Developing a Content Marketing Strategy

Developing a Content Marketing Strategy

Looking to create a content marketing strategy? You’ve come to the right place. But, before we dig in, there is one critical distinction you should understand: A content marketing strategy is NOT the same thing as a content strategy.

While people often use these terms interchangeably (which is understandable, as the lines are somewhat blurry), Robert Rose explains the distinction in his post, How Content Strategy and Content Marketing Are Separate But Connected:

Content marketing strategy: Content marketers draw and develop the larger story that an organization tells. They focus on ways to engage an audience, using content to drive profitable behaviors.
Content strategy: On the other hand, content strategy delves deeper into (in Kristina Halvorson’s words) the “creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content.” As The Content Wrangler, Scott Abel, says, content strategy helps you manage content as a business asset.

Do I really need to create a content marketing strategy?

Yes! As we’ve learned through our annual research, not only do you need a strategy, you also need to document it. Those with a documented content marketing strategy:

Are far more likely to consider themselves effective at content marketing
Feel significantly less challenged with every aspect of content marketing
Generally consider themselves more effective in their use of all content marketing tactics and social media channels
Were able to justify spending a higher percentage of their marketing budget on content marketing

What should my content marketing strategy include? 

Think of a content marketing strategy as an outline of your key business and customer needs and a detailed plan for how you will use content to address them.

While there are no definitive “templates” for building a content marketing strategy — each one will be unique to the business that creates it — there are five components that they commonly include:

Your business case for innovating with content marketing: By communicating your reasons for creating content, the risks involved, and your vision of what success will look like, you are much more likely to gain executive support for your strategy — and to get permission to make a mistake here and there as you figure out what works best for your business.


Your business plan for content marketing: This covers the goals you have for your content program, the unique value you are looking to provide through your content, and details of your business model. It also should outline the obstacles and opportunities you may encounter as you execute your plan.

Your audience personas and content maps: This is where you describe the specific audiences for whom you will create content, what their needs are, and what their content engagement cycle might look like. You may also want to map out content you can deliver throughout their buyer’s journey in order to move them closer to their goals.

Your brand story: Here, you characterize your content marketing in terms of what ideas and messages you want to communicate, how those messages differ from the competition, and how you see the landscape evolving once you have shared them with your audience.

Your channel plan: This should include the platforms you will use to tell your story; what your criteria, processes, and objectives are for each one; and how you will connect them so that they create a cohesive brand conversation.

Do I need to share our content marketing strategy with other teams/departments in my company?

We’ve found that it’s beneficial to give everyone in your organization access to your content marketing strategy — even those who may not be directly involved in the content marketing process.

This is particularly critical in large organizations, as it can help keep siloed teams on the same page, minimize duplicated efforts, and ensure that everyone is working toward the same content goals. But sharing your documented strategy is also good practice for businesses that are just starting out with content marketing, for content teams that rely on internal or external subject matter experts, or for companies that outsource any part of the content creation and distribution process.

Of course, how you communicate your strategy depends on the structure and culture of your organization. In some cases, it may be appropriate to share your full documentation. In other cases, it may make more sense to create targeted summaries for certain stakeholders (for example, busy executives, or external agencies), based on how your content marketing strategy will impact their particular roles, processes, and objectives.

In short, consider this: How can you use the principles of content marketing to “sell” content marketing throughout your organization? What do people care about most? This should help you determine which components of your content marketing strategy are most appropriate to share with each team.

How often should I update my content marketing strategy?

Some parts of your strategy should stay consistent even as your content marketing program grows and evolves — namely, your mission and business goals. In fact, these two things are so key that you may want to put them on a Post-it note so you can keep them in view whenever you are working on your content. (For example, at CMI, we use them as part of our acceptance criteria for every editorial content submission we receive.)

However, other aspects of your content marketing strategy will likely benefit from being reviewed and updated periodically. To ensure that your content marketing program remains on target, consider revisiting your channel strategy, core topics, and team processes on an annual basis — or more often if you are just getting started.


Looking to create a content marketing strategy? You’ve come to the right place. But, before we dig in, there is one critical distinction you should understand: A content marketing strategy is NOT the same thing as a content strategy.

While people often use these terms interchangeably (which is understandable, as the lines are somewhat blurry), Robert Rose explains the distinction in his post, How Content Strategy and Content Marketing Are Separate But Connected:

Content marketing strategy: Content marketers draw and develop the larger story that an organization tells. They focus on ways to engage an audience, using content to drive profitable behaviors.
Content strategy: On the other hand, content strategy delves deeper into (in Kristina Halvorson’s words) the “creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content.” As The Content Wrangler, Scott Abel, says, content strategy helps you manage content as a business asset.

