Content Strategy v Postomania

Jeremy Baldwin, 17 Apr 2010

Most savvy marketing teams accept  the need  to extend beyond the ‘message+media’ campaign to the rolling delivery of branded content. Social media has a massive part to play in this but if the conversations we have on a daily basis are anything to go by most are still struggling to understand  where and how it fits.  This gap between the socially literate brands, and the socially challenged is getting bigger, and has led to some pretty distinct groups:

  • The smugs. Yes, you know who you are.  Through hard work, judgement and perhaps a little luck,  they are getting it more or less right.  
  • The rabbits in the headlights. Stand still, don’t move and this social stuff might just go away
  • The  z listers. They’ve got to be there and be seen to be there, whether they’re wanted or not.
  • The toe dippers. By far the majority, those who are doing something, but waiting to see what others are doing.

The first, carry on. Show the toe dippers how its done.

The second are going to get hit from behind by a steaming truck

The third are just polluting. Leaving behind a trail of abandoned blogs, anorexic twitter profiles and a toxic mountain of white papers, comments and opinion. We call it postomania -  an  obsession with talking for the sake of it, a nervous belief that you have to be seen and heard everywhere all of the time. It sits along-side other great manias; cremnomania, an obsession with Cliffs; sudokumania, an obsession with Sudoko obviously, and my personal favourite hyperpolysyllabicomania, an excessive fondness for big words - no seriously they do exist and many many more.

The smugs will tell you. The importance thing is not being there it’s having something to say. Real, useful content that leads to meaningful,  positive brand experiences. Talk about and make stuff where and when people want it, and they’ll do the hard work sharing it for you.

This is where content strategy comes in. It’s the missing link between user experience and communications planning. It helps us make sense of social behaviour and ensures that we are not talking for the sake of it, but investing in the right conversations at the right time.      

5 steps to a content strategy

1. Listen and understand. Where you target audience is, what conversations they are having, and why. How do they use social media in the context of your brand and offer and to what level of competency?

2. Decide. What do you want to be famous for? Define an editorial strategy around key themes that are interesting and useful to the audience, that you can genuinely add value to, and that are ultimately aligned to business objectives. Know what conversations you want to have. 

3.Map. The audiences journeys and the points where you can influence it. Understand when and where you have permission to be involved in the conversation and map what you want to say at each. Importantly know where you’re not wanted, where you don’t want to be and the conversations that you don’t want to have. 

4. Create. Develop and implement a rolling content plan. Seek expert help to create the richer content, ensure that you have the ability and capacity to do the long and short form stuff. 

5.Monitor and clean up. Measure the effect. Change what doesn’t work and keep moving.

 

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