What are the most common gaps in content strategy and how can you fill them?

Lack of stakeholder alignment is a big reason why content strategies fail, because content strategists often don't have full control or authority over the buyer journey. Which means you need other content sources (i.e., sales, PR, customer service) to cooperate, voluntarily. So put the time in.

Content analysis and reviewal, backed by a combination of data, understanding of human nature, and following your own instinct, is highly underrated and overlooked. The secret to building a brand, optimising a campaign and creating recall lies in a solid content strategy built on the basis of this insight and analysis.

Lack of alignment between what you think your audience should know VS what THEY think they should know. Example: Vanessa Lau blew up on Youtube after posting how to use Instagram for lead gen. She saw an opportunity here. As a marketer, Vanessa knew that Instagram was a tiny piece of the lead gen funnel. But instead of posting content on all the other steps, she doubled down on what people THOUGHT they needed, and posted a zillion videos about Instagram, the right captions, the right photos, the right personal messages. Why this works: Get people in with what they want to here, then teach them/ sell them what they REALLY need. You don't need to convince them to meet you, you have to meet THEM where they're at in their awareness stage.

Content is a bridge ... - Between who you are ... - ... what your customers need ... - ... and how you fix that. Each of these pieces has a place. If you can't agree on: A) Answers to these points; or B) Balance of these points Your content can't possibly reach its full potential.

Lack of alignment is a huge reason why content strategies fail, because we don't often have full control/authority over the journey we want our guests to take. We have to tag in other sources like sales, PR, legal, and more to just get the job done. Often, everyone is not on the same page because no one wants to put the time in to communicate. But when we do communicate, its a beautiful thing and it really helps our projects move along. Put. The. Time. In.

So basic. So fundamental. So often missing... You gotta know stuff: - Audience - Competitive landscape - Key stats - Trending events and topics - Channels - Opportunities - Ideas - Interdisciplinaries You should be learning all the time, because you're content performs best (for 90%+ of companies) when it is original, innovative, and useful.

Businesses often utilize certain content formats because they're expected to, not because they're working. Do a little research. Find out if your audience is actually your reading whitepapers. Or listening to your podcasts. The less money you spend on things that don't work, the more money you have to spend on things that do.

A falta de uma revis?o periódica também pode comprometer a estratégia. Analisar os dados é fundamental nesse sentido. é a partir dessa análise que podemos verificar se a estratégia está dando resultados ou precisa ser ajustada.

My question is are you creating content for yourself or for your audience? Research is a key component to knowing what the heck your audience wants to consume and where they consume it as well as understanding what their needs are.

I completely agree with the article’s focus on research and data in shaping a content strategy. Personally, I have found that using tools like surveys and analytics to understand audience preferences has been transformative. This method ensures our content is tailored to actual audience needs, not just assumptions, leading to noticeably better engagement and ROI in my experience.

One of the best tools for optimizing your content is ChatGPT. With the right input (prompt) it is able to analyze your current text and give you optimized versions based on your requirements. These are the basic rules for prompting: >Define needs: Clearly and objectively state what you need and your requirements in the prompt. >Set up role: Describe the person you would be seeking advice from as the role. >Context is the king: Give as much context as possible for better responses. >Request further clarification: If unsatisfied with responses, ask for additional examples or explanations or variations. > Be careful about privacy: Do not provide sensitive or private information.

Content optimization is one of the most overlooked and undervalued secret sauces. You've already spent time and resources developing a piece of content, go back and make it the best it can be, then redistribute it, repurpose it for more channels, and what it get a second chance at greatness.

Optimisation (and its precursor, measurement) is an indispensable component of a content strategy; without it, whatever you're doing is very much a pretend strategy (see point 7 below) as you don't really care about achieving an objective - be it superficial like views or likes, or one that requires sophisticated attribution like "content ROI". In practice, optimisation can take many forms: from A/B testing on a subject line, to iterating on a blog template, to Content operations streamlining (ex. repurposing a long form piece into different channels to make the most of production costs). The point is: What you measure, you treasure (and can improve).

I respectfully disagree with the below contribution. Do not use ChatGPT to 'optimize' content. It doesn't have the data. Good SEO optimization costs money, because you need the tools, but it's a necessary investment to make, otherwise you are just guessing. At the very least make sure the terms you are using for your headlines mean what you think they mean and are in use in your industry.

I'd argue it's not optimization so much as distribution... Not every piece of content serves an SEO goal. Some content is post-close! Some is key junctions in a journey. HOW the right person gets and engages with that content is the real success metric. So optimize your content distribution and access channels!

Representing your audience through your content acts as their mouthpiece and they’ll love it when they realise this connect. Festivals they celebrate, things they like and they do not, and culture they own becomes a vital part of your content strategy. Region specific domains along with perfectly timed distribution is the key to win their viewership.

