service for the twenty questions they get most often. Add keyword research and what people ask AI assistants. Price, problems, comparisons, reviews and best-of lists belong in there, even if you would rather avoid them.
Result A list of real questions, sorted by how close they are to a purchase.
ToolThey Ask, You Answer - 04
Choose a format and a place for each question
Not every question deserves an article. Some deserve a video, a calculator, a pillar page or an answer in the newsletter. For each piece, decide which customer stage it fits and where it needs to live to be found.
Result A calendar with a question, a format, a stage and a channel for each piece.
ToolSee, Think, Do, Care - 05
Create it, with a flow and an editor
A fixed briefing, your own knowledge as raw material, AI for research, first drafts and variants, and a human who checks facts, adds expertise and does the final edit. Put an outside voice in every piece: an expert, a customer, your own figures.
Result A way of working that delivers the same quality every time, faster than before.
ToolAI flow calculator - 06
Structure: build topics, not loose pieces
Group pieces by topic around a pillar page and link them to each other. Give the answer first, use clear subheadings and put an author with experience under every piece. That way search engines and AI assistants understand that you really cover the topic.
Result Clusters per topic, with internal links and answers that can be cited.
ToolTopic clusters - 07
Distribute and promote what works
Publishing is not yet distributing. For each piece, plan the newsletter, the posts, the colleagues who share it, the partners and the customers who receive it directly. Put budget behind the pieces that lead to conversations, aimed at exactly the job titles and regions that buy.
Result Every piece has a distribution plan, and the best pieces get paid reach.
ToolPESO model - 08
Measure on revenue and maintain your library
Connect content to your CRM and see which pieces appeared in deals. Every quarter, update what almost works, merge what competes with itself and delete what does nothing. Content is a library, not a news feed.
Result A dashboard on leads and deals, and a quarterly ritual to adjust course.
ToolContent audit
The content engine
Eight parts, one loop that keeps turning.
Every content programme that works has the same parts, whether you are on your own or a team of twenty. If one drops out, the engine stalls. Click on a part to see which question it answers and how to improve it.
- 01
Question
The question Which customer question are you answering, and how close is it to a purchase?
Improve it like this Get questions from sales and customer service, not just from a keyword tool.
- 02
Briefing
The question What should the reader know, feel or do after the piece?
Improve it like this Use one fixed briefing with goal, audience, job, sources and next step.
- 03
Creating
The question Who supplies the knowledge, and what does AI do?
Improve it like this Let AI research and write first drafts, and let experts supply the core.
- 04
Editing
The question Is it correct, is it your own, and is it better than what is already out there?
Improve it like this A human checks facts, adds experience and cuts what everyone already says.
- 05
Publishing
The question Where does it live, and do people and machines find it?
Improve it like this Answer first, clear subheadings, internal links and an author with experience.
- 06
Distributing
The question Who sees it, and through which channel?
Improve it like this Newsletter, LinkedIn, colleagues, partners and paid promotion for the best pieces.
- 07
Converting
The question What is the logical next step after reading?
Improve it like this A tool, a download, a sign-up or a conversation, matching the stage.
- 08
Measuring
The question Which pieces lead to leads, deals and revenue?
Improve it like this Connect to your CRM, ask customers how they found you and adjust every quarter.
Priorities
First the answers, then the spectacle.
A big campaign does not help if your customer's basic questions are not answered anywhere. Build from the bottom up.
- HeroBig moments that attract attentionOriginal research, a campaign, an event or a tool that everyone shares. Only worthwhile once there is an audience and a library to send them to.
- HubRegular appointments with your audienceA newsletter, a series, a podcast or a webinar with a fixed rhythm. This is where you build an audience that comes back.
- HelpAnswers to the questions asked every dayPrice, problems, comparisons, how to, what is the difference. Over time, this layer delivers the most traffic and the warmest leads.
Formats
Each format, a different job.
There is no best format. There is a format that fits your audience's question and what you are good at making. For each format you see what it is about, where to start and what to watch out for.
