1. CONTENT STRATEGY

2. CONTENT STRATEGY
The practice of planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful content

3. what the brand is selling
Strategic digital content acts like a bridge between what people are interested in and
what the brand is selling

4. Encompasses the ideation, implementation and maintenance of content
Lays the foundation of content creation

5. Why Strategize 53% effective marketers have documented strategy
More informed content decisions
Content care and consideration
Streamlines creation process/reserves resources
Goal-based creation and selection
Usable, engaging, actionable
Benchmark for measuring success
Content when and where it’s needed/wanted
Content Marketing Institute
Follow that strategy to ensure all business objectives are being met
Helps elevate the quality and impact of content programs
When brands follow a well-executed content strategy they can increase the brand;s
value as well as growing revenue

6. BRAND
VALUES
CONTENT
STRATEGY
AUDIENCE
PASSION POINTS

7. What is your mission?
What will the strategy
do for your audience?
How will it help your business?

8. Core Content Strategy Questions
WHAT DOES THE BRAND DO BETTER THAN ANYONE?
WHAT WILL THE TARGET COME TO THE BRAND FOR?
DOES THE STRATEGY SUPPORT KEY BRAND GOALS?
DOES IT HELP THE TARGET IN SOME WAY?

9. Core Strategy
Flexible Aspirational Memorable Inclusive Motivational

10. Discovery
Assessment
Execution
Measurement

11. Business Key Performance Indicators
Discovery Phase
Business Key Performance Indicators
The Brand
Audience Insights
Corporate Buy-In

12. Discovery- Business KPI’s What metrics will move the business?
Acquisition
Awareness
Advocacy
Consideration
Insights
Loyalty
Customer service
Sales & growth
What is the strategic direction of the company?
Stakeholder interviews
What does the business want to accomplish with content?

13. Who are you in the marketplace?
Discovery – The Brand
Who are you in the marketplace?
Mission Statement
Brand Positioning
Brand Essence
Brand Personality
Tone & Voice

14. Discovery-Audience Insights
Demographic — Basic structure of persona based on geography, income, education, and other attributes
Psychographic — Values, opinions, interests, aspirations, attitudes, and lifestyles
Ethnographic — Insights created by watching subjects in their daily routines
Transactional — Historical customer relationships including purchase histories
Behavioral — Data from engagement with owned and earned media and content
Stage – Recent activity in their place in the purchase journey, media context
Gartner - A persona is a fictional character created as a proxy for a target audience. These audience archetypes commonly include illustrative pictures and fictional names that make them tangible to digital designers and marketers. 
Demographics – gender, age, income, education, ethnicity, language
Mindsets – attitudes, values, passion points, personal identity, brand perceptions
Behaviors – content consumption, media, digital behavior, social media, technology adaptation, mobile usage
Status – recent activity, stage in purchase cycle, need state, media context, screens

15. EMOTIONAL RATIONAL Identity Community Entertainment Inspiration
Utility
Information
Education

16. Discovery- Corporate Buy-In
Is the company ready for a content culture?
Is there a budget and who owns it?
Does the current technology suffice?
What internal assets and resources can be used?
Is everyone aligned on the content roadmap?
Do other content programs need to be integrated?

17. Assessment & Strategy Development Phase
Consumer Journey – Relationship Building
Content Audit
Governance
Competitive Analysis
Technological Readiness
Content Architecture
Content Roadmap

18. Assessment – Audience Journey
How are customers purchasing your product?
It’s no longer linear
Should be simple and intuitive
Find the emotional need at each stage
Find the functional need at each stage
Pair that need with a channel to distribute content

19. Assessment – Content Audit
What do you have across your entire ecosystem
and can you use it?
Check the quality and quantity of the content
Rate it against your content objectives
Create a matrix by which content will be scored
Check the design and readability
Is the content on brand
Is the content of high quality
Can help you find opportunities and deficit areas.

20. Take inventory of your content
Website
Social media
White papers
Blogs
Sales Collateral
Press Material

21. Evaluate your content:
For your goals
For timeliness
For relevancy
For branding

22. FIX
KEEP
TOSS
FIX

23. Assessment-Content Roles
What role will content play at your company?
- Helps personalize the brand
Reach new and expanded audiences
Modernize a stale brand/make it more relevant
Build community
Deliver on the brand promise

24. Assessment-Competitive Set Look for gaps that you can fill
Take a unique viewpoint
Build your distinctive voice
Make content more visual and engaging

25. Assessment-Technology Can your technology support your program?
- Content Management Systems (CMS)
Content Creation Tools
Digital Asset Management Systems (DAM)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Tagging and Measurement Back End

26. Assessment-Content Themes What buckets will content fall into?
- Areas where the brand can be credible
- Common search terms
Subjects that deliver on the brand promise
Topics where brand has a competitive advantage
Health Care Brand – Mandatory – Illness Prevention; Important Areas – Professional and Patient Collaboration; Differentiating – Treatment Innovation

27. Assessment - Content Roadmap Where are you going with your content?
- Laid out in stages
- First part – fill in gaps and opportunities
Optimizing content
All important milestones are marked
Priorities, new content, repurposed content, channels,
technology, measurement

28. Tactical Development & Execution Content Creation Process
Content Distribution

29. Execution - Digital Design How will you attract attention?
- Vary the types of graphics to help retention
- Ensure all content has a visual attached
Use arresting photography
Create playful illustrations and patterns
Elicit emotions
Delight your audience
Try icons or emoji's when appropriate

