As content marketers, we often dive into execution mode very quickly. 'We need a post for Facebook, Instagram . 2 blogs... and oh yeah we also have a LinkedIn and Twitter channel where we need to post. We need something with Tiktok. And we have a target of 3-5 posts a week, so hop to it'. Such a situation is a daily occurrence in many organizations. Recognizable?
However, many marketing managers and business owners experience a challenge in properly aligning and integrating content marketing activities throughout the business. As a result, the marketing team is often very busy developing and publishing content, but lacks clear business results. That x number of posts have been posted on socials and some growth in followers has been achieved is no longer enough. It is essential to have a content marketing strategy that really makes a difference and clearly contributes to the business results, the 5 goals Denis just mentioned! To this end, I have developed a methodology that I call the Content Impact Model.
This model is a structure with 9 building blocks that are indispensable to develop a successful content marketing strategy that properly integpricing all parts of the organization.
In many organizations, most of the puzzle pieces are in place, but the puzzle has not yet been put together, a clear strategic framework is missing. The Content Impact Model provides a good structure to connect the puzzle pieces all together.
Let's look at 9 components using the Content Marketing Institute:
1. THE 'WHY'
What is the higher purpose of your business?
This first building block is the long-term direction where you want to go as an organization, your compass. This is not about a certain market share, profit or financial value of your organization, but about your organization's right to exist. Why do you really matter and what is the result of the added value you ultimately want to achieve for people or society. This is deeply rooted in the intrinsic motivation why the founder started the company. And people who work for the company if all goes well get out of bed every day for it!
Lego's higher purpose = 'To inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow'
2. THE 'HOW'
How will you realize your higher purpose?
Once your higher purpose is clear, you can begin to determine what it will take to actually begin to achieve your goal. In what short and longer term steps do you want to achieve your goal? What does your organization look like? How will you work together? How do you serve your audience? In what ways do you really want to add value? What is your company's philosophy?
Suppose your higher goal is to reach Mount Everest. Then your "How" describes what it takes to go about achieving it. Materials, preparations, team, cooperation, etc..
In the case of Lego there HOW is not just about selling more bricks to more kids, playing with Lego is about education as well as creativity.
"It's about problem solving. It's about collaboration. It's about acquiring skills that will help them to be stronger and more successful in the world.
Lego created a very strong company culture where everyone knows the goal to reach 300 million children by 2032: these are the things that people who come to (work at Lego) understand and know.
3. THE 'WHAT'
What products, services, services and/or experiences do you deliver in a certain way (how) to start achieving your higher purpose (why)? Also, are these "propositions" all clear? Is it clear what value it adds for your audience and what it brings to yourself? In what way does it contribute to achieving your higher purpose?
Lego's products, services and services are: thousands of different types of pieces, and hundred of millions of building combinations. Lego houses, games, movies, communities and educational programs.
Perhaps these three building blocks look familiar to you. They correspond to the well-known 'Golden Circle' of Simon Sinek. As far as I am concerned, these blocks are also the heart of your organization, the starting points to work from and to further develop your organization. In these 3 building blocks we lay the foundation for the necessary content culture and organization.
In the next building block, we connect your audience to that.
4. THE 'WHO'
Who is your audience that is interested in the products, services, services and/or experiences you provide in some way to start achieving a higher goal? What matching characteristics do people have that you are relevant to? The pitfall is often: wanting to appeal to everyone. Define a clearly identifiable group of people with similar characteristics (your "audience," "persona," or "target audience"). The more specific and smaller this group of people is, the better you have defined 'your niche'. Dare to choose very clearly and become super relevant to that group of people.
These first four building blocks form your positioning (why, how, what and who). With these you can position your organization from the higher goal very powerfully and distinctively and align all marketing and communication expressions with this. If the positioning is clear, unambiguous and distinctive, you have a solid basis for the following building blocks.
5. THE FAN TRAVEL
What phases does someone go through from not knowing you at all to someone being your biggest fan, your ambassador? To work this out properly, it is very important that you know your audience very well. What information does someone need at what point in the fan journey? What questions do people ask themselves to eventually come to a decision related to what you offer? How does someone search for these answers, what search terms are used? Where does someone prefer to buy products? And by whom is he or she influenced in the buying process?
6. YOUR STORY
What story are you telling? What real, honest and relevant stories do you tell during the different phases of the fan journey so that they match the needs of your audience? What answers do you give to the questions people ask during the fan journey?
7. CONTENT SERVICE
What content themes and concepts do you use to tell your stories? Through what content formats do you tell these stories. Through visuals, videos, text, audio? Is there a content style guide? Is there a schedule for developing content?
8. CONTENT DISTRIBUTION
How do you distribute content? What distribution channels do you use to distribute your content? How do you build your 'owned' channels and make the best use of 'rented land'? How do you deploy these and what is the goal for each distribution channel? How do you use marketing automation to make distribution more effective? Which channels perform well and not so well? Which channels are relevant to your audience at what stage of the fan journey and how are you performing there?
9. MEASURING AND ADJUSTING
How do you measure performance and make adjustments? It is difficult to answer the above questions if you are not measuring the performance of your content and distribution channels properly.
Define your objectives very specifically so that they can be measured. That way you can make timely adjustments. How do you organize the tracking of your content? How do you store important data to make it actionable? What are the objectives per step in the fan journey, what are the conversions and how do you measure them? How do you make the analytics insightful and report them? There is still a world to be won here.
Measure from the right context. Don't just look at your own presentations, but in the context of your digital benchmark. Therefore, map your digital benchmark properly.
Provide reliable data sources that will give you real-time insight into the following 4 pillars:
- Digital heart rate
- Involvement
- Interaction
- Network size and growth 'digital hygiene'
Based on this insight, determine your target value
Example Formula One Benchmark from Red Bull.
You can use these 9 building blocks to develop a successful content marketing strategy. Make sure all the puzzle pieces are complete and well laid. Then you will have a solid foundation to take the next steps with your content marketing activities. And to start accelerating in the digital landscape.
CMI's products, services and services include: blog, newsletter, webinars, events Content Marketing World and ContentTechSummit and the Content Marketing University.
CMI's products, services and services include: blog, newsletter, webinars, events Content Marketing World and ContentTechSummit and the Content Marketing University.