Everything for a reason: Strategy before tactics

EVERYTHING FOR A REASON: STRATEGY BEFORE TACTICS

Meghan Casey Brain Traffic

@meghscase

Hi. Meghan Casey

Lead Content Strategist Brain Traffic @meghscase

#MIMASummit

Stuff I’ll Talk About

What I mean by content strategy

Why you should care

How it can inform your work

What you can do right now (if you’re not already doing it)

–Meghan Casey

Content strategy helps organizations provide the right

content, to the right people, at the right times, for the right reasons.

–Meghan Casey

Content strategy helps organizations provide the right

content, to the right people, at the right times, for the right reasons.

A Framework

States where you will focus your efforts to improve content substance, structure, workflow, and/or governance.

Answers: - What are we trying to

achieve? - What content will help

us achieve our goals? - Who is the content for? - Why do they need it? - What do they want and

expect from us?

Substance: Story, topic, brand elements, voice and tone

Structure: Organization, categorization, component elements

CONTENT

Substance … fulfills business objectives by meeting audience needs.

Structure … makes content findable and usable for users, and manageable for technology.

CONTENT

Workflow: Roles, processes, tools

Governance: Policies, standards, guidelines

PEOPLE

Workflow ... creates efficiencies across content properties.

Governance … empowers, facilitates, and aligns.

PEOPLE

–Henry Ford

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the

reason why so few engage in it.

So, this one time …

Black Cat SEO

“Our SEO consultant recommends that we try to rank for the term black cat in October because it’s something people Google a lot before Halloween.”

- Actual client from <large grocery store brand>

Not a typo

Black Cat SEO

“What content would you drive them to?”

- Me

Black Cat SEO

“They suggested our cat food category page.”

- Client

Black Cat SEO

“So, how will it tie to the brand? Is there some spin you can put on cat food and the significance of black cats and Halloween?”

- Me

Black Cat SEO

“I don’t thinks so. It will just be a way to drive traffic to the product category page so that people know we carry cat food.”

- Client

Black Cat SEO

“But, that’s not really what people will be looking for when they search for black cat, is it?”

- Me

Black Cat SEO

“I guess not.”

- Client

–Kristina Halvorson

Content strategy helps us say no to things that don’t make sense.

Reason first.

Answers: - What are we trying to

achieve? - What content will help

us achieve our goals? - Who is the content for? - Why do they need it? - What do they want and

expect from us?

Let’s try something.

Origin Meals

We believe in a Paleo diet that’s full of real food, packed with nutrients, and free of potentially irritating ingredients that don’t serve the functions of your body.

Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Paleo and working out articles Profiles of people who met their health goals eating Paleo List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

PP

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Target Audience

Single

Busy

Believe in the Paleo philosophy

Eat Paleo when they have time to cook and prep meals

Work out regularly at a Crossfit or other small, locally owned gym

Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Paleo and working out articles Profiles of people who met their health goals eating Paleo List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

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PP

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Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Paleo and working out articles Profiles of people who met their health fitness goals eating Paleo List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

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Business Goals

Increase first-time orders from partner gym members Increase recurring orders from partner gym members

Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Paleo and working out articles Profiles of people who met their health fitness goals eating Paleo List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

x

P

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PP

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Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Paleo and working out articles Profiles of people who met their health fitness goals eating Paleo List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

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Content Objectives

Demonstrate how Origin meals help athletes eat to perform Help athletes choose the meal options that fit their lives best

Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Paleo and working out articles Profiles of people who met their health fitness goals eating Paleo List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

x

P

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PP

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Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms about eating to perform Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Choosing a Paleo plan and working out that matches your workouts article Profiles of people who met their health fitness goals eating Paleo Origin Meals List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

xP

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Content Brainstorm

Benefits of eating Paleo articles Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms about eating to perform Guest blogger series with people new to eating Paleo Paleo recipes and shopping lists Ways to turn dishes you already make into Paleo-compliant meals

Eating Choosing a Paleo plan and working out that matches your workouts article Profiles of people who met their health fitness goals eating Paleo Origin Meals List of Paleo-friendly restaurants Tips for going Paleo articles Sample easy-to-make Paleo menus Feeding your family Paleo-style

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What if …?

Core Strategy Statement

We help increase new and recurring orders with motivating content that demonstrates to busy, single, Paleo-minded athletes how Origin Meals fits into their lifestyles.

