What is content strategy? And how it is different from content marketing
Content strategy has become a buzzword. But when talking about content strategy people often refer to content marketing strategy instead. In this post, you will get a brief overview of what content strategy is. And why content strategy and content marketing strategy are two pairs of shoes.
Content strategy vs. content marketing: the difference
When I was living in Mexico, I learned that Tequila can only be named Tequila, when it is produced from blue agave (and in one of the five Mexican states that produce Tequila). Alcoholic drinks from other agaves are not allowed to use the protected name Tequila. Mezcal on the other hand can be produced from various kinds of agave. So, theoretically speaking, Tequila is also Mezcal (although you actually wouldn’t call it that way), while Mezcal isn’t Tequila.
This analogy can be transferred to content strategy and content marketing strategy. Although many people use the terms content strategy and content marketing strategy interchangeably, they are not the same thing. While content strategy includes, but is not limited to, strategizing for marketing content, content marketing strategy refers exclusively to this type of content. In other words, content strategy is a more holistic approach: It plans for all kinds of content — both marketing and non-marketing related.
So, coming back to our Tequila example, content strategy is like Tequila, which theoretically is also Mezcal, and content marketing strategy is like Mezcal, which must not be named Tequila.
Defining content strategy
“Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content.”
— Kristina Halvorson, founder, and president of Brain Traffic
This means to ensure that
the right content reaches
the right person at
the right time for
the right action,
as Hilary Marsh, chief strategist and president of Content Company also puts it.
Speaking of the “right content”, Erin Kissane outlines the qualities of good content in her book Elements of Content Strategy. Content strategy should support the creation of content that meets the following criteria:
- Appropriate: It matches the needs of the audience and the business.
- Useful: It fulfills a defined purpose.
- User-centered: The audience is the primary consumer of the content, therefore its substance should reflect this.
- Clear: Its language is easy to understand and its organization makes it easy to use.
- Consistent: It reflects the style or tone of the business.
- Concise: It avoids unnecessary content.
- Supported: There should be processes in place to update and maintain content.
As already mentioned, content strategy encompasses more than just content marketing. It includes
a) a company’s acquisition and persuasive content (the marketing-related content), but also
b) its retention and enabling content and
c) guidelines on how the company governs and manages its content.
In other words, content strategy covers everything from planning to execution for websites, blogs, social media, newsletters, support, and other forms of content, as well as frameworks for content management, editing, and publishing.
The term strategy in content strategy implies that someone is stepping back and asking, “What should we create?” and most importantly “Why?”.
Content strategy and its basic methodology
In order to find out what kind of content needs to be created and why content strategists will typically apply the following methodology:
- Discovery: Find out which problem needs to be solved by exploring the five needs pillars: 1. business needs, 2. user needs, 3. operational needs, 4. technology needs, 5. content needs
- Gap Analysis: Current state vs. future state — determine where the business aims to be and how the ideal content would look like. Differences to the current state set the basis for the next step.
- Create Recommendations: The emerging recommendations address all five pillars analyzed in the discovery phase. They are prioritized by importance from “must”, “should”, “could” and “would” (MoSCoW model).
- Roadmap: Create a roadmap to enable the implementation of the content strategy.
Content strategy as a toolbox
In my parents’ garage, there is a toolbox. It is a big light blue metallic box with hammers, screwdrivers, spanners, tongs, and many other tools in it. When I was a kid, I used to sometimes help my dad repair stuff. Well, he repaired and sent me to pick up the necessary tools from the toolbox.
So, he would tell me “Bring me the 8mm wrench” and I would run off to pick the right tool from the box. Sometimes I didn’t know the tool he asked for. So, I brought him the wrong one. Then my dad would describe the tool he needed and ask me to go back and look for the tool he required. Over time I learned the names of many tools and what they were used for.
Content strategy from my point of view is like a toolbox. To elaborate and execute a strategy for quality content you got a box full of tools to work with. In each of the methodology steps described above, you have a full set of tools to make use of. In the discovery phase, for instance, you might choose stakeholder interviews in order to understand the organization’s goals and challenges. Creating personas might help you to reflect on the user needs.
Auditing existing websites and competitor’s websites are valuable tools in phase two, the gap analysis. Depending on the organization you work with you might not always apply the full set of tools. However, it’s good to have them at hand.
In my next posts, you will find out more about these tools and how to apply them. So, stay tuned.
Articles:
The Discipline of Content Strategy by Kristina Halvorson
Books:
Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach
The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane
The Language of Content Strategy, co-produced by Scott Abel and Rahel Anne Bailie
