By Will Sullivan
We were thrilled to see the outpouring of content strategy love from SXSW this week – and thanks to Twitter, we do mean pouring.
During the annual digital love fest, it’s impossible to avoid the plethora of new ideas and concepts emanating from Austin.
But this year, we were super-extra thrilled. Why? Because of the renewed – some would even say altogether new – focus on the importance of content strategy.
Writing in the Huffington Post, Steve Rosenbaum said it best:
“The idea that in the web-enabled world, every site must have a content strategy is interesting and new. What seems clear is that a strategy means having a voice, having sources, thinking about audience content and planning a content methodology that you can afford and that supports your brand.
No matter where you go at SXSW the conversation is about content.”
So what is all this content strategy business? Quite simply content strategy means developing a plan for how and why you’re communicating online – and perhaps most importantly, to what audience.
Every second, a new channel bubbles to the surface – a new and trendy piece of digital real estate upon which you might want to build. But it’s a crowded, noisy neighborhood out there, and a dangerous one to boot if you’re wandering its streets without a plan.
Content strategy is in many respects information design. And as Steve Jobs famously said, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Content, and content strategy are experiential – much the same as design. And design requires planning.
Content strategy, and its corresponding tactical implementation, isn’t just about the text, photos, video, copy and design elements you offer up online, it’s about using these facets of communication to add value to a conversation occurring thousands of times per day among people who want to hear what you have to say. Knowing what they “want” and how to give it to them is key.
As Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media recently put it in her fabulous post “Content is not King. Your ability to promote that content is.” She makes a valuable and oft-forgotten point: content has to provide value, and if you’re looking to promote content that does not reflect what your audience is looking for – what they need and want – than you haven’t thought enough about your content strategy.
Planning your approach to developing and promoting content doesn’t have to be scary. Go ahead, try it – taste’s just like chicken.
And if you’re among those people thinking of reigning in your online communications, of sitting down with a strategist to hammer out a plan, I salute you. The years to come will be kinder to you for your planning.
If you’re not one of these people, it’s time to get on board. In fact, it’s pretty darn simple: if you’re not master of your brand’s content, you’re its slave.
Feature photo courtesy of 10ch – Flickr Creative Commons.
