Content planning and channel selection

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

Phillip Twyford

Stop Guessing and Start Using What You Already Have!

Today, I want to walk you through the next stage of a strong digital marketing strategy: content planning and channel selection. This is the point at which most businesses either become strategic or stay scattered.

If you’re creating content without reviewing what’s working, where it’s working, and why, you’re leaving results on the table.

Let’s fix that.

Step 1: Start With a Proper Content Audit

Before creating anything new, look at what you already have. Most businesses have produced far more content than they realise:

Blog posts
Videos
Downloadable guides
Webinars
Podcasts
Lead magnets

The problem isn’t a lack of content. It’s a lack of visibility and reuse.

Ask yourself:

What content have we created?
What’s evergreen?
What’s outdated but salvageable?
What hasn’t been promoted properly?

Evergreen content has a long shelf life. A simple refresh, updating stats, improving formatting, even changing the year from 2025 to 2026, gives a strong piece new life.

Don’t rush into new production. Audit first.

Step 2: Let Your Website Data Tell the Story

Your website already holds clues about what your audience cares about.

Dive into tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console and look for patterns:

Which landing pages attract unexpected traffic?
Which pages convert best?
What keywords bring people in?
Are there search queries you haven’t created content around yet?

If a page drives conversions, analyse why it does. Is it the clarity? The offer? The topic? The structure?

If users are finding you through keywords you haven’t leaned into, that’s an opportunity. Create content around those queries and strengthen your authority in that space.

Data removes guesswork.

Step 3: Audit Your Social Media Channels

Now look at your social platforms.

Review the analytics on each channel:

Likes
Comments
Shares
Link clicks
Follower growth
Watch time

Patterns emerge over time.

You might notice steady growth on LinkedIn and Instagram while X or Facebook shows little movement. That tells you something. Your audience may be elsewhere.

Instead of spreading yourself thin, concentrate your effort where traction already exists.

Also, examine format performance.

On YouTube, don’t assume long-form videos always win. When you check the data, you might find YouTube Shorts outperform everything.

Let performance guide format decisions.

Step 4: Use AI to Improve Existing Content

Here’s a practical tip.

Take a pillar blog post from your site. Paste the URL into ChatGPT and ask:

What does this page teach?
Where is it lacking?
What questions remain unanswered?
How could this be repurposed?

You’ll often get sharp insights into gaps, structure, and opportunities to expand.

AI works best as a critic and amplifier, not a replacement for thinking.

Step 5: Repurpose, Don’t Recreate

Most people publish content once and move on.

That’s inefficient.

A single blog post can become:

A podcast episode
A YouTube video
A downloadable ebook
A LinkedIn carousel
An email series

Likewise, a video can become a written guide. A webinar can become multiple short clips.

Tools like NotebookLM help turn video or long-form material into structured written assets.

Every strong piece of content holds multiple assets inside it. Extract them.

Step 6: Run Competitive Content Audits

Look outward.

What are your competitors creating?

What topics do they focus on?
What themes repeat?
What formats are they using?
What are they emailing their subscribers?

Then use tools like Similarweb and SparkToro to analyse traffic sources, audience overlap, and channel focus.

You’re not copying. You’re identifying gaps.

If competitors are addressing topics you’ve ignored, you risk falling behind.

Step 7: Apply the Hub and Spoke Model

A useful structure for content planning is the hub and spoke model.

Think of it like this:

The hub is your main pillar topic.
The spokes are supporting pieces connected to it.

For example:

If your hub is “Blogging Strategy,” your spokes might include:

Blogging for SEO
Blogging for AI search
Blogging content planning
Blogging analytics

Each spoke links back to the hub. That internal linking strengthens your website structure and helps search engines, including AI-driven search systems, understand your authority.

It also makes navigation clearer for readers.

Step 8: Consistency Builds Authority

Publishing sporadically weakens momentum.

Consistency builds familiarity. Familiarity builds trust.

A content calendar helps you:

Plan themes
Target specific audiences
Align content with campaigns
Maintain rhythm

When you know that every first Monday covers one theme and every third Thursday covers another, strategy replaces randomness.

Consistency wins.

Step 9: Choose Channels Based on Your Customer

Channel selection starts with one question:

Where is your customer?

There’s no value in posting on TikTok if your ideal client spends time on LinkedIn.

Start with audience behaviour, not trends.

Testing new platforms makes sense. Data clarifies whether to continue.

For B2B businesses, LinkedIn, your website, targeted Facebook ads, or Google Ads often perform better.

For lifestyle or consumer brands, Instagram and TikTok may drive stronger engagement.

If video content performs well for you, consider YouTube with both long-form and Shorts, alongside Instagram Reels.

Every business differs. Your analytics guide the choice.

Step 10: Not All Content Should Sell

This is where many go wrong.

If every post pushes a sale, trust erodes.

Your content should guide customers through stages:

Awareness – Educational content explaining who you are and what you solve.
Trust – Case studies, testimonials, proof.
Desire – Lead magnets, demos, trials.
Advocacy – User-generated content and shared success stories.

Content supports the full journey, not only the final transaction.

The Bottom Line

Content planning and channel selection aren’t about producing more.

It’s about using what you already have, studying what works, refining your focus, and staying consistent.

Audit first. Analyze data. Repurpose smartly. Focus on the right channels. Guide your audience from awareness to advocacy.

That’s how strategy replaces noise.

Read my other Digital Sparks here.