What are some best practices and tips for using a content prioritization matrix for content development?

1 Understand your criteria

Before you create your matrix, you need to define your criteria for measuring the impact and effort of your content. Impact refers to how well your content meets your audience's needs, supports your brand, and drives your desired outcomes. Effort refers to how much time, money, and resources you need to produce or maintain your content. You can use different metrics, such as traffic, conversions, engagement, quality, relevance, cost, or complexity, depending on your objectives and context.

2 Choose your format

There are different ways to format your matrix, but the most common one is a two-by-two grid with four quadrants. Each quadrant represents a different priority level for your content: high impact, low effort (quick wins); high impact, high effort (major projects); low impact, low effort (fill in the blanks); and low impact, high effort (waste of time). You can use labels, colors, or symbols to differentiate the quadrants and make your matrix easy to read.

3 Score and plot your content

Once you have your criteria and format, you need to score and plot your content on the matrix. You can use a numerical scale, such as 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, or a qualitative scale, such as low, medium, or high, to rate the impact and effort of each content piece or topic. Then, you can plot them on the grid according to their scores. You can use a spreadsheet, a tool, or a paper to create your matrix.

4 Analyze and act on your results

After you have your matrix, you need to analyze and act on your results. You can use your matrix to identify the gaps, opportunities, and challenges in your content strategy, and to prioritize your content actions accordingly. For example, you can focus on the quick wins to generate immediate value, plan for the major projects to achieve long-term goals, fill in the blanks to complete your content inventory, and eliminate or improve the waste of time to optimize your performance.

5 Review and update your matrix

Your matrix is not a static document, but a dynamic tool that you need to review and update regularly. As your content, audience, and goals change, so should your matrix. You can use feedback, analytics, and testing to monitor the impact and effort of your content, and to adjust your scores and priorities accordingly. You can also use your matrix to communicate your progress, challenges, and recommendations to your stakeholders and team members.

6 Learn and improve your process

Using a content prioritization matrix for content development is not a one-time activity, but a continuous process of learning and improvement. You can use your matrix to evaluate the results of your content actions, and to identify the best practices and lessons learned for your future projects. You can also use your matrix to refine your criteria, format, and scoring system, and to make your matrix more accurate, relevant, and useful for your content strategy.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?