Get Ready to Talk About Content Strategy

Suddenly, Content Strategy is everywhere.

At least that’s how it seems. I started noticing the trend last year, then this blog post from Brain Traffic drove the point home. More and more people appear to be coming to the realization that if “content is king” (an annoying phrase, but true enough) then the creation and management of said content ought to be treated as something more than an afterthought.

Finally.

Content is an asset. Your blog posts, advertising copy, multimedia files, social media presence, etc all hold great value. They are the outward facing representations of who you are (the importance of which, I hope, is obvious). Concepting, creating, and managing those assets calls for thoughtful consideration and, yes, dedicated resources. 

“Content strategy” is still emerging as a mainstream idea, for sure. It’s not always going to mean the same thing to everybody and that’s OK. It probably shouldn’t. The important thing is this: that we start having the conversation. That we agree that content deserves a place at the table, and that decisions are made accordingly.

With that in mind, here’s some help to get you (or your business) started in that direction. Take a few minutes to look at your current efforts and ask yourself these six questions:

• What kinds of content are you dealing with? Take into account your blog, your marketing materials, your social media presence, your media (photos, videos, etc), and anything else that represents outward-facing communication.
• Rate your own effectiveness at creating that content on a scale of 1-5. Be honest.
• Rate your effectiveness at managing it on a scale of 1-5. Again, be honest.
• How much time per day is allocated to content?
• Who’s handling it, and is that person qualified? 
• How unified is it? Do all the pieces fit? If someone visits your blog will they immediately believe it’s being produced by the same folks behind your website and your newsletter?

It shouldn’t take long, but by answering those questions you’ll get a broad preliminary picture of where things stand. What’s working, what isn’t, and what to do (or not do) next. 

Naturally, I’d be happy to help.

(photo credit)