My 7-Step Content Marketing Strategy to Unlock Your Marketing Potential

So I'm sharing my seven step content marketing strategy that you can follow , you can implement , you can take pieces of it and just work with what is going to work best for your content , your topic , your audience . But I want you to find something in today's content that helps you in your journey . So let's get right to it .

Welcome to the Profit Podcast , where we teach you how to start , launch and market your content with confidence . I'm your host , crystal Profit , and I'm so excited that you're here . Thanks for hanging out with me today , because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation , this is the show that will help be your time saving shortcut .

So let's get right to it , shall we ? Okay ? So this is a pretty simple structure that we're going to cover here today . It's nothing mind blowing , right ? Like ? I hate it when people start something and they promise oh , I'm going to show you this thing , it's absolutely going to blow your mind and you're completely underwhelmed by the end of it .

That is not happening here today , because what I'm sharing are actual , real examples and I'm taking you behind the scenes in my business , in my content , and I'm going to share some really cool things with you today which , if you're a podcaster or you've been in the podcast space , most people aren't going to open up behind the scenes , pull back the curtain and

show you their downloads and what they've done since they started . We are doing that here today , so stay tuned for that . That's going to be super fun . But first let's dive into the first step . Remember , we said it's going to be a seven step content marketing strategy . So step number one is focus on what's working .

I coach a lot of people and in this coaching it's typically about their podcast or how to improve their customer journey if they're trying to sell a product or a service , and one of the things that is often overlooked is what's actually working . They want to know well , what's the next new , shiny , sexy thing that I can try ?

Like this new strategy , like what I'm doing isn't working , so let me just scrap it all , throw it all away and start something fresh . And I'm like hang on , hang on . Whether you've been doing this for a few episodes or 500 episodes , I'm sure there's some things that you are doing today that are actually working .

So take a step back , take a deep breath and let's look at what is actually working in your content . So maybe it is your SEO strategy , maybe you finally figured that out and you're like well , you know , I still get some organic reach . You know people find me Like it's not just I put something up on a blog post and one person visits a month .

Oh yeah , that's me whenever I go and make sure that it's live . Like if you actually have organic growth , whether it's 10 people , that is still something that you are doing right . So don't be so self-critical of your content , but really start diving into what's working . Are you getting engagement on social media ? Is it a specific channel ?

Are you getting people actually doing your calls to action ? That is success . Don't overlook that it is actually working . So , whenever you're diving into what's working in my content , what's not , focus on those things like and it takes a second you have to step back and really look at it .

It's kind of like when people ask you to do one of those time journals . It's annoying , right ? Or they say , okay , you're going to track for a full 24 hours what you do for the entire day . It's annoying , you really want to do it .

But whenever you sit down and you're like , okay , I'm going to do this , and you realize , oh my gosh , I'm wasting so much time scrolling on Instagram or listening to podcasts , whenever I could have been doing this other thing this is me , these are my two things that I get called out on or rewatching friends for like the millionth time .

So , I mean , it's annoying to do one of these journals , but once you actually do it , you document it and you look at it you're like , oh yeah , now I can see that's what you need to do . I'm challenging you to write down what is working in your content and then ask how can you amplify that ?

So if it's SEO , how can you turn up the dial and get more strategic in the SEO that you already have ? Or if Instagram is working for you , how can you get more strategic there and really just Google it ? Amplify the things that are working in your content . That way , you're working smarter and not harder . So that is step number one .

I want you to go ahead and focus on what's already working . Now the second step in my content marketing strategy is always be list building . Now what does this mean ? So , always be list building . If you're not familiar with email marketing , this means you're always building your email list , and this is a total shameless plug .

But if you have not checked out my five minute podcast bootcamp , if you're watching the video , I'm actually going to walk you through it real fast . You can go to crystalprofitcom forward slash podcast bootcamp to join . But what this is is I'm trying to get people on my email list .

So in my podcast , on my YouTube videos and everything , I'm trying to get people to come get on , like join my email list . Here I'm actually going to show you this total walkthrough of what you can expect . So you go to crystalprofitcom forward slash podcast bootcamp and I have a simple landing page that says hey , you know podcast bootcamp in five minutes .

