This is a guest post by Ja-Naé Duane, artist, creative economist, social media strategist and a faculty member at Northeastern University. Ja-Naé is also CEO of Wild Woman Entrepreneurs, Ja-Naé Ventures, Co-founder of the Massachusetts Artist Leaders Coalition, Founder of The Leaders and author of "How to Start Your Business with $100."
Content Strategy is a term that is popping up more and more often in the business world. Sometimes when I use the term, I get a blank stare back, so today I'd like to define the strategy and then share with you what I know about how it can help promote your cause, association, non-profit or member organization.
What is a Content Strategy?
Content Strategy is "the practice of planning for content creation, delivery and governance."
Another definition: "Content strategy is an emerging field of practice encompassing every aspect of content, including its design, development, analysis, presentation, measurement, evaluation, production, management and governance."
I understand that this all sounds like jargon. It did to me too. Despite the fancy terminology, I know that content strategies can make a huge difference, since I've been there myself. Putting in place a plan for the creation and dissemination of high quality, useful content helped me, and I know it can help you too. One of the very best things a content strategy can do is turn an idle blg into one that is practical and popular.
Now for the tough part: How do you put a Content Strategy in place?
This great article from UX Booth, "Complete Beginner's Guide to Content Strategy" really goes in depth, explaining the cycle of content management as the following:
- Analyze what content is needed and decide who would be interested in the content.
- Collect information on key themes and messages and decide on a plan fro creating the content.
- Publish the content, focusing on where on a website the content goes and who puts it there.
- Manage the content by taking a broad view of what worked and what didn't. This is also the stage where a comprehensive style guide, SEO and community policy should be put into place.
By putting a content strategy in place, you should see your content improve and your profile within the community become more and more positive.
One thing I've learned about content strategy is that it's a good idea to start small and test. Checking Google Analytics to see what people are clicking on, and even when they are clicking, can help you develop your content moving forward. Test, test, test!
Content Strategy in action:
To gain an even better understanding of how content strategy works, check out this case study from Maloney on Marketing, which shows how a business event organizer introduced content management to his business.
Are you thinking of putting a content strategy in place? How do you envision it would benefit your organization? I would love to hear your story and the steps you're taking to build your presence. Feel free to comment below or tweet me at @TheSunQueen. I would love to hear from you!
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