Do I really need to create a content marketing strategy?

Yes! As we’ve learned through our annual research, not only do you need a strategy, you also need to document it. Those with a documented content marketing strategy:

Are far more likely to consider themselves effective at content marketing
Feel significantly less challenged with every aspect of content marketing
Generally consider themselves more effective in their use of all content marketing tactics and social media channels
Were able to justify spending a higher percentage of their marketing budget on content marketing

What should my content marketing strategy include?

Think of a content marketing strategy as an outline of your key business and customer needs and a detailed plan for how you will use content to address them.

While there are no definitive “templates” for building a content marketing strategy — each one will be unique to the business that creates it — there are five components that they commonly include:

Your business case for innovating with content marketing: By communicating your reasons for creating content, the risks involved, and your vision of what success will look like, you are much more likely to gain executive support for your strategy — and to get permission to make a mistake here and there as you figure out what works best for your business.


Your business plan for content marketing: This covers the goals you have for your content program, the unique value you are looking to provide through your content, and details of your business model. It also should outline the obstacles and opportunities you may encounter as you execute your plan.

Your audience personas and content maps: This is where you describe the specific audiences for whom you will create content, what their needs are, and what their content engagement cycle might look like. You may also want to map out content you can deliver throughout their buyer’s journey in order to move them closer to their goals.

Your brand story: Here, you characterize your content marketing in terms of what ideas and messages you want to communicate, how those messages differ from the competition, and how you see the landscape evolving once you have shared them with your audience.

Your channel plan: This should include the platforms you will use to tell your story; what your criteria, processes, and objectives are for each one; and how you will connect them so that they create a cohesive brand conversation.

Do I need to share our content marketing strategy with other teams/departments in my company?

We’ve found that it’s beneficial to give everyone in your organization access to your content marketing strategy — even those who may not be directly involved in the content marketing process.

This is particularly critical in large organizations, as it can help keep siloed teams on the same page, minimize duplicated efforts, and ensure that everyone is working toward the same content goals. But sharing your documented strategy is also good practice for businesses that are just starting out with content marketing, for content teams that rely on internal or external subject matter experts, or for companies that outsource any part of the content creation and distribution process.

Of course, how you communicate your strategy depends on the structure and culture of your organization. In some cases, it may be appropriate to share your full documentation. In other cases, it may make more sense to create targeted summaries for certain stakeholders (for example, busy executives, or external agencies), based on how your content marketing strategy will impact their particular roles, processes, and objectives.

In short, consider this: How can you use the principles of content marketing to “sell” content marketing throughout your organization? What do people care about most? This should help you determine which components of your content marketing strategy are most appropriate to share with each team.

How often should I update my content marketing strategy?

Some parts of your strategy should stay consistent even as your content marketing program grows and evolves — namely, your mission and business goals. In fact, these two things are so key that you may want to put them on a Post-it note so you can keep them in view whenever you are working on your content. (For example, at CMI, we use them as part of our acceptance criteria for every editorial content submission we receive.)

However, other aspects of your content marketing strategy will likely benefit from being reviewed and updated periodically. To ensure that your content marketing program remains on target, consider revisiting your channel strategy, core topics, and team processes on an annual basis — or more often if you are just getting started.

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How to Manage Time With 10 Tips That Work

How to Manage Time With 10 Tips That Work

Chances are good that, at some time in your life, you've taken a time management class, read about it in books, and tried to use an electronic or paper-based day planner to organize, prioritize and schedule your day. "Why, with this knowledge and these gadgets," you may ask, "do I still feel like I can't get everything done I need to?"

The answer is simple. Everything you ever learned about managing time is a complete waste of time because it doesn't work.

Before you can even begin to manage time, you must learn what time is. A dictionary defines time as "the point or period at which things occur." Put simply, time is when stuff happens.

There are two types of time: clock time and real time. In clock time, there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. All time passes equally. When someone turns 50, they are exactly 50 years old, no more or no less.

In real time, all time is relative. Time flies or drags depending on what you're doing. Two hours at the department of motor vehicles can feel like 12 years. And yet our 12-year-old children seem to have grown up in only two hours.

Related: Spring-Cleaning Tips for Your Business

Which time describes the world in which you really live, real time or clock time?

The reason time management gadgets and systems don't work is that these systems are designed to manage clock time. Clock time is irrelevant. You don't live in or even have access to clock time. You live in real time, a world in which all time flies when you are having fun or drags when you are doing your taxes.

