Marketing tips
Content Marketing: How to Build a Plan That Keeps Working
By Jantien Vanderbeke. Updated 27 October 2026
Content marketing is creating and sharing useful content (blogs, emails, social posts, videos) that helps your audience before they buy, so they get to know the brand, trust it and come back when they are ready. For a marketer, the plan behind it makes all the difference: when content follows the stages of the customer journey, you write it once and it keeps working.
As a freelance or in-house marketer, you know the weekly question: what do we post this week? A content plan built on the customer journey answers it for months ahead.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a way of marketing where you help the customer with information, answers and inspiration. The Content Marketing Institute defines it as creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience.
Content helps people solve a problem before they buy anything. They remember who helped them when they are ready to buy.
Why a content plan saves you time
- You stop deciding every week. The plan already says what goes out, for whom and when.
- Your content keeps working. A good blog post or email sequence does its job for months or years.
- You can show the logic. To a client or a manager, a plan built on the customer journey is easy to explain and easy to approve.
- AI works better with it. With a clear plan and context, AI drafts content that fits the stage, so you edit more and start from scratch less.
Content marketing examples: what to create
| Type of content | Best for | Time it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Blog posts | Getting found in Google and AI tools | High to write, then it keeps working |
| Emails and newsletters | Building a relationship with people who are already interested | Medium, low once automated |
| Social media posts | Visibility and recognition | Low per post, but it never stops |
| Videos and reels | Trust: people see who is behind the brand | Medium to high |
| Guides, e-books, checklists | Collecting leads | High, but only once |
| Case studies and client stories | Convincing people who are still unsure | Medium |
You don't need all of them. Pick two that fit the audience and that you can keep up.
How to build a content marketing plan in 5 steps
1. Map the customer journey
How long does it take, on average, from first contact to purchase? Which stages does the customer go through? That decides how long your content sequence needs to be.
2. Write down the pains and gains per stage
What frustrates the customer at each stage? What do they want to achieve? Every question customers often ask is a piece of content.
3. Pick one or two channels
For example blog posts to get found and email to build the relationship. Do two channels well.
4. Make the content plan
Write down what you create per stage and per channel:
| Stage | What the customer needs | Content example |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Understand their problem | Blog post explaining the problem and its causes |
| Consideration | Compare solutions | Email showing how the brand approaches it, and why |
| Decision | Remove doubts | Case study, answers to objections, a clear offer |
| Retention | Get the most out of the purchase | Tips, updates, content that strengthens the result |
If you use email, automate what you can, so you write the content once and let it do its work.
5. Measure and improve
Which content gets read, opened and clicked? Change what doesn't work.
A content marketing example: write once, six months of results
Here is an example from my own work. We built a six-month automated email flow, matching the average length of the customer journey.
Every email was tailored to the stage the reader was in, with the pains and gains that belong to that stage. When someone received an email depended on when they had subscribed.
The result: everyone got the same content at the same moment in their journey. It just wasn't the same date for everyone.
What it changed:
- The content was written once and kept working after that.
- Every reader got what fit their stage, at the right moment.
- Peace of mind. No more weekly stress about "what content do I need to write this week?"
For me, that is what content marketing is really about: write it once, and let it reach the right person at the right moment.
Content marketing and AI
AI makes content marketing faster, especially for first drafts, ideas and reusing content across channels. The strategy, the customer journey and your own examples stay your job. Read more in AI in Marketing: How to Use It Without Wasting Hours.
Ready to make your own content plan?
Already using AI for your content, one task at a time? In the Upskill workshop Content you build your content plan with AI, from the customer journey to the concrete content per stage. Half a day, max 4 people, on your own cases. So you stop wondering every week what to write.
FAQ about content marketing
What is the difference between content marketing and inbound marketing?
Content marketing is about creating valuable content. Inbound marketing is the broader approach where you use that content to bring customers to you.
What is a content marketing plan?
A content marketing plan is an overview of what content you create, for which stage of the customer journey, on which channel and when. It saves you from deciding every week what to post.
How much time does content marketing take?
It depends on your channels. If you plan well and automate, you write content once and let it work for months, like with an automated email flow.
How do I get a client or manager on board with a content plan?
Show the customer journey and which content goes with each stage. A plan that shows why each piece exists is easier to approve than a list of posts.