Here's what you'll learn . There's three takeaways . I included a short testimonial and then put in your name and your email address . Start podcast bootcamp . Like super simple , and it's not this big complex funnel where it has to be something that takes hours and hours or even days to set up .

I went into convert kits and I was able to set this up really quickly , in a matter of minutes because I just duplicated other processes . Again , I went back to what was working . What was working is I previously had a podcast bootcamp that was five days and I had had it . It was my most successful lead magnet .

I had hundreds and hundreds of people join my email list through this lead magnet . So I said , okay , what can I do to make it sexier ? What can I do to make it to where even more people want to sign up for my podcast bootcamp ? Well , I shortened it from five days to five minutes . It is five minutes now and when I do that , I have been sharing it .

When I go on someone else's podcast , I am list building , I am sharing . This is my lead magnet . If your audience is interested in learning how to podcast , they can learn how to do it in five minutes or less . That sounds so simple . So that's what I want to do and that's what I can use to help me build my email list whenever I am creating my content .

So that is step number two in my content marketing strategy . But when it comes to list building , I also have another fantastic resource for you and that is my mentor , amy Porterfield . So she has a program called List Builder Society and she actually has a free training if you're interested in learning more about email marketing .

So , if you're watching the video , I'm actually just going to walk you through her free masterclass and how you can sign up to go check it out . So you can go to crystalprofitcom forward slash email and what it is . It's going to take you to her masterclass landing page that says inbox money , how to monetize an email list and four easy steps .

Now I talk about list building all the time and it's because my email list is something that has helped me launch products , increase engagement in my content and sell my programs , sell coaching , like it is the main funnel that I use to bring in more revenue for my business and engage with my audience .

I will constantly ask them like hey , hit , reply and let's chat about this . Or there was a few weeks ago where I said , send me your podcast topic and I'll give you 10 ideas for what you can do for your podcast . And so I'm engaging with my audience and all of these tools and tips I have learned from Amy .

So , again , I want you to go to crystalprofitcom . Forward slash email If this is something that you are wanting to get better at and you want to understand , like you're saying well , crystal , you know , always be list building . What exactly does that mean ?

Well , I want you to go learn from Amy , go check out her free resources and if her program list builder society is right up your alley , then I encourage you to take it as quickly as possible , because the sooner you learn email marketing , then the sooner you're going to be able to use this resource as something that's going to help you make money in your

business and have better engagement in your content . And it's one of those things that I wish that I would have done it more strategically from day one .

I knew I needed to have an email list , but I didn't really know what that looked like , and I relied on the free resources on the internet for way too long and I was kind of just shooting in the dark and didn't have helpful resources . I had a lot of resources , but most of them were not helpful . So go check that out .

So , again , always be list building is part of my seven step content marketing strategy . The third one . This one's so fun . Keep it fun . Yeah , it's that simple . I want you to keep things fun . Like , what a novel idea that I'm telling you to keep it fun .

And the reason is is I have worked with so many content creators at this point and some of you come to me you are burned out , you're ready to quit . You are so exhausted by all the things that you're doing . And when I sit there , I've been calling myself a podcast therapist .

I'm like I'm an unlicensed podcast therapist and one of the things that I like to do is , when someone comes to me and they're burned out and they're overwhelmed , I dig into the real issue behind what they're doing and why they're so frustrated . And typically , what will happen is everything is too complicated .

Everything is like well , you know , I got to do video and I got to do audio and I got to be on Instagram and I got to be on TikTok and I got to be on Twitter and I got to do blah , blah , blah , blah , blah . Like there's just so much stress that's involved and I say , well , what are you doing for fun ?

Like , what do you really enjoy about your content ? And they mostly sit back and say I have to think about it and they're like well , I like my topic , I love my topic .

I could talk for hours about my topic , or I love it whenever I can engage with my audience and I'm like , okay , great , then maybe you need to do a live stream where you're chatting live with people , like you're able to answer their questions , or go live on Instagram and get feedback that way and say , hey , you know , like I'm looking for new ideas for the

podcast . Like let's chat about it or do interviews on Instagram and then use that for your podcast audio . Like there's so many ways that you can make it fun , but I find that people usually find an outline right . It's an expert on the internet quote , unquote an expert on the internet that says there's only one way to create content and it's this way .

