How can a team create a content strategy that meets business needs?

If you're a solopreneur, start-up, or mid-sized business, you're likely struggling with priorities, budget, and processes. All of those are key when determining a content strategy that's effective, because unless you know what your ultimate goals are, you're unable to craft content that works. The biggest mistakes I see mid-sized businesses making are jumping on the bandwagon of what's popular as opposed to identifying the huge glitches in process. The biggest mistakes I see start-ups and solopreneurs make is to invest their limited resources in things that won't make a big impact based on what stage they are in business. It's essential that your business goals are clear and your foundation is solid for anything to work.

When defining goals put yourself in the position of the CFO, or institution lending you the money to engage in this strategy, and ask the question, "Why?" Is your answer leading to the generation of revenue or the elimination of expense? If not then hit your response with another ask of,"Why?" Often, hidden down at the bottom of a series of whys is your true business objective. "Our goal is to increase website traffic by 20%?" WHY? "We need to generate more sales. More traffic is more conversion." When you reach it - be specific about it. Don't generalize "bring in sales". How many sales of what from whom? "At our current conversion and retention rates - if we bring in 20% more traffic we will exceed sales targets by end of year."

You have to be extremely specific when coming up with a content strategy that meets business needs. You need to define goals and a content strategy, but what matters most in my opinion is the data. Know your KPIs and keep clients updated on how their business is evolving as your content gets results.

Every strategy must be anchored in your business mission, purpose, and goals, and designed to meet specific, measurable business objectives. Document why the content strategy exists and define success clearly - how will it support specific business objectives? How will it be executed and measured? Consider also how your content strategy can support other business operations. However, don’t forget your audience – the consumers of your content. It’s important to be equally clear about how they will benefit from your content, and how and where they want to consume it. Define your strategy around the needs and habits of your audience first, not “best practice” assumptions. Every market is unique and so are buyers.

A content audit is a comprehensive inventory and assessment of all the structured content within your organization, or in a subset of the organization, such as sales and marketing, that exists for a specific business purpose. Content should be assessed quantitatively and qualitatively, and the audit should not only consider what content exists, but also identify what content does not exist, guided by your content strategy goals. Consider buyer journeys also when auditing and assessing content. Buyers have different needs at different stages of their purchase path, and it’s common to discover an excess of content for one segment of the funnel vs. others.

Drawing from my experience, a detailed content plan is the backbone of strategy. Look at how Starbucks aligns its content with seasonal themes, always staying relevant and engaging. Your plan should encompass content types, topics, and a distinct tone that echoes your brand voice, much like how Airbnb uses storytelling to connect with its audience. Incorporate robust planning tools for structured workflows. Set clear deadlines, mirroring the precision of a brand like Nike in its campaign launches. This approach ensures each piece of content is a strategic step towards your business objectives.

Before crafting a content strategy, assess your current content performance by analyzing metrics. Identify trends like increased organic traffic and understand what's effective. Align your strategy with brand values, tone, and keywords, while considering diverse distribution channels. Conduct a competitive analysis, stay ahead of trends, and devise a content calendar for consistency. Remember, simplicity, consistency, and authenticity are key.

The production and publication phase is where your strategy comes to life. Emulate the precision of Apple, where every content piece reflects brand ethos. Your process should include meticulous creation, editing, and optimization tailored for your audience, just as LEGO does with its visually engaging and interactive content. Adherence to your content plan and standards is crucial, ensuring consistency in voice and style. Collaboration tools and content management systems are indispensable in this phase for seamless teamwork, mirroring the efficiency of Amazon's content deployment. This stage transforms your strategic vision into impactful, real-world content.