{"id":143,"date":"2017-03-08T10:57:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T15:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.articlez.com\/blog\/?p=143"},"modified":"2017-09-27T04:27:58","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T08:27:58","slug":"content-marketing-success-or-failure-its-all-due-to-documentation-and-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.articlez.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/08\/content-marketing-success-or-failure-its-all-due-to-documentation-and-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Marketing Success or Failure: It’s All Due to Documentation and Research"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Content
Documentation is The Key<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the dirty little secrets of most Content Marketing efforts today is that they are largely<\/p>\n

unsuccessful. Tremendous amounts of time, effort and money are spent, all resulting in little or no significant results.<\/p>\n

A post-mortem on most of them will reveal that, in reality, there was no real strategy behind these efforts in the first place. And one of the things that becomes a real obstacle to effective strategizing is a lack of accurate documentation.<\/p>\n

Simply put, marketing goes astray when you don’t work from a plan, from day one, and document everything<\/span> — which is what we want to cover in this second series on Content Marketing. (You can find the first one in the series here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Content Marketing: Document, Document, Document!<\/h2>\n

So what needs to be documented? Yes, your overall strategy, as it evolves. Your Content Marketing game plan WILL evolve over time, so you have to have someplace where you can document what was originally planned out (and why) as well as noting changes, as they are made, along the way.<\/p>\n

Communication Channels<\/span>: Your documentation efforts should involve consideration of the various “channels” or ways of communicating — Facebook, Twitter, press releases, blog writing, videos, etc. Each should be noted as a separate entity, as different channels require different approaches.<\/p>\n

KW Research<\/span>: Of course, any content posted should be targeted so that it can be ranked for specific user searches, in order to get found. All of your KW research should be included as a part of your ongoing documentation.<\/p>\n

Content Types Needed<\/span>: What specific content pieces will be needed? In what format — A PDF case study, a podcast in mp3 format, an infographic — Be sure to think about, and note, the style(s) that will be needed, length, tone of voice and other requirements.<\/p>\n

Editorial Calendar<\/span>: Pushing out a lot of content to various channels can drive you crazy unless you get organized. An “editorial calendar” is exactly that, a calendar where you establish specific dates as deadlines for getting your content produced, reviewed and approved, and finally published. And as other people are going to need to see it, the calendar should be sharable, editable or at least viewable by others on your team.<\/p>\n

Collaboration Tools<\/span>: Speaking of collaboration, you are going to need to decide what types of collaboration tools (Slack, Skype, G Docs, etc.) you are going to need. Make sure that you get that set up ahead of time, and that team members have access to them, and with the proper level of access.<\/p>\n

Timelines<\/span>: As you flesh out your editorial calendar, pay special attention to critical milestones for different phases of your campaign. For example, if you are trying to hit influencers for winter holiday-related promotions, this needs to be in place well beforehand, perhaps the early Fall or even late Summer.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Just Who Is Responsible For All Of This?<\/h2>\n

Establishing responsibility is a key to successful marketing, including Content Marketing. Don’t wait until things are underway to make decisions about who is going to be responsible for what —<\/p>\n

EVERY<\/span> piece of content you put out there (regardless of channel) must be approved<\/span> — and ONE person should be given this most-important-of-all-tasks, or else you risk putting out an inconsistent message. Something that might pass muster for one person might be rejected by another, so choose this key team member carefully. They should be fully versed in your company culture and be passionate about communicating your brand message in a consistent way, over all channels.<\/p>\n

Your “Approver” should be approving\u2026<\/p>\n