If you skew to the left or right of that , then you won't be successful . Well , I'm calling BS on that . That is not true . And if you've listened to my podcast , watch my YouTube channel for any amount of time , you've probably heard me say there are no rules in podcasting . There are no rules in content creation . There are guidelines .

There's some things that you should probably do , and that's be consistent and show up when you say you're going to show up , but outside of that , like , there's not really one box that works for all content creators . So I'm going to encourage you to keep it fun . If you'd like to be on video , be on video .

If you like audio only and you're like I don't ever want to put on makeup , I want to be in my yoga pants and messy hair and all the fine , do audio whatever you want to do . My ask

is only that you keep showing up and you keep it fun , because that is the only reason why I am still here today . Anytime I start getting frustrated in my own journey , I find a way to infuse some of that fun back into my content . Okay , this actually follows in with number four . So number three was keep it fun .

Number four is don't settle for what everyone else is doing . This is a hard one , because typically we will imitate what other people are doing online .

We see that it's working for them and we're thinking , oh well , I should do Instagram rules that way , or I need to do ones that have the captions on them , like I need to use descripts , like if you're wondering , what is that ?

Like popular video editor everyone's using to put the colorful captions on their videos , like they're using descript , and it's a great tool . You can go check it out .

I've used it several months actually , and then it was one of those things that I was like this isn't fun for me , though it's not something that worked for me and my content for a few different reasons , and so I went back to what I know and what can help me keep creating , and that is the consistent tools that I've used for several years .

I was trying to fall prey to our almost fell prey to trying to do what other people were doing , because I was like , oh , they're doing that and it looks really great , it looks like they're having success , but , at the end of the day , it wasn't what was best for me . So don't settle for what everyone else is doing .

Try things that will work for you , for your audience , your topic or the format that you're trying to create , and I promise you that will be so much easier to maintain over the long haul , because I want you to still be creating next year , two years from now , five years from now .

That is my goal for you not to have one viral hit that takes off and then you're a one hit wonder . I want you to find tools and resources that can help you grow and lay a foundation that will help you be around for years to come , for years to come . So don't settle for what everyone else is doing . All right .

Step number five this is one of those hills that I will die on , and that is adding value . Adding value to every single piece of content you create . I don't care if it's an email , I don't care if it's podcast episode , youtube video , blog post , social post . I mean , I could just go on and on about all the different types of content that you can create .

Whatever you're doing , it must add value . It must add value .

And where I see so many people making mistakes and this happens to new creators I will say , like some of the more seasoned people , they made this mistake in the beginning and they'll tell you oh yeah , like I did that in the beginning of my journey because I didn't know any better , and that's okay . If you don't know any better , this is fine .

But one big mistake that I see people doing is they're constantly speaking at their audience and selling . It is full promotional all the time , 100% of the time , and they're wondering why are people not listening ? Why are people not sharing this ? How come I'm not getting engagement in what's actually happening , what's going on ?

And again , I told you like I've worked with so many clients , I've done so many content and podcast audits that when I listen to them and I hear ones that are fully promotional , it is the number one red flag that I'm like I know what your problem is you're just talking at your audience and you're not inviting them into the conversation .

And I think back to whenever I was in college and I'd sit in the lecture halls and the classes that just bored me to tears were always the ones where people were just talking at you the whole time .

There was never any engagement , like I felt like they were standing up at the front of the room like reading their piece of paper and saying , okay , in 1882 , you know , it was history , can I call that out ? Like it was a specific history professor . Then I had another one that was fantastic . He was so , so , so incredible .

So there was one history professor . You know , of course they will remain nameless , but it was so awful . I fell asleep in that class all the time . I barely passed that class because it was so , so boring . Then , on the other hand , there was this other incredibly insightful professor that always engaged the audience .

He would take these really hard to understand situations , events in history , and then he would break them down and compare them to what's going on in today's world or what was happening then whenever we were in school , or things that college students could relate to , and while I was like , oh , I get this , like I totally understand , you know , they were going

through this crisis of identity in this one place and it pissed off these other people and then they started a war and boom . You know , this is what happened and it was all because of value . That was how that professor was adding value to what he was teaching and the points that he was trying to get across , and it was just .

