THE CONTENT STRATEGY IMPERATIVE

1. THE CONTENT STRATEGY IMPERATIVE ALYSSA FOX

2. “We engage our audiences by helping them. We do this through valuable content that solves a business problem or answers a key question.” • ~Michael Brenner, Founder, Marketing Insider Group

3. THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE …AND WHAT IT MEANS • Traditional activity-based marketing is declining in effectiveness as a result of changing customer expectations and behavior. • Organizations must deliver higher-quality content in a variety of mediums to engage market influencers and buyers. • THEREFORE… • Production of high-quality content is a strategic imperative and that content must be managed effectively to extract maximum business value. • Successful organizations are adopting a content strategy that centralizes content management, workflow, and governance.

4. A BUSINESS-CRITICAL ASSET Lead generation Technical content contribution to buyer decisions Content isBusiness-Critical Pre-sales Support of competitive advantage Role of content in consistent Customer Experience (CX) Post-sales Creation of brand enthusiasts Customer retention

5. COMMON CONTENT CHALLENGES • Accelerating demand for new content, but too few resources to keep up • Little to no alignment of marketing and technical content • No common content repository to ease content reuse • No content governance process, which results in outdated content, never-ending review cycles, and detraction from effectiveness of sellers • Duplication of effort within and among departments • Content that’s not being used

6. “You have to be where [your customers] are, figure out the right content strategy mix and…build that relationship with your brand.” • ~David Beebe, Vice President of Global Creative &Content Marketing, Marriott WHAT IS CONTENT STRATEGY?

7. MANY DEFINITIONS, BUT I LIKE THIS ONE… • “Content strategy is the planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content.” • ~Kristina Halvorson

8. THE CONTENT STRATEGY QUAD https://www.braintraffic.com/blog/new-thinking-brain-traffics-content-strategy-quad

9. CONTENT DESIGN COMPONENTS EDITORIAL What is our core content mission statement? Who are our target audiences? What is the story we are trying to tell? What is our voice and tone? EXPERIENCE What are our customers’ journeys? What are our users’ content needs and preferences? What does our content ecosystem look like? How do design patterns shape our content? https://www.braintraffic.com/blog/new-thinking-brain-traffics-content-strategy-quad

10. SYSTEMS DESIGN COMPONENTS • STRUCTURE • How do we consistently organize, format, and display content? • How do we structure the content for future reuse across the organization? • What tags are most intuitive for users? • What requirements are there for personalization and dynamic delivery? • PROCESS • What does our content lifecycle look like? • What tools will we use to create, deliver, and maintain content? • What metrics will we use to measure our content performance? • Who will be involved and when in content review and governance? https://www.braintraffic.com/blog/new-thinking-brain-traffics-content-strategy-quad

11. “Businesses that fail to seriously evaluate how and where content fits strategically and operationally within their organizations will suffer in the short term as they strive to continue to create content without cohesion.” • ~Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron THE BENEFITS OF CONTENT STRATEGY

12. EXTERNAL BENEFITS Improved customer and market perception through consistent story Improved brand perception among current customers Greater support for partner marketing and technical services Easier content promotion through social media

13. INTERNAL BENEFITS Increased productivity through content sharing across groups Faster content creation allowing greater agility for Marketing and Info Dev Reduction in content production costs as a result of content reuse Reduction in localization costs as a result of content reuse

14. FUTURE STATE A fully implemented content strategy gives you: Aligned brand message through all customer interactions Fresh, frequent, findable content Easier management of content assets to extract maximum value from content Regular review and archival of content Continual measurement and analysis of content effectiveness High-value content that appeals to and reaches both new prospects and current customers

15. “We call content strategy what it is because it’s the missing link between the bigger business strategy and the tactical marketing plan.” ~Kristina Halvorson, CEO, Brain Traffic IMPLEMENTATION AND ROI

16. BUSINESS CASE To include: Analysis of current situation Proposal for something better Cost/benefit analysis Pilot project outline, if applicable Risks to implementation (people, processes, and tools) People involved

17. CONTENT STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION • KICKOFF AND PILOT • Business goals • Draft strategy • Pilot project • Inventory and audit • CONTENT PLANNING • Content plans and calendar • Tools evaluation • Process definition • Metrics implementation • RESEARCH AND EDUCATION • Training sessions • Personas • Current content processes • Current content models • REFINEMENT AND ONGOING MEASUREMENT • Governance rules • Process updates • Metadata standards • Tools optimization

18. REFERENCES Content Strategy for the Web, 2nd edition, Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach Content Strategy: Connecting the Dots Between Business, Brand, and Benefits, Rahel Anne Bailie and Noz Urbina Content Strategy 101: Transform Technical Content into a Business Asset, Sarah O’Keefe and Alan Pringle How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody, Abby Covert Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy, 2nd edition, Ann Rockley and Charles Cooper The Content Strategy Toolkit, Meghan Casey Brain Traffic blog: https://www.braintraffic.com/blog

19. ALYSSA FOX alyssafoxstc@gmail.com @afox98