New year, new business! Right? The beginning of the year is when we all scramble to set new goals, try new things, and start planning your content for 2025. But when it comes to marketing, it can quickly end up way too overwhelming to think and plan!
Don’t worry–today, I’m here to guide you through just one of the parts of your businesses that can set you up for success in 2025: your content! Your content helps you get your business out in the world, educate your clients, and ultimately, get more inquiries. But just like everything else in business, your content needs strategy and consistency to be effective.
Before we dive in, let me tell you a little about myself. I’m Colie, a systems strategist who’s here to transform your business! I’m here to help you get more organized and love your business again, whether templates that keep your business moving, or education about managing and making the most of your CRM.
Make This the Year You Finally Get Organized
As a systems strategist, I know that when it comes to planning your content for 2025, it can be easy to search for “Reels tips” or “caption ideas.” But the truth is, simple systems and better organization make your business easier to manage, which is likely more what you need right now. Because when sh*t’s complicated, it can spill over into your brand presence, client interactions, and more. No Instagram templates are going to help with that!
Now, let’s dive into the steps you can take to start planning your content.
1. Set Your Goals
With marketing, we always want to start with goals. Marketing always takes time or money (or oftentimes, both!), so you don’t want to be throwing spaghetti at your wall and hoping it sticks.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of testing you can do with your content, but it should all be for your ultimate goal. Do you want to capture new leads? Increase your website traffic? Become an industry leader? Set these goals first before you even start to think about content ideas.
2. Take a Look at Your Older Content
The best way to learn is by looking at what already happened. Once you have your goals, take a look at the content you created last year. (If you’re a brand-new business with no content, just skip to the next step!)
Google Analytics is free so there’s no excuse–you don’t have to be a data scientist to look at your numbers! Just looking at the pages that got the most traffic and clicks is a great place to start.
Then, ask yourself: does any of your content need an update? Are there other topics you can create that are similar to the content that performed well? These questions will help you get your gears turning to develop a solid content plan this year.
3. Plan Your Content Pillars and Themes
Now it’s time to take all those swirling content ideas and transform them into a structured, strategic plan. This is where your content pillars and themes come into play.
What Are Content Pillars?
Think of content pillars as the foundation of your content strategy. They represent the core topics you consistently create content around—aligned with your expertise, audience needs, and business goals.
For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, your content pillars might be:
- Education for engaged couples (how to choose a venue, wedding timeline tips, what to wear for engagement shoots)
- Behind-the-scenes of your business (your creative process, day-in-the-life content, client experiences)
- Social proof and portfolio showcases (sharing recent weddings, testimonials, transformations)
- Industry collaborations & vendor spotlights (interviews with florists, planners, venues)
For a coach or consultant, pillars might be:
- Mindset and motivation (tips on overcoming fear, productivity hacks, staying accountable)
- Expert insights & thought leadership (educational posts, case studies, opinion pieces)
- Client success stories (before-and-after results, testimonials, transformation stories)
- Practical how-tos & resources (step-by-step guides, templates, workbooks)
Your content pillars should:
- Be relevant to your audience. Ask yourself, “What does my ideal client need help with?”
- Align with your business goals. If you’re launching a course, one pillar should be around topics that tie into it.
- Be broad enough to create multiple content ideas under each one. You don’t want to run out of content in two months!
Creating Monthly or Quarterly Themes
Once you define your content pillars, the next step is mapping out themes for each month or quarter. Themes help you stay focused, seasonal, and strategic.
For instance, if one of your content pillars is “Marketing Strategies,” your themes might be:
- January: Goal setting & planning your content
- February: Social media engagement hacks
- March: Email marketing best practices
- April: Video content and repurposing strategies
Each month’s theme allows you to create content that works together, rather than throwing random topics at your audience.
Where to Publish Your Content?
Not every piece of content belongs everywhere! Choose your platforms based on where your audience hangs out and what content types work best there.
For example:
- YouTube & Podcasting: Longer-form content like tutorials, interviews, and storytelling.
- Instagram & TikTok: Short-form, visual content like Reels, carousel posts, and behind-the-scenes clips.
- Your Blog: In-depth, long-form content that helps with SEO and authority building.
- Email Newsletter: Personalized updates, deep dives into topics, and exclusive content.
Documenting all of this content in a tracker like my Airtable Content Hub is a great way to see it all in one place and ensure your ideas always have a home!
4. Optimize Your Content Production Workflow
Now, it’s time to decide: who the heck is actually going to create all this content?
Be real with yourself and think about how much time you have to spend on your content each week. Maybe that’s just one blog post or 3 social posts. Whatever it is, it’s ok! There’s no right answer here as long as you’re consistently creating the content you’ve planned.
If you do have the ability to get help for your content creation, work on optimizing the best process for writing, editing, and publishing. And don’t forget to use your Content Hub to keep track of it all!
5. Measure and Track Your Progress
I already mentioned tracking and reporting above, but I’m not done! Your last step should always be monitoring your content to understand how it’s performing. Not every type of content will be a winner (and if it is, can you tell me your secrets??). It’s normal to have content that works great for your goals and others that aren’t quite pulling their weight, but identifying what’s what will allow you to pivot and refine your strategy.
Manage Your Content in One Place
Now that you’ve started planning your content for 2025, it’s time to organize everything in one place. Otherwise, all of your ideas can get lost, and it’ll be a nightmare to stay on top of what needs to be written, edited, or published.
Basically, the planning step is just the first step. You can’t get clients because you “planned” to market your business.
If you need a little help getting started, my $9 Content Hub on Airtable is a quick way to get started! It’s a better system to keep track of (and repurpose) your marketing while resolving the chaos and exhaustion that you might be feeling.
With the template, you’ll have a repository for all your content ideas, organization for your content pillars and platforms, tracking for your subscribers and followers, and much more! You’ll wonder how you ever did content without it (to be honest).
Plus, if your content includes podcasting, you can also check out my Podcast Planner, which includes everything for managing guests, publishing episodes, and promoting your content.
Create a System to Convert New Leads
Having a system to convert your leads is JUST as important as the more exciting parts of marketing your business. With more content comes more opportunities for inquiries and additions to your email list, so make the most of it!
A CRM that organizes your leads and gives you the tools you need to move them through your sales funnel is crucial. Plus, the right system will do a ton of work for you. Templates and automations can ensure that everything is moving seamlessly while you can focus on the rest of your business (what a dream, right?).
If you’re not sure where to get started, sign up for my CRM Blueprint Course! You’ll get easy-to-digest lessons along with client experience templates and email workflow templates. It’s your all-in-one bundle to elevate your business!
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