How mature is your content strategy?

Is your content strategy serving your business goals?

Is it serving your ideal customers?

If not, it isn’t sustainable.

There are 5 levels of maturity when it comes to content strategy.

But does it even make sense to try to get to level 5?

Is level 3 or 4 good enough? What are the levels anyway? Let’s dive in.

At the end of this issue, be sure to check out the Saturday Spotlight 💡 where I’m curating the most interesting content, tools, and news of the week for creators and solopreneurs.

Level 1: Random Content Publishing

The first level of maturity, above not publishing at all, is randomly publishing content.

It is challenging to publish consistently, so many of us get stuck at this first level of just randomly publishing content. Publish and pray…

I think we can all agree this is better than nothing but far from ideal.

Level 2: Consistent publishing to one channel

The next level is consistently publishing to one channel.

If you have a blog, that means publishing weekly or daily.

If you have a podcast, it means an episode every week or day.

Reaching this level is essential because consistency is the key to growth. You are more likely to gain followers with consistent publishing.

You also build up a body of content and knowledge with benefits like ranking in search results (SEO) over the longer term.

Level 3: Repurposing one content piece to all channels

The next level is repurposing the content piece you create each week (or day) and publishing that piece of content across all social channels.

This can be as simple as creating a post that goes to each social channel, pointing back to your main piece of content.

Repurposing can also mean simply uploading the same content to each social network (ex., uploading your video to YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)

The benefit of reaching this level is much higher odds of having your content be seen since it is now on all social networks for the broadest potential audience.

Level 4: Repurposing one content piece and customizing for all channels

The next level takes repurposing a significant step further.

Instead of publishing one piece and type of content everywhere, you turn your content into multiple pieces and posts optimized for each social network.

For example, if you create video content, you can turn it into a podcast, blog, email newsletter, etc., and post it across the relevant channels.

You can take highlights from the content and turn them into short-form videos and other posts that are more optimal for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts.

Level 5: Dedicated content for each channel

The final level is creating dedicated content for each channel.

This could mean specific content and videos for YouTube. An interview format for a podcast.

Dedicated articles/posts for a blog. Original short-form videos (i.e., not pulled from the long-form)

Each channel has a dedicated strategy, content types, and topics that align with the audiences in each social network.

Which maturity level should you aim for?

For solopreneurs and creators, we should all aim to reach level 3 or 4.

The first step is figuring out the medium you want to create in (video, audio, text) and consistently publishing weekly.

The hardest step is consistency on one channel, from zero or random to stage 2.

After that, reaching stage 3 or 4 can be easier because everything required can be delegated.

For example, in our Content Engine service, you only need to create raw content once a week (i.e., get to Stage 2), and then, our team will edit, repurpose, and customize it for all social channels, getting you to Stage 4.

If you have to DIY, that’s okay too, then the incremental investment is your time.

Reaching Stage 4 means you have the highest odds for discovery and generating organic traffic with a modest amount of time and budget required.

Why?

Because you are consistently creating one content piece a week with tailored versions and highlights going to every channel for discoverability.

Why not aim for Stage 5?

For most solopreneurs and creators, I don’t recommend Stage 5 because it requires significantly more time from you, which can not be delegated.

Trying to create dedicated and differentiated video, audio, text, and short-form content every week would require too much of your time.

This only makes sense if you have a reasonably large team and have successfully systemized all the major elements of your business.

If you have, then yes, a larger percentage of your time could be spent on content creation, or you could hire creators for specific channels (i.e., someone to create and run a podcast for your business)

Take Action

For most of us, reaching Stage 4 is the sweet spot to aim for.

Here’s how to take action:

1. Pick the medium you want to create in (video, audio, text)
2. Dedicate time blocks each week to plan, create, and publish one piece of long-form content (Stage 2)
3. Decide whether you will DIY editing and repurposing or delegate it and begin publishing your content to all channels (Stage 3)
4. If delegating, have your team reformat and repurpose customized content to each channel (Stage 4)

If you want to see this process in detail, check out my free Content Engine guide and 7-day email course.