padelnomics/docs/CONTENT_STRATEGY.md

Padelnomics — Content Strategy & Launch Plan

Living doc. Last updated: 2026-02-25. Related: docs/MARKETING.md (channel strategy), scratch/padel-hall-guide.md (content source material)

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Status of Existing GTM Documentation

Doc	Status	Notes
docs/MARKETING.md	✅ Active source of truth	Full channel strategy, audiences, revenue phases, timelines
research/PLAN.md	⚠️ Superseded	Good phase reference but MARKETING.md overrides
memory/launch-strategy.md	❌ Missing	Referenced in MARKETING.md but never created
This file	✅ Content plan	Cornerstone articles, research sessions, timeline

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The Content Map

The entrepreneur customer journey maps directly to content needs:

Journey Stage	Question They Ask	Demand Phase	Content Gap?
Explore	"Is padel viable in my area?"	Passive	C1 ✅ planned
Plan	"How many courts? What will it cost?"	Active	C2 ✅ planned
Finance	"How do I fund this?"	Deciding	C3 + C6 ✅ planned
Build	"Who builds it? What's the process?"	Deciding	C8 ⚠️ gap — added
Mitigate	"What can go wrong?"	Deciding	C7 ⚠️ gap — added
Launch	"How do I price? What's my opening plan?"	Consuming	Phase 3 content
Run	"How am I performing vs. market?"	Consuming	Phase 3 content
Scale	"Should I open location #2?"	—	Phase 4 content

Source material: scratch/padel-hall-guide.md — covers all 7 stages, ready to convert to articles.

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Pillar Page (write last)

"The Complete Guide to Building a Padel Hall in Germany (2026)"

• ~4,000 words, full table of contents, links to all 8 spokes
• Ranks for head terms: "padel halle bauen" / "padel hall guide"
• Every pSEO city page links here; every cornerstone links here
• Write after all 8 spokes exist

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Cornerstone Articles (8 Spokes)

C1 — Investment Case

"Is Padel Still a Good Investment in 2026? What the Booking Data Actually Says"

Journey stage	Explore
Primary keyword	"padel investment 2026" / "ist padel noch profitabel"
Unique asset	Playtomic DuckDB occupancy data — proprietary
Guide sections	Market & Demand questions + Risk Register (Trend/Fad Risk)
Product CTA	Market map + planner
Research session	2 hrs: pull DuckDB occupancy trends by quarter, distribution across venues (% >70%, % <40%), fastest-growing cities. Add honest fad risk section (squash comparison from guide) — counterintuitive honesty earns backlinks

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C2 — The Cost Bible

"How Much Does It Cost to Open a Padel Hall in Germany in 2026? Complete CAPEX Breakdown"

Journey stage	Plan
Primary keyword	"padel halle kosten" / "padel court cost germany"
Unique asset	market-research-padel-costs-2026.md — real city-level pricing data already collected
Guide sections	Financial questions + Expert Financial Calculation (CAPEX table €930K–€1.9M)
Product CTA	ROI Calculator
Research session	1 hr: data already in research/market-research-padel-costs-2026.md. Extract guide's CAPEX table + city pricing data + sensitivity analysis. 90-minute write, not a research session.

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C3 — The Business Plan Article

"What German Banks Actually Want to See in a Padel Hall Business Plan"

Journey stage	Finance
Primary keyword	"padel halle business plan" / "padel business plan bank"
Unique asset	Lender perspective: DSCR 1.2–1.5x requirement, covenant compliance — not covered anywhere in padel space
Guide sections	Legal & Organizational + Plans You Need to Create + Corporate Finance (covenants)
Product CTA	Business Plan PDF (€99) + Business Plan Pro (€39/mo)
Research session	3 hrs (highest priority for product linkage): LinkedIn outreach to 5 German sports facility owners — ask what bank financing surprised them. Check current KfW programs (ERP-Kapital für Gründung, Unternehmerkredit). One real quote transforms the article.

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C4 — The Market Report (write FIRST)

"State of Padel Europe Q1 2026: Market Intelligence Report"

Journey stage	Explore (all stages — PR piece)
Primary keyword	Not SEO-primary — email gate + backlinks + brand authority
Unique asset	Playtomic data as the entire product
Guide sections	Market & Demand questions
Product CTA	Email gate → welcome sequence → planner
Research session	4 hrs (do before launch): pull DuckDB — total venues by country, occupancy distribution, pricing by country, fastest-growing cities, YoY venue growth. Supplement with FIP player registration stats + national federation press releases from 2025. 10-page PDF. Gate it.

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C5 — The Location Guide

"Where to Build a Padel Hall in Germany: A Data-Driven Demand Analysis"

Journey stage	Explore → Plan
Primary keyword	"padel standort analyse" / "where to open padel hall germany"
Unique asset	DuckDB demand gap metric: population density ÷ venue count, weighted by occupancy
Guide sections	"How to Decide Where to Build" (8 criteria, all written in guide)
Product CTA	City-specific planner scenario + market map
Research session	2 hrs: rank top 20 German cities by demand gap score. Layer in destatis.de disposable income data. Create one shareable table. Guide sections convert directly to prose. Hub for all city pSEO pages to link back to.

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C6 — The Financing Guide

"How to Finance a Padel Hall in Germany: Loans, Grants, and KfW Programs in 2026"

Journey stage	Finance
Primary keyword	"padel halle finanzierung" / "padel hall financing germany"
Unique asset	KfW program breakdown + Bundesland-specific grants — not covered anywhere in the padel space
Guide sections	Corporate Finance (WACC, lease vs. buy, subsidies & grants, VAT, covenant compliance)
Product CTA	Business Plan PDF (has financing structure section)
Research session	2 hrs: KfW website — find ERP-Kapital für Gründung, Unternehmerkredit. Check NRW.BANK, Bayern Kapital, Investitionsbank Berlin. Note personal guarantee exposure section — most underestimated risk, will be shared widely.