Business Goal

We help increase new and recurring orders with motivating content that demonstrates to busy, single, Paleo-minded athletes how Origin Meals fits into their lifestyles.

Audience

We help increase new and recurring orders with motivating content that demonstrates to busy, single, Paleo-minded athletes how Origin Meals fits into their lifestyles.

Content

We help increase new and recurring orders with motivating content that demonstrates to busy, single, Paleo-minded athletes how Origin Meals fits into their lifestyles.

That’s what …

Ideas that make strategic sense Better use of budget Content the target audience can use Measurable ROI Content producers with clear direction

PPPPP

GOAL: Eat so that I don’t starve

TACTIC: Open my mouth

STRATEGY: Go where the food I want is

I don’t get it. Why isn’t it working?

TACTIC: Open my mouth

Meghan stole me from Kristina Halvorson, but I’m so good at making this point.

What can you do?

Start With A Strategy

Ask for it. If it doesn’t exist, do it yourself. Get buy-in.

4 Steps

Learn about the business environment

Get stakeholder perspectives

Understand your audiences

Distill what you learned

Craft your statement

Content Strategy Tool: Business Model Canvass

• Value proposition • Key activities • Key resources • Key partners • Cost structure • Customer relationships • Channels • Revenue streams • Customer segments

Find at Strategyzer.com

Content Strategy Tools: Stakeholder Insights

Workshop setting: Find in The Content Strategy Toolkit

Interview setting: Find athttp://boxesandarrows.com/a-stakeholder-interview-checklist/

Stakeholder Tool: User Stories

As a I need

so that I can .

More in The Content Strategy ToolkitSource: Joseph Campbell

Content Strategy Tool: The Mad Lib

The content we produce helps our company accomplish

and by providing and

content that makes feel or

so that they can or .

<goal>

<goal> <adjective> <adjective>

<audience description> <emotion or state of mind>

<task>

<emotion or state of mind>

<task>

More in The Content Strategy Toolkit

See the Strategy Through

Use the strategy to make decisions about what content to create and where to share it. Make sure the people working on content know and understand the strategy. Review the content products against the strategy.

Content Strategy Tool: Decision-Making Matrix

Idea B U T

Beneftis of eating paleo article 1 1 2

Guest blogger series partnership with Crossfit gyms about eating to perform 2 3 5

Guest blogger series with people new to eating paleo 1 1 2

Eating paleo and working out articles 2 3 5

More in The Content Strategy Toolkit

Content Strategy Tool: Content Table

We’re in <Location>

Industry

Expertise

Office intro

Contact Us

CTA

Services

Descriptions

Case Studies

1 2

3

4

5

Objective

Demonstrate the capabilities and expertise of the

location and provide contact information for the sales

lead.

Content Priorities

1. Highlight the key differentiator of the location

selected.

2. List the name of the service and a short

description about our approach to providing it and

the results a customer can expect.

3. List the industries the location specializes in and

why that expertise matters. (Industry descriptions

will pre-populate based on the taxonomy.)

4. Include the key contact for the office with a short

bio and contact information.

5. Provide short teasers of up to three case studies,

focusing on the results of the work.

Preparing for Launch

⁃ Create the taxonomy and map service

descriptions, industry experience, and case

studies to the appropriate locations if you’d like to

auto-populate that content.

⁃ Each office will need to choose a key contact to

include on this page.

Can contain things like: • Objective • Audience • Supported user scenarios • Keywords • Meta description • Content priorities and messages • Calls to action • Maintenance schedule • Content owner

More in The Content Strategy Toolkit

Content Strategy Tool: Review Checklist

Attribute XSupports our strategy to increase new and recurring orders by providing motivating content that demonstrates to busy, single, Paleo-minded athletes how Origin Meals fits into their lifestylesConveys one or more of the proof points from our messaging frameworkAddresses an information need or curiosity our audience is likely to have

Contains a prominent an appropriate call to action

More in The Content Strategy Toolkit

Takeaways

A strategy statement helps you say no to ideas that don’t make sense. Without it, you risk wasting time, money, and opportunities to connect with your audience. Some small process changes and tools can help you stay on-track. You don’t have to be a content strategist to advocate for a content strategy.

Questions?

Thank you.Meghan Casey

Brain Traffic @meghscase