The good news is that real time is mental. It exists between your ears. You create it. Anything you create, you can manage. It's time to remove any self-sabotage or self-limitation you have around "not having enough time," or today not being "the right time" to start a business or manage your current business properly.

There are only three ways to spend time: thoughts, conversations and actions. Regardless of the type of business you own, your work will be composed of those three items.

As an entrepreneur, you may be frequently interrupted or pulled in different directions. While you cannot eliminate interruptions, you do get a say on how much time you will spend on them and how much time you will spend on the thoughts, conversations and actions that will lead you to success. 

Practice the following techniques to become the master of your own time:

1. Carry a schedule and record all your thoughts, conversations and activities for a week. This will help you understand how much you can get done during the course of a day and where your precious moments are going. You'll see how much time is actually spent producing results and how much time is wasted on unproductive thoughts, conversations and actions.
   
2. Any activity or conversation that's important to your success should have a time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they're unworkable. Appointment books work. Schedule appointments with yourself and create time blocks for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions. Schedule when they will begin and end. Have the discipline to keep these appointments.
   
3. Plan to spend at least 50 percent of your time engaged in the thoughts, activities and conversations that produce most of your results.
   
4. Schedule time for interruptions. Plan time to be pulled away from what you're doing. Take, for instance, the concept of having "office hours." Isn't "office hours" another way of saying "planned interruptions?"
   
5. Take the first 30 minutes of every day to plan your day. Don't start your day until you complete your time plan. The most important time of your day is the time you schedule to schedule time.
   
6. Take five minutes before every call and task to decide what result you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. And it will also slow time down. Take five minutes after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? How do you put what's missing in your next call or activity?
   
7. Put up a "Do not disturb" sign when you absolutely have to get work done.
   
8. Practice not answering the phone just because it's ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Disconnect instant messaging. Don't instantly give people your attention unless it's absolutely crucial in your business to offer an immediate human response. Instead, schedule a time to answer email and return phone calls.
   
9. Block out other distractions like Facebook and other forms of social media unless you use these tools to generate business.
   
10. Remember that it's impossible to get everything done. Also remember that odds are good that 20 percent of your thoughts, conversations and activities produce 80 percent of your results.

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Here’s Why Your Content Marketing Strategy is Totally Failing

Here’s Why Your Content Marketing Strategy is Totally Failing

I talk with a lot of people who are frustrated with the fact that their content marketing strategy doesn’t seem to be working.

In fact, in some cases, their entire content strategy seems to be an abject failure.
Why is this the case? If content marketing is such an important marketing method, has proven success, and is used by nearly 90% of businesses, then why do so many businesses feel like their strategy is useless and ineffective?

There are some common trends that characterize many of these “failed” content marketing strategies. In most cases, the strategies haven’t “failed” at all. The “strategy,” whatever that is, wasn’t clear enough to guide the business to achieve its goals.

Instead, what the strategy needs is a hard reset and some new programming. That new programming comes in the form of SMART goals.

Why I’m concerned about ‘strategy’

Content marketing is something that everyone is doing, but not many people are very confident about it. You may have read CMI’s industry survey, which explained that only 9% of B2B marketers think their organization’s use of content marketing is “very effective.” That leaves the vast majority of the industry in a situation where they are not totally confident about their efforts.

This is a problem. If content marketing is the wonder technique that we think it is, shouldn’t we have a bit more confidence in it?

The core of the problem seems to be with strategy. The proof is in the data.
What we’re facing is an industry in which “strategy” – whatever that is – is either not working or nonexistent. Why? Because there isn’t a strategy at all.

This is an issue that I covered in depth in my Kissmetrics article, 10 Common Reasons Why Content Marketing Isn’t Working for You. The issue to notice here is that there’s actually no strategy. None.

If this is the case, then it’s no wonder your content marketing strategy is failing. You don’t have one. The problem is more common than you might think.

The percentage of B2C marketers who have a documented content marketing strategy is 27%. You might get hopeful, because 50% of marketers have a strategy. (It’s not written down, that’s all.)

That’s a huge problem. If it’s not written down, then it probably doesn’t really exist. Sure, it exists in people’s minds, but how clear is that? How can a strategy that exists in people’s minds guide an organization’s cohesive efforts?

Content marketing is a method that takes a team to carry forward. If the organization’s individuals are holding some nebulous strategy in their minds, that’s not really a strategy at all. That’s just some thoughts on content marketing.

I’m also concerned about this statistic: Only one-third follow their documented strategy “very” closely, with 57% following it “somewhat” closely. Why document your content marketing strategy if it’s not valuable enough to follow closely?

The problem seems to lie with the word “strategy.”

