In the first instance it will be crucial to tackle the ‘why’. Why have a content agenda? And to do this you will need to develop a sound understanding of your organisation’s overall business goals.
Simon Sineck's Golden Circle TED Talk gives a perfect demonstration for the importance of defining the 'why'.
See the following clip for the essence of his presentation.
Inevitably for many organisations top of the business 'objective' list will be increased profit. But what goals are to be hit to achieve this?
Is it:
The next tier of consideration is likely to include some or all of the following: lead generation, customer experience, employee satisfaction, brand awareness, brand reputation, product innovation, and improved service offering.
Once you have grasped the essence of the overall objectives, you will need to understand how your organisation’s marketing strategy aligns to business goals.
What campaigns are planned and for what purpose? What are the time scales? What are the KPIs? What are the budget allocations? In essence your content strategy should mirror your marketing strategy. The only difference is that it specifically relates to content.
Research conducted by the Content Marketing Institute has determined that those marketers with a documented content plan are far more likely to consider themselves effective at content marketing:
So, outline the reasons for creating content in your documented plan. Why are you doing it (e.g. increasing brand awareness, increasing audience reach, educating, entertaining)? And what value are you hoping to provide to both your audience and your business through its generation?
It will be worth including the risks involved. The obstacles you are likely to face. These may include things such as cost restrictions, skill limitations, time restraints. By documenting these, you will gain clarity on potential routes to take in tackling such hurdles.
And what will the success of your content plan look like? Increased business leads, increased audience, increased engagement? And by how much? How will you go about achieving this success and importantly how will you measure it ....