It was such a fantastic class . I actually signed up for another class with that professor and I don't even like history wasn't even my thing , it was business and marketing . But you know , nonetheless , you cannot overlook value . It has to be an every single thing that you create .

Speaking of , if you're getting value from today's episode , make sure you are subscribed wherever you are listening and watching , or hit the follow button , the like button , the subscribe button , like . We have this going all over the place .

So make sure that you are subscribed so you don't miss future episodes of the podcast and you don't miss videos that we have on YouTube where you can see all the behind the scenes of the things that I'm sharing in today's episode . All right , let's move on to number six . Number six is one of my favorites , and that is asking your audience .

So , remember we talked about this is a seven step content marketing strategy . Well , if you are doing this all with the thoughts in your head and the things that you think are incredible , you're only gonna get so far . That is absolutely what you need to get started , right ?

If you're trying to figure out how do I get my podcast off the ground , how do I create my first YouTube video ? How do I do this ? How do I , like you're just getting started , absolutely get started with what you think you should create for your audience .

But once you start putting stuff out , once you start getting a rhythm and you've been doing it for one , two , three , six months start asking your audience . Like , don't create in a vacuum where you're just like this is what I think that they want . So I'm just going to keep sending it out that way . No , like , take a step back , ask your audience .

I love a formal survey because I'm a marketing nerd , so I will survey my audience several times a year . Like , at least once a quarter .

I will send out a survey in my email , whether it's a Google form that I created , or I'll set up a cool like voting system within ConvertKit where I will create tags so I'll just put in like four different buttons and then if they click on one , then I have rules in the backend of ConvertKit to where , if they click it , then they are tagged for those , so

I can tell what people voted on . That is way advanced , right ? If you're just getting started , that's not something you're going to do tomorrow , but it's something that I encourage you to do in the next 12 months . Like , you need to be asking your audience so you can do social surveys on Instagram .

Again , you can do the more formal surveys If that's you know something that you want to do with the Google form , but do it . You have to ask your audience .

Another thing that I love , too , is sending an email to my email list right , cause we talked about our email list earlier and say hit , reply and tell me what you want to know about X right , like whether it's your topic , or maybe you give them two or three options . Say what podcast episode do you want us to go for next and they will reply to you .

If you keep asking , you have to keep asking and engaging with your audience . Please don't create in a vacuum . You need to have that engagement so that you know that you're on the right track and you're moving forward with the right type of content that will help your audience , so that they keep coming back and they don't get bored of what you're creating .

All right , final , final , seventh step . Most of the say final step . This is seventh . Yeah , it gets all confusing , but here we are . Step number seven keep experimenting , keep experimenting .

So I told you at the very beginning of this that I would share the behind the scenes about my own podcast so the Profit Podcast and what I decided to do and you're going to want to go watch the video so that you can see this if you're listening to the podcast . But here we are . I wanted to share my podcast downloads over time .

So if you're watching , then you can see from June 2018 , which is when I first launched my podcast to June 2019 , it was pretty flat . The line was very , very flat . There was not a lot going on and it was just very it was not good . It was not good , let's just let's call it what it is .

My content wasn't good and it wasn't until and I've told this story before multiple times I had a show called the Rookie Life and I rebranded into what is today the Profit Podcast . That is obviously the show that you're listening to and I , for about a year , was talking to .

On the Rookie Life , it was entrepreneurial women that wanted to share their story about success , triumph , how they got started . Well , on the back end , people were saying Crystal , how'd you start this podcast ? How does podcasting work ? How did you get your audio file from just being recorded to actually getting it into Apple Podcast ? Like , how does that work ?

And I hit this point where I was like I'm more interested in answering their podcast questions than the people that I was talking to .

It was like no shade at the people that I was interviewing and talking to , but I just was having so much fun behind the scenes saying , well , you know , you got to create an audio file first , then you need a podcast host and you should use Buzzsprout they're my favorite and it was just like this whole thing .

And so in June 2019 , that's when I rebranded to what is now the Profit Podcast , where we talk about creating content with confidence and I give you tools and resources about content marketing , content strategy and podcasting , youtube , email marketing , social media marketing Like this guy's the limit for content marketing here on the show .