I’ve been using inclusive language in my writing for much longer than it’s been expected. For example, I’ve been employing they/them for 20 years and many clients have asked me about it, but it’s now the norm. I also suggest inclusivity updates (both for copy and images) when I notice gaps’ in my clients’ content. It’s essential to avoid alienating part of their target audience.

If businesses want their prospects to consume more of their content, they tend to just produce more of the same. But people are busy. They only have so much time in their week to read your blog. So consider something else, like maybe upping your YouTube or TikTok output. Or posting more bite-sized content pieces on LinkedIn that they can consume as the scroll. Variety is a good way to increase content consumption, not just volume.

You've heard the saying, "practice what you preach." When it comes to social issues, your content must always be aligned with your actions. If you're making social posts in support of gender equity, but your entire executive team is made up of men - your employees and your customers will notice, and they're going to call you out on it. Authenticity is key.

I completely agree with the article about the importance of creativity in content strategy. I’ve seen the tendency to stick to familiar content, but breaking free from this has been rewarding. For example, we transformed customer case studies into mini-documentaries, resulting in a highly positive audience response and setting us apart from competitors. Fostering a creative culture within my team has been crucial. We hold regular brainstorming sessions, inviting ideas from everyone. This has led to innovative content, like turning a standard blog post into an interactive piece, greatly boosting engagement. These initiatives have reinforced the value of crafting unique, engaging content experiences for our audience.

When content is created solely to serve a content strategy, it tends to be dull. Because the content is serving as scaffolding, not storytelling. And the creators know it. Prospects must be kept in view. Allow a mix of intuition, empathy, and creativity in the topics you choose to cover in your content, not just internal or SEO considerations. You need both.

Bridge content strategy gaps by orchestrating a symphony of aligned, researched, and optimized narratives, weaving diversity and creativity into the fabric. Scale intelligently, define a laser-focused ICP, and leverage ChatGPT as a tool, not a crutch, for strategic brilliance. Only a seasoned content strategic expert can audit and do the job best.

Content marketing is a game of diminishing returns. If you do the same thing your competitor is doing, you are not going to get the same result. Ask yourself, what's new about your content strategy? If you can't answer this question convincingly, you need to add something interesting into the mix and maybe take some risks.

Experimenting with content styles, especially when you're just starting out, is a must. P.S. The overarching theme for all these experiments should always be "How can I make my content easier to consume? How can I offer more value?"

Subject matter experts (SMEs) don't scale. Which is why you need to be utilizing knowledgeable and experienced writers to create high-quality content, not underpaid kids or brainless AI. Scaling crap is nothing to be proud of. And no one will care about it. Just like people have stopped caring about the MCU.

The best scalability tool for me has been revise and reuse. I took the 5 minute video that I worked so hard on for You Tube and had edits made for 6 second and 10 second teasers for social platforms. I took the 30 page PDF ebook and made an infographic of the "top 5" recommendations and a blog article with the best quotes. Slice the content many ways and feed the channels what works best for each.

Make your content meaty. Cite reputable sources and have other people tell your story for you. I find that the best approach to creating compelling content is scheduling an interview with a subject matter expert--the same way a journalist would. In addition to getting great use cases and quotes that make your content sparkle, you might even discover an angle you would've never thought of before.

A misstep I have seen time and time again in content strategy is the focus of the story centers on what the brand the wants to tell/sell and not the solution the customer seeks. One way to ensure that the perspective remains centered on customer viewpoint and needs is to integrate empathy exercises within your brainstorming process. The other is to validate your approach by asking the question “if the customer has 5 minutes a week to read something about your brand amongst everything else they are managing in their business and life…would this content be it?”

Distribution. Content can’t create value unless it is shared 1)enough 2)to the right audience. Many only focus on content creation and when that part is done they forget to pay as much attention on how to distribute it enough.

One of the biggest pitfalls of content strategy, and one that gets easily overlooked, is this: lack of actual strategy. In my experience, I have seen many not-a-strategy being paraded internally or by an agency as "strategy". Namely: content plans, content pillars, editorial calendars, appointing a "content manager" or even a whole CM team. None of these is bad per se, in fact they can be precious tools, but none replaces an actual strategy. It also does not need to be overly complicated, a simple framework like "objective/how will we get there/how will we measure success/how will we iterate" is more than enough.

Another common "gap" in common strategy is failure to create a mechanism that creates shared buy-in into that strategy amongst the various content sources. A good way to do this is an internal content asset calendar where all content from all sources is there for all to see. This way, if someone is late, everyone knows. And if someone isn't cooperating, everyone knows. This will create a shared sense of accountability and buy-in, because nobody wants to be seen as the reason the content strategy is failing.