As the new year approaches, creators and marketers are urged to shift their focus from overwhelming annual plans to a more manageable and effective 90-day content strategy.
This approach emphasizes consistency, realistic goals, and a clear roadmap for the initial quarter, setting a strong foundation for the entire year ahead. The key lies in simplifying processes and building sustainable rhythms.
Understanding Content Planning
A content plan serves as a practical outline detailing what content will be published, where, and when. It connects overarching goals with daily content decisions, preventing guesswork and ensuring focus.
Unlike a content strategy (the 'why') or a content calendar (the 'when'), a content plan is the executable roadmap that turns strategy into action.
A well-defined plan narrows down formats, themes, and posting frequency to a sustainable level, making content production, repurposing, and improvement more efficient.
The 90-Day Content Plan Framework
This framework divides the year into three manageable 30-day cycles, each with a specific focus:
- Month 1 - Launch: Test content pillars, establish a repeatable weekly routine, and achieve initial consistency.
- Month 2 - Stabilize: Maintain the established cadence, refine content formats, and adjust based on performance.
- Month 3 - Optimize: Enhance content quality, streamline workflows, and amplify successful content ideas.
This phased approach simplifies planning and makes the subsequent quarters easier to manage.
Building Your 90-Day Content Creation Plan
Follow these seven steps to create a focused, realistic, and repeatable content plan:
- Set One Clear Goal: Define a single, measurable outcome for the next 90 days (e.g., audience growth, lead generation, consistency improvement).
- Define Your Audience: Understand who you're speaking to, their needs, and their struggles.
- Choose 3-5 Content Pillars: Select core themes that will guide all your content creation.
- Pick Your Content Formats: Select formats you enjoy and can produce consistently, ideally a mix of long-form and short-form.
- Set Your Weekly Cadence: Determine a sustainable posting frequency across platforms.
- Create a Lightweight Workflow: Outline the steps from idea generation to publication.
- Build a Monthly Review Loop: Regularly assess performance, identify what worked, and make small, incremental improvements.
Streamlining with Podcastle
Tools like Podcastle can significantly simplify content planning and execution. By offering an integrated workspace for recording, editing, and repurposing, it reduces the need to switch between multiple applications. This efficiency is crucial for maintaining the consistent output required by a 90-day content plan.
More about content planning:
Staff Report
Nathan Sellars
Staff Report
