As a part of any content marketing strategy, the first thing to do while creating a content marketing plan is to have a content calendar ready in a spreadsheet format. The proposal would include content for all the stages in the sales funnel (which includes awareness stage, evaluation stage, and purchase stage). 

-If you are a new brand, then your first step would be establishing your brand through content. This can be done by setting your brand apart from your competitors. Develop search engine optimized content along with providing solutions that will help your consumers and even increase your rankings on the search engine result pages (SERPs). Keeping a mix of branded content and non-branded content will not only help gain new customers but will also help your brand maintain a presence online because creating good content is of no use until no one sees it. 

-The second step would be to find the right people to whom you can market your content. Try to attract as many new customers as you can by demonstrating your skills and knowledge about the domain. Keep your content specific and detailed. Most of the content marketing strategists keep their content (like brochures, how-to guides, cheat sheet, etc.) gated and people cannot access them until and unless they provide in their email ids and their phone numbers. After submitting their details, what content strategists do is that they redirect those users to their sales page or supporting content like client testimonials, behind the scenes (BTS) videos and case studies. Using these details and sharing educative or informative content can help your brand build a loyal follower base.

-The third step would be about engaging with insights that your posts get. Track which kind of posts are working for your brand, look at the number of interactions your posts are getting, the number of impressions, how many people you are reaching and look out for posts that are gaining you more and more followers.

-The last and final step would be to interact with followers, connections, and people engaging with your posts because content marketing is not only about lead generation or gaining followers; it is also about retaining them.

It is vital to have a plan on what kind of content you are going to create as a part of your marketing strategy so that people know what your brand is about. They come to your channel or visit your social media business pages seeking a particular type of content, and it is your responsibility to give what your audience wants.