On Crafting a Content Strategy
Wow, some real ghosts of social media past in this stock image.
I realized that in my other blog entries to-date I’d mostly focused on my approaches to being a good leader of creative teams, and I’d added very little about what I actually believe makes for a successful content strategy.
Assuming you’re here because you’re potentially interested in what I can bring to the table in that regard, offering some insight there might be helpful.
At it’s core, a great content strategy can take a comprehensive array of marketing and organizational goals and chart a clear and concise pathway towards accomplishing them via a multichannel production, distribution, and promotional plan.
In the interest of keeping this relatively simple and readable, here’s a short list of some of my high-level beliefs on what a sound content strategy that can work across industries should encompass.
Know Your Story: Think about the message that you want to get across to your audience, and then really dig in to understand what’s at the heart of that message. Build your content around what you discover. Content that delivers straightforward information certainly has its place, but it doesn’t always resonate from a top-of-funnel marketing standpoint. Strive to connect deeply and strike an emotional chord. That’s where brand affinity lies.
Quality Over Quantity: If you have to choose, that is. Creating quality work at high quantities is obviously ideal, but not everyone has the resources to pull it off. Posting one impactful video per week that looks great and gets a point across is going to be better than forcing hastily produced content onto your feeds just for the sake of posting. If it looks rushed or lazy or shoddy, that’s how a viewer will feel about your brand.
Choose Accessibility: You should absolutely be considering the impact of all of the sensory elements (auditory/visual/contrast/text) that your content will likely contain and provide alternatives where possible to ensure that it can be perceived/navigated/understood by as many people as possible. It’s not just the right thing to do, but it also opens up a wider audience base.
Fish Where The Fish Are: Meet your audience where they are, and tailor your content to that location when you can. For example, if you’re aiming to capture younger people, it might not always make sense to rely on highly-produced long-form video content. You can cheaply and easily create vertical video content that resonates using your cell phone and editing it directly on TikTok or Reels. Tailoring your content for the platforms your audience is using is crucial, and a mobile/social-first approach should be top-of-mind.
Give Them Something To Do: It’s one thing to create a brilliant video or graphic and have it get a ton of likes on social media, but likes don’t pay the bills. You need to accompany it with a solid call to action to push your viewers toward further engagement and/or purchase. I’m not personally someone who loves a hard sell included in the content I’m consuming, but if I’ve just been served something that piques my interest and there’s also an embedded link to a web site or a reply that provides some direction or an ability to purchase then and there, you’re more likely to get me to take that next step.
If Something Works, Monetize It: Related to the above point, if a piece of content is doing numbers on your social channel organically, there’s a good chance it’ll do just as well as a paid ad. Reformat it if needed then put some money behind it to leverage its virality toward your bottom line. Organic social media can be a fantastic testing ground for your paid media strategy.
Be Consistent: It’s not always easy! Structuring your budget, staff, and resources in a way that will allow you to share content at your desired quantity without sacrificing quality requires several things. You’ve got to know your creative team’s capabilities inside and out to understand your limitations and realistic output. You’ve got to create clear communication channels between all stakeholders involved to ensure rapid feedback and adjustment when needed. You’ve got to understand when to deploy specific types of content (i.e. do we really need an elaborate graphic design when a high-quality still photo will do just fine?). All of these elements make a difference in determining your strategy.
These are the general “north stars” of my approach toward the content strategy and creation process, and they’ve served me very well in my career to-date.
Feel free to browse through some of my work samples here to see the different ways I’ve implemented these beliefs over the last decade. As always, if I can be a source of expertise for you or your company, get a hold of me here.
Talk soon.