- 01
Article or guide
What it is about Answering a search question fully and honestly, better than what is already out there.
Start with The twenty questions your salespeople get most often.
Watch out Articles that repeat what is already on the first page of Google.
- 02
Pillar page
What it is about Bringing a whole topic together in one place and linking to the detailed pieces.
Start with The topic where you have the most expertise and that raises many sub-questions.
Watch out A pillar without cluster pieces around it. Then it is just a long article.
- 03
Customer story or case study
What it is about Proving that you do what you promise, with a customer telling the story.
Start with A customer with a measurable result and a recognisable problem.
Watch out Praise without figures or without the problem from before the collaboration.
- 04
Video
What it is about Explanation, demonstration and personality, short for reach and long for depth.
Start with Your experts answering the most frequently asked question, in one take.
Watch out Expensive production for something nobody asked for. Content comes before image quality.
- 05
Newsletter
What it is about The only channel where you decide who you reach, with no algorithm in between.
Start with A fixed day, one idea per edition and a clear sender.
Watch out A list of your own news. Give the reader something they want to forward.
- 06
Podcast or webinar
What it is about Building a loyal audience and putting experts, customers and partners in the spotlight.
Start with A series of six episodes around one question, with guests from your target audience.
Watch out A recording nobody can find again. Always turn it into an article and clips as well.
- 07
Original research
What it is about Publishing something nobody else has, and getting cited because of it.
Start with An annual customer survey with a fixed question, so you can compare.
Watch out A sample that is too small or leading. Bad figures backfire on you.
- 08
Tool or calculator
What it is about Helping people make a decision with their own figures.
Start with The calculation your salespeople now do in Excel for every customer.
Watch out A tool that hides its assumptions. Show how you calculate, and people will trust the outcome.
Ten quick wins
Things you can do this week.
- 01
Ask your salespeople for the twenty questions they get most often. That is your first content calendar.
- 02
In Google Search Console, look up the pages in positions 5 to 15. They are closest to more traffic.
- 03
Put the answer in one or two sentences at the top of your three most visited articles.
- 04
Put an author with name, job title and experience under every piece.
- 05
Add a logical next step to every article: a tool, a guide or a conversation.
- 06
Send your best piece from last year round again in the newsletter, updated.
- 07
Turn your last webinar or presentation into an article, three posts and a newsletter.
- 08
Ask two colleagues to share a piece, with their own angle instead of a ready-made text.
- 09
Put 300 euros behind the piece that appeared most often in deals, aimed at the job titles that decide.
- 10
Ask every new customer this month how they found you, and note it in your CRM.
Maturity model
Five levels. Where does your content stand?
Almost nobody jumps from the occasional blog to a content engine that delivers revenue every month. Recognise your level and take the next step, not three at once.
Occasional
Something appears when there is time or news. Nobody knows what it delivers.
Calendar
There is a plan and a fixed rhythm, but the topics come from your own agenda, not from customer questions.
Customer-focused
Topics come from sales and search data, every piece has an audience, a stage and a next step.
Engine
A fixed flow with AI and final editing, clusters per topic, promotion for what works and measurement on leads.
Library that sells
Content is present in every stage of the sale, is updated every quarter and is cited by customers, media and AI.
Pitfalls
Five ways to make content marketing fail.
- 1
Stopping after six months
The costs have been made, the returns only come later. Stop before the curve rises and you pay for the run-up and miss the harvest.
- 2
Writing for everyone
Without a clearly defined audience, every piece becomes vague. Vague does not get found, shared or bought.
- 3
Publishing without distributing
A good piece nobody sees delivers nothing. Distribution deserves at least as much time as creation.
- 4
AI without final editing
Creating faster is not the same as performing better. Without your own knowledge and a human who checks, you produce mediocrity at scale.
- 5
Measuring on views
Visitors are not customers. If you only measure traffic, you steer on what is easy instead of what sells.
Do you know what your content should deliver?
Simulate your content plan over 36 months, alongside search ads, or first work out what it costs each month.