20 Dec The Truth About Content Strategy

The Truth about Content Strategy
I have something important to tell you. Content strategy matters. A lot. In fact, it can mean the difference between life and death…of your content, that is.
So what is content strategy?
Krisitina Halvorson, author of Content Strategy for the Web, defines it as “the planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content.”  In other words, it is a business plan for your content.
If you have ever put a business plan together, you understand the intricacies associated with it. A good business plan typically includes one’s business goals, the strategies one will use to meet them, any potential problems the company may experience and ways to deal with them, the organizational structure of the business, and the capital required to finance the venture.
It may sound a bit overwhelming, but a proper business plan is the foundation of any successful venture. Content strategy should be treated the same. By taking the time to identify your goals, resourcing, workflow, and success metrics, you can ensure you only deliver effective content with a high return on investment. More than anything, effective content strategy helps start a relationship between you and your prospects by forcing you to keep their needs in mind.
Remember, content is about them, not about you. And it is for them, not for you.
You see, without a content strategy in place, the tendency is to give your prospects a bunch of information in one fell swoop…to essentially fit in as much information as possible at once. I think you can see where this may create some problems.
If not, put yourself in their shoes.
Information can be overwhelming. So overwhelming in fact, that it may lead to inaction. You never want to bombard your prospects. Instead you should try to build a conversation arc around your content and deliver it to them through a few manageable pieces.
This falls more in the lines with the way people actually think. The way they actually deal with information and the way they actually consume information about a product.
You see, it is impossible to know exactly what information is going to pull people in. It might be the first piece of content they encounter about your product, sometimes it might take the third or fourth mention of it before they decide to dive in and see what you have to offer. A successful  content strategy ensures that your content marketing keeps your prospects engaged as they learn more about you and your services. It keeps them on track, so to speak.