“Strategy” is a fuzzy word. Frank Cespedes wrote in the Harvard Business Review:

Ironically, after years of books, articles, and MBA programs dedicated to strategic thinking, that’s the danger with how strategy is used in business meetings. It’s too often a way of sounding smart or leader-like and used to avoid necessary choices.

People conflate business strategy with the aggregation of tactical plans … Studies show that a big problem with strategic planning processes is that the resulting ‘strategy’ is a bland compilation of capital budgets that, in turn, are a compilation (not integration) of separate functional initiatives.

OK, so most businesses don’t have a strategy – let alone a good one. Now, we need to talk about what “strategy” is. The HBR article explains it this way:

So, what is strategy? It’s fundamentally the movement of an organization from its present position to a desirable but inherently uncertain future position. The path from here to there is both analytical (a series of linked hypotheses about objectives in a market, where we do and don’t play among our opportunity spaces, and what this means for the customer value proposition, sales tasks, and other activities) and behavioral (the ongoing coordinated efforts of people who work in different functions but must align for effective strategy execution). And the trail always begins with customers.
That’s basically a complicated way of saying that we need to have goals.

I would argue that “strategy” should really mean “goals.”

“Strategy” sounds smart and sexy, but how different is it from goals? Goals are a much clearer way to look at the issue of strategy. I suggest that we stop trying to come up with an innovative “strategy,” and instead focus on goals.

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What is marketing strategy?

What is marketing strategy?

Consumers do not buy what you sell. They buy what has value to them.

We are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of marketing messages every day. Why would we be receptive to all of them? That would be mental chaos. So, in response, we tune out all but the most relevant ones. Our brain is actually very good at tuning out stuff that it does not want or need. We do this automatically. This prevents us from going insane.

You probably remember the experience of learning a new word—as a child or even as an adult—and all of a sudden you see and hear that word everywhere. This is an example of how our brains smooth over the parts of our environment that are not relevant to us. That word was always there, of course, but it was effectively invisible to our mind until learning its meaning gave it relevance. As a result, pop! like magic that word is now there where seemingly it never was before. A marketing message operates exactly the same way.

What does marketing strategy have to do with this materialization out of nothing?

Marketing strategy is sorting out who your audience actually is, and then finding out what has meaning for them. What do they care about, and how does this relate to your offer? What message can you deliver that is both true and meets your consumer squarely at the level of their needs? Marketing strategy is the process of uncovering messages that can be heard. Marketing strategy allows you to answer the crucial question your offer must address: “Why should I care?” To paraphrase Peter Drucker: Consumers do not buy what you sell. They buy what has value to them.


Why does marketing strategy matter?

In marketing, there is strategy and there are tactics. A lot of marketing, in practice, is preoccupied with what I call tactical experimentation. This is the act of throwing all kinds of things out at the world or at broad demographic targets to see what works. As you do this you are spending money, potentially lots of it. The idea in this method is to do this until you find some marketing actions that work, and when you find them you can then do more of those.

This process often results in the classic Wanamaker dilemma—”Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” He was speaking of advertising, but the principle applies.

Marketing strategy allows you to use pathways and footholds that apply your limited marketing budget more effectively (everyone’s marketing budget is limited). Marketing strategy facilitates your ability to apply marketing money to the correct half of the Wanamaker equation—the half you are not wasting on audiences who do not value your message.

To illustrate this principal with one of our own rather straightforward examples, when we looked at the South Bronx as a marketplace for the Bronx Museum, the situation we saw was reflected by the first competitive advantage diagram below; here, there is nothing in their offer, as understood by the consumer, that is of any perceived value. The strategy, therefore, could not be to simply support the institutional desire to communicate about all the great art that was on exhibit (see Drucker above).

We had to find factors that could legitimately be moved into the competitive advantage, things that were perceived as valuable to the desired audience, that were not perceived to be offered by the competition. In this case, there was no required product change, just an adjustment of the marketing message communicated through the website and advertising. By effectively marketing on the basis of the factors that reflected what was of value to the target consumer we cost-effectively supported the achievement of their desired objective to increase attendance from local audiences in the South Bronx. This is marketing strategy applied, and it helped them double attendance*. (You can read more about this campaign in The Marketing of the Bronx Museum.)

So, for the sake of your own institution or product, please spend the time and energy to really get inside the head of your consumer. Find the intersection between your offer and their needs. Answer Drucker’s Questions #2 and #3: Who is your customer? What do they value? Isolate those specific factors that actually drive behavior for them. Realize they are not buying what you are selling, they are only buying what is of value to them. And, by all means, use THAT in your marketing communications.

You’ll be very glad you did.

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