How to make a content plan for a YouTube channel
With the advance of social networks, we reflexively start to go deeper into marketing, SMM management, targeting, and other areas of professional activity that help develop a powerful personal brand, sell our own products and services, as well as develop audience loyalty.
The content plan is an integral aspect of social media development and YouTube is no exception. Planning is the key to developing your vlog, page, and account more effectively. More and more vloggers are opting for a structured and professional approach instead of chaotic page management.
Let's find out what do we need a content plan for:
- Discipline;
- Structuring;
- Attracting your audience.
Thanks to well-coordinated and consistent work, drawing up plans, we perceive running a YouTube channel not just as entertainment, but as real work. With this position in mind, we suffer less from procrastination and become more responsible and more seriously motivated for the result. When it comes to attracting your audience, research and planning will help you grab the key topics that your subscribers are interested in.
Before you get to drawing up a content plan, please do these 2 steps: set your target audience, their interests, and also define your vlogging goal.
When we dive into the world of social networks for the first time, we think that taking one topic for your vlog will be enough, e.g. makeup or cars. However, we don't even think that they have lots of sub-branches. For example, let’s consider the topic of makeup. It has a wide range of subtopics such as: makeup, makeup analysis, makeup for beginners, affordable makeup everyday, and many others. If you decide to vlog on makeup everyday, you can talk on other topics as well, but as an exception. It’s because your audience is primarily interested in learning about how to do makeup. Would they be interested if you often shoot makeup videos or make-up reviews? We’re afraid not.
Let’s move to the next question: where to get topics for a content plan?
At your competitors’ vlogs
Yeah, the first thing we can turn to is our successful competitors. It is best to follow the other YouTubers.
What do we mean by “follow the topics of your competitors”? Of course, we don’t mean copying the entire content, including covers and descriptions. For example, the American vlogger Mr. Beast recently accused one of the most popular Russian YouTubers, Vlad A4, of plagiarism. Therefore, you need to take the idea itself, modify it a little bit, and add something new. Otherwise, you will look awkward before your audience later on.
Everyday life
Everyday life inspires us to create a content plan even better than other options. Questions you get from your friends, your personal thoughts, situations that you see on the streets. Everyday life is a source of content. If you run a complex, specific vlog, try asking friends and people around you about what they would be interested to know. These top questions will be your starting point for your content plan.
YouTube search queries
How to use YouTube search? Let’s say you vlog about architecture. Your target audience are beginners or those who are familiar with the topic, but not so well as you would like. Or, basically, those who want to know something they won’t find in books. In each video, we use the answers to the questions like how, what, why, etc.
Consider the following example: you just type the word "architecture" into the search line and you get the most interesting and frequent queries. You can take these topics and modify them a bit. Get inspired, but don't copy. Use your own examples.
Thematic websites and forums
If we may say so, this option is a mixture of search queries and everyday life. You scroll through posts, analyze comments and try to find out what questions the target audience has, what topics you could speak on in a more interesting way.
The more you watch and search for information, the more powerful your content plan will be.
Make sure you rank the topics. What does it mean?
A content plan is not just a sketch of topics, it is a well-developed document. One topic can be considerate, informational, while the other one is more entertaining (e.g. compilations, funny stories, interesting ratings), then comes some trendy and highly discussed topic. This way, you will stay within the topic and attract the viewer's attention at the same time.
Create content plans and structure your work. This will help you not to get lost among other vloggers who choose random topics. If you follow the guide, your audience will continue watching you and help you reach success.
