Owning a language teaching business often means doing the job of about seven different people. Taking bookings, teaching classes, chasing invoices, doing admin, promoting your lessons… you may feel busier than you did working for a school.
Because of this, it’s easy for things like marketing your teaching business to take a backseat. You have to focus on serving your existing students, right? But the problem with this approach is that you end up stuck in a feast or famine cycle, and you’re almost always stressed.
One way to stop that from happening is to get organised and create a content plan.
What is a content plan?
A content plan is basically a calendar that tells you what content to post and when. Sounds amazing, right? Well, it is once you’ve created it because it stops you having to worry about what to share each day and helps you stay consistent.
Even better, a well-planned content calendar makes sure that everything you post has a clear purpose and actually moves you towards achieving your goal of attracting more of the perfect students.
Not sure where to start? Here are the 9 steps you need to take to create a content plan as a teacher.
Step #1: Set your goals
The first thing you will need to do in order to create a content plan is to analyse your goals. A lot of teachers skip this step because they don’t realise how important it is or, in some cases, they don’t know WHAT their goals are.
But this is how you measure how effective your content is, so spend time on it.
Some examples of goals include:
- How much money you want to make
- How many students you want to sign up
- How many new email subscribers you want
I suggest you set them yearly or quarterly and work backwards from there. This way, you are thinking more like a business owner whose content is driving your business forward.
Step #2: Plan how you’ll reach your goals
Now that you have your goals, start thinking about what you need to do in order to reach them. For example, if you have set a money goal, what will you sell to reach it? And how many spaces or items does that equate to?
Similarly, if you have set a goal to grow your email list, what methods will you use to do this? Will you create a new lead magnet? How often will you mention your freebies on your social media?
This part may feel like a chore, but it’s an important part of creating a content calendar that turns your goals into actions.
Step #3: Set your overall business calendar
If the thought of creating a content plan is overwhelming you, that’s probably because you are thinking about it too broadly. Instead of starting by planning for this week and then next week and so on, try looking at the bigger picture:
- Write down any events you are attending or collaborations you have organised
- Note the start and end dates of your courses or classes
- Decide when you will promote your different offers and how long for
Put these dates into a calendar (ideally a spreadsheet) so you have an overview of key dates in your business. This instantly narrows down what you need to post about and when, which makes creating content TONS easier!
Step #4: Think about where you’re selling
The next step in creating a content calendar is to take stock of your online real estate. That’s the marketing channels you are using to promote your teaching business.
I usually say that you should have:
- One hero content (e.g. blog, podcast, YouTube)
- One social media channel
- One email list
This makes it easy for you to attract new followers and nurture your relationships.
You don’t need to do much with this information. Just write down the places you are posting content because you’ll need it later.
Don’t have a social media page yet? Read about the best social media channels for teachers.
Step #5: Identify your audience and your message
Your content schedule should follow a plan, but so should your actual content. This is the ‘secret’ to making sure that your posts actually speak to your audience and lead to sales.
So, before you pull your eyeballs out trying to think of content ideas, take stock of who your ideal students are.
- What is their goal with the language?
- What are they struggling with right now?
- What topics are they interested in?
Make a list of their characteristics, problems and questions, and move onto the next step.
Step #6: Create your content pillars
You may have heard of content pillars or maybe even content buckets. Maybe you’ve even spent a long time trying to find the *perfect* ones. Well, consider this permission to relax.
Pillars are basically umbrella topics within your content. They are fluid, which means they can change as your business grows. So, you don’t have to worry about spending hours trying to find the right ones.
Start by identifying some of the key themes from your audience notes, and make a list of 3-5 pillars that can encompass them.
Here’s an example from my business:
- Marketing and sales
- Building a group program
- Mindset in business
Yep, I only have three! That’s because everything else is basically covered by those topics.
Step #7: Brainstorm your content
Once you have picked your content pillars (promise me it won’t take long), it’s time for the fun part: brainstorming your content ideas.
This is where ChatGPT comes in useful.
Create a new chat and enter your audience notes so it has a good understanding of who you are speaking to.
Next, you can share your content pillars and ask it to give you 10 ideas for each one. I find that ChatGPT’s ideas are often quite useful, not only for using in your content but also for giving you even more ideas.
When you have a list you are happy with, the next step will be to make sure that they speak to people at the different stages of the marketing funnel. So you’re not only building your audience but you’re also making sales.
Step #8: Choose the order you’ll work on content
If you have several content marketing platforms, then PLEASE don’t waste time creating new content for every single one of them. Instead, recycle the content you’ve already created for one and turn it into several different posts.
The easiest way to do that is to choose the biggest piece of content first (usually the hero content). When you have created that, you can probably take parts of it and turn them into other types of smaller content.
Step #9: Put it into a plan
Yipee!! You’ve done the hard bit. Well, if you’re reading this as you work you have. ?
The final step before actually creating the content is to put your ideas into a calendar so you know what you are posting on what platforms and when.
Thanks to the milestones you noted in step 3, this process should be easier. Make sure to include a balance of content that is designed to attract new followers, nurture existing relationships and eventually sell your offer.
Need some guidance with creating content that sells?
Then you will loooove the Marketing Roadmap. This is a 90-day content plan that takes you through all of the steps above AND gives you 3 months worth of content prompts… so you can easily turn all of your fabulous ideas into content that sells.
Click here to get your plan and 4 mini tutorials that explain exactly how to make the most of it!