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C7 — The Risk Register (NEW)

"The 15 Risks of Opening a Padel Hall That Most Investors Underestimate"

Journey stage	Plan → Finance
Primary keyword	"padel hall investment risks" / "padel halle risiken"
Unique asset	DuckDB illustration of competitor cannibalization (city with 3 halls opening in 18 months — occupancy impact visible in data)
Guide sections	Risk Register (entire section — 7 categories, already fully written in guide)
Product CTA	Planner sensitivity analysis tab directly addresses most of these risks
Research session	30 mins: guide is 80% of the article. Only unique layer needed: find a German city in DuckDB where supply surged and per-hall bookings dropped. One visualization.

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C8 — The Build Guide (NEW)

"How to Build a Padel Hall: The 5-Phase Process From Feasibility to Opening Day"

Journey stage	Build
Primary keyword	"padel halle bauen" / "how to build a padel hall"
Unique asset	Founding member builder quotes: "top 3 mistakes clients make during planning/construction"
Guide sections	Steps — In Detail (5 phases, 23 steps, all written) + Product & Scope questions
Product CTA	Builder directory ("connect with verified padel hall builders") — highest directory CTR of any cornerstone
Research session	1 hr: ask 1–2 founding member suppliers: "Was machen Kunden in der Planungsphase am häufigsten falsch?" Their quotes are the entire unique layer.

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Internal Linking Architecture

                    ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
                    │   THE COMPLETE GUIDE (Pillar)    │
                    └────────────┬────────────────────┘
                                 │ links to all 8 spokes
          ┌──────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┐
          ▼                      ▼                          ▼
     [C1: Investment]      [C2: Cost Bible]         [C3: Business Plan]
          │                      │                          │
          ▼                      ▼                          ▼
     [C4: Market Report]   [C5: Location] ◄──── all pSEO city pages
                                 │                          │
                          [C7: Risk Register]     [C6: Financing]
                                                            │
                                                   [C8: Build Guide]
                                                            │
                                                      /directory
                                 │
                         all roads → /planner → email capture

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Launch Timeline

Now — Go-live config (hours, not days)

• Switch Paddle to production
• Verify Resend production API key
• Wipe 5 test suppliers (example.com entries)
• Publish SEO articles from admin panel
• Submit sitemap to Google Search Console
• Begin C4 research session (Market Report)

Week 1

Day	Action
1–2	Publish State of Padel Q1 2026 PDF (C4) + email gate live
1–3	Write C2 (Cost Bible) — existing data, low research burden
2–5	Publish first 50 pSEO city pages (3/day stagger, top cities by DuckDB coverage)
3–5	30–50 supplier outreach emails, founding member pitch
5	C2 published
5–7	LinkedIn: first 3 posts

Week 2

Day	Action
1–3	Write C1 (Investment Case) — DuckDB data pull
3–5	LinkedIn outreach: 5 German sports facility owners (C3 interview material)
5–7	C1 published + LinkedIn + Reddit/Facebook communities

Week 3

Day	Action
1–3	Write C7 (Risk Register) — mostly from guide
3–5	Write C5 (Location Guide) — demand gap analysis
5–7	Both published + cross-linked to live pSEO pages

Week 4

Day	Action
1–3	C3 research session (KfW programs + LinkedIn interview results)
3–5	Write C8 (Build Guide) — use founding member quotes
5–7	C3 + C8 published

Month 2

	Action
Week 5–6	C6 (Financing Guide)
Week 6–7	Market map UI
Week 7–8	Write Pillar Page (The Complete Guide) — all 8 spokes exist

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pSEO Launch Sequence

Phase 1 (launch): Top 50 German cities — those with richest DuckDB rows (highest padel_venue_count, most non-null fields). Phase 2 (Week 2–4): DACH tier-2 cities as GSC indexing confirms Phase 1 is healthy. Phase 3 (Month 2): English pages for UK, Netherlands, France.

Rule: Any city where data would produce near-identical content to another city → noindex until data improves.

Monitor: GSC indexing rate. If <80% of Phase 1 pages indexed within 3 weeks, pause Phase 2 expansion.

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Phase 3 Content (Month 3–6)

These require operational data to write well — plan when your user base has matured:

• "Padel Hall Pricing Benchmarks: What Operators Actually Charge in 2026" — scraped Playtomic data. Feeds Market Intelligence subscription pitch.
• "How to Fill Your Courts: The Padel Hall Marketing Playbook" — "Launch" stage. Precedes operational analytics product.
• "Padel Hall KPIs: What Good Looks Like at 6/12/24 Months" — "Run" stage. Uses occupancy benchmarks. Teases benchmarking dashboard.

Phase 4 Content (Month 6–12)

• "Should You Open a Second Location? An Expansion Framework" — "Scale" stage. Cites guide's optionality value and multi-site valuation premium. Enterprise product entry point.
• "The Padel Franchise Model: Numbers, Risks, and Whether It Makes Sense" — new segment. Large deal sizes.
• Country-specific cost bibles — replicate C2 for UK (data in market-research-padel-costs-2026.md), France, Netherlands.
• Quarterly "State of Padel" reports — same format as C4, every quarter. Compounds email list. Becomes the industry reference.

The Newsletter Play (Month 6+)

Once State of Padel reports hit 500+ downloads and email list hits 1,000+: repackage as "The Padel Business Report" — bi-weekly newsletter. Monetize at €200–1,000/week sponsorships from equipment suppliers and builders. Media moat layer on top of data moat.