30. Execution -Content Creation How will you engage your target?
- Vary content presentation in different channels
- Utilize immersive content like games & apps
Understand types of content per audience sector
Tell amazing stories well
Think like a journalist
Focus on common experiences and themes
Inspire participation

31. Execution – Content Usage How can you stretch your content investment?
Tell a great story with different perspectives on a variety of channels
Use experiential content wisely – videos, tweets, blog posts, podcasts
- Break up long form content into infographics, charts and the like

32. Execution - Content Relevancy
Content is the bridge to greater relevancy
Produce content that resonates
Ensure that your audience can find it
- Inspire participation
Gain insights from consumption
Approach topic in a disruptive way

33. Content creation is never done Take advantage of new opportunities
Execution - Evolve
Content creation is never done
Take advantage of new opportunities
Try different platforms like live streaming
- Experiment with curation and new sources
Find influencers that are up and coming
Resource for being always-on if possible

34. Execution – Amplification SEO & SEM Email marketing
Social media – paid and earned
Mobile ads
- Display advertising
Native placements
Public relations
Partnerships & influencers
TV & print media

35. Execution – Distribution
When and where is your target receptive to content?
I want to know
I want to go
I want to do
I want to buy
Google’s paradigm of marketable moments
Know – searching for information and putting a brand in consideration set
Go – to look at what I’m thinking of purchasing – retail, dealership, etc
Do – purchase
Buy – after the sale, loyalty, affinity, ambassador

36. Measurement - Analytics Do more of what’s working
Move from learning to knowing
Have a short and long term plan
Tie metrics to business & content goals
Optimize content across ecosystems

37. Organic search traffic Unbranded search traffic New web visitors
Measurement - Reach
Brand Awareness
Organic search traffic
Unbranded search traffic
New web visitors
Percentage of repeat visitors

38. Measurement - Engagement Participation Email subscribers
Social shares, likes, comments
Time spent scrolling & consuming content
Bounce rate
Social community growth

39. Measurement - Purchase Sales & Conversions Ecommerce sales Conversions
Subscribers
Attributable offline sales

40. Upselling & cross selling
Measurement - Loyalty
Brand Ambassadors
Upselling & cross selling
Retention rate
Positive comments
High ratings

41. Start with an outline
Why are we making content?
What content do we need?
How will the content accomplish our goals?

42. FRAMEWORK FOR CONTENT CREATION
CONTENT PRODUCED – VOICE/TONE
CREATION/MAINTAINANCE
HOW CONTENT IS DEVELOPED
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITES

43. Substance
SUBSTANCE
The content you’ll be creating to meet business goals and help your target
The content you’ll be creating to meet business goals and help your target
Who are you trying to reach?
What do they want/need to know?
Does your current content do the job?
Content Audit
Brand Voice and Tone

44. COMPANY ATTRIBUTES ADJECTIVES WE DON’T SPEAK LIKE THIS
Substance
COMPANY ATTRIBUTES ADJECTIVES
WE SPEAK LIKE THIS
WE DON’T SPEAK LIKE THIS
Entertaining
Down to earth, friendly, approachable
Stuffy, arrogant, egotistical,
Informative
Illuminating, illustrative, newsy
Scholarly, trained, academic
Accurate
Open, genuine, dependable
Proper. rigid, sober

45. What Do Customers Want?
Convenience
Speed
Personalization
Beauty

46. What’s your capacity?

47. Create a
content calendar

48. Develop a distribution/promotional plan for your content

49. FRAMEWORK FOR CONTENT CREATION
CONTENT PRODUCED – VOICE/TONE
CREATION/MAINTAINANCE
HOW CONTENT IS DEVELOPED
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITES

50. Information Architecture
Structure
Organization
Prioritization
Platforms
Formatting
Metadata
Infrastructure
Information Architecture

51. FRAMEWORK FOR CONTENT CREATION
CONTENT PRODUCED – VOICE/TONE
CREATION/MAINTAINANCE
HOW CONTENT IS DEVELOPED
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITES

52. Workflow Creation Maintenance Process Documentation Tools
Content Management

53. FRAMEWORK FOR CONTENT CREATION
CONTENT PRODUCED – VOICE/TONE
CREATION/MAINTAINANCE
HOW CONTENT IS DEVELOPED
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITES

54. Roles/Responsibilities
Governance
Roles/Responsibilities
Decision Making
Communication

55. Discover - Business objectives, user research, stakeholder interviews, competition, content audit, style guide
Define – content requirements, success metrics, launch plan
Design – style guide, video/audio creation, visual treatment, font, colors
Develop – SEO, metadata, templates, content uploading
Deploy – launch, plan for ongoing editorial oversight

56. Translate British culture For an American audience
BBC AMERICA
Translate British culture
For an American audience

57. The entertaining and informative destination for notable people
Topical
Relevant

63. We strive to help moms create a home that’s truly their own
We strive to help moms create a home that’s truly their own. Everything we do here is designed to empower and inspire you to make your home even better, and most importantly, a place you love to be.
HomeMadeSimple’s mission statement includes:
The core audience target: on-the-go
What will be delivered to the audience: recipes, inspiring ideas, and new approaches to organization.
The outcome for the audience: Improve your home life

67. The Best Approach to Content
STRATEGIZE
PLAN
Set lasting content strategy
BUILD
Develop tactics for content creation
COMMUNICATE
Create content and relationships before you make the ask
DISTRIBUTE
Engage in ongoing dialogue
MEASURE
Use platforms, campaigns, creative to amplify content
EVOLVE
Analyze results and take action
Experiment with platforms and technology to tell stories