Almost every company creates content of some form—product descriptions, sales decks, website copy, and that's just for starters. Whatever your industry, your business needs a clear content plan to govern its content development.

How you build your plan is dependent on various factors—the size and structure of your company, your comfort level with content creation, and the degree to which you are invested in content as a practice.

In any event, here are seven core elements to incorporate into your plan:

1. A Clear Statement as to Why You’re Creating Content

What is the business purpose for content and how does it align to your commercial goals? Think of it as your business mission expressed from a content perspective.

2. An Outline of Defined Responsibilities

When it comes to company content, what does the chain of command look like? Who has ultimate responsibility for establishing and maintaining the content framework? Who owns the brand vision, and how does content help sustain it?

3. A Wealth of Content-Driven Topics

Do your research to figure out what topics you should be creating around and to better understand the target audience you’re seeking to engage. Your content plan should give clear direction on each of these elements.

4. A Strong Methodology

The production of content should operate within a clear methodology that encourages output while meeting quality standards. This framework should govern expectations around sourcing, provide common references for matters of style, and give direction around the various stages of editorial development.

5. Clarity around Editorial Processes

Nature abhors a vacuum. If you don’t create editorial processes to support the delivery of your content plan, your people will create them for you—and in the absence of central standards, divergences will quickly arise.

Although your processes should extend intuitively out of your methodology, they still need documenting. This shouldn’t be a chore. The best documented processes are light touch, intelligent, and inherently creative.

6. Comprehensive Content Specs

Make sure that each piece of content earmarked for productions fits within the larger content plan, and that there is clear direction on how assets should be promoted and maintained after the point of publication.

7. A Process for your Content Inventory

Establish a process for itemizing the content your company has already created and plans to create. Your content inventory should be centrally managed and capture a wide range of details for each asset, from content type and initial publication date to topics covered and length.

It takes time, hard work, and high levels of collaboration to document thoroughly all aspects of your content plan. But having a documented plan in place will give you something concrete to work against. The trick then is executing it well.