But , as you can see , if you're watching the video , you can see things changed after I rebranded and I actually have a different view that I like to look at where it is . If you've ever heard the concept up and to the right , that simply means that you are consistently increasing over time , and this is what I like to go and look at .

When people say you know how's your podcast going ? How are things looking ? I look at my stats and I see the cumulative view and I'm like it's going up and to the right . And if I were to pull up my YouTube stats as well , you would see the same thing .

Everything is going up and to the right over time , whether it's listens , downloads , subscribers , likes , watch time , views , like I could throw out all of these different metrics and the thing that I always go back to is I keep experimenting , because if we go back to number three , keep it fun . That's how I keep it fun . I have to keep experimenting .

I get sick and tired of the same old thing If I get into this rhythm of okay , you know , this week we're going to talk about this , and even if you interview people , this can happen too , where you're like I feel like I've heard the same stories over and over and over again , so I need to switch it up . Switch it up .

If you've said that and I know someone is listening or watching this right now that they're like ooh , she's talking to me . She's talking to me , like my past three guests , I feel like I'm going to fall asleep when I'm talking to them . You need to mix it up . You need to start experimenting and try something new , because that's not going to cut it .

Don't settle for mediocre . You need to keep it fun , keep experimenting and keep asking your audience Like well , crystal , I don't know how to make this fun , I don't know how to make this more enjoyable . Ask your audience . They will tell you .

And when you're planning out your content , whether it's a podcast episode or a video say how can I add value , how can I throw in a CTA that will help me build my email list , like all the things that we talked about here today . So actually , let's just go down the list here of everything that we covered in the seven step content marketing strategy .

So , number one Focus on what's working . Go look at your stats . The numbers talk right . People vote with their numbers and that is the downloads , the watch time , the views and your content , the emails that are open , like the ones that people reply to . That is how people are telling you what is working .

Go to your Google Analytics or whatever kind of analytics you use for your website and look at those numbers , but focus on what's working . The second thing is always be list building . Please go check out Amy's program . If you have no idea what email marketing is or how to get started or how to grow , go check out her resource , because it is fantastic .

Number three keep it fun . We've already talked about this one several times . Keep it fun , focus on that . The fourth one is don't settle for what everyone else is doing . Be yourself . Be you , be unique . Tell stories that people wouldn't hear anywhere else .

It's why I tell crazy stories on this podcast and I share ridiculous shenanigans because you won't get that on other people's shows . I wanna give you the real deal . I wanna tell you some of my more shameful stories that I'm not always proud of , and I will tell on this podcast . But it's how I am not doing what everyone else is doing .

Add value is number five . Always , always , add value . Don't create the next piece of content without asking yourself how can I add value to this ? Ask your audience , get that feedback . It is critical .

I have some resources that I'll link to in the show notes for this episode , but surveys are incredible , getting feedback , and I have some great resources to help you do that . And then keep experimenting . Don't keep it boring .

Make sure that you just keep going , keep moving forward , and that is actually something that we talk about so much here on the show is keep it up , we all have to start somewhere , right , like it is the tagline that I have said .

I mean , if I were being really honest with myself of all the live streams , the podcast episode , youtube videos , the trainings that I've done , where I have said keep it up , we all have to start somewhere . I mean it . I mean it Every single time that I say it . So here we are . We're at the end of this . You have a seven step content marketing strategy .

What are you going to do with it ? What are you gonna do with it ?

Are you just gonna write it down and say , okay , there's another thing that I wrote down , that I said I'm gonna do , but I'm not really gonna do anything with it , because I need to move on to the next podcast episode or the next YouTube video or the next thing that I need to say oh yeah , I'm gonna download that course or watch that thing , and you know

I'm never gonna implement it . Implement something today . Today there was something that you heard that spoke to you , and I want you to start implementing something today . Take action . You know what that next action is . If you need help , like reach out to me , send me an email .

I'd be happy to walk through what your next action should be , but don't just sit around and not do anything . But this was so much fun . If you wanna see more content like this , where I'm doing a lot more teaching and really strategizing and showing you exactly what my content strategy looks like on the backend , let me know . Reach out to me .

Send me a DM on Instagram or , like I said earlier , send me an email . I'm at crystal , at crystalprofitcom , and I would love to hear from you , but that is all I have today . So , as always , remember , keep it up . We all have to start somewhere .