10 X 8 Framework for a content StrategyAudit

These days with the ubiquity of mobile and social, almost everyone is a media channel.

Recognising this simple fact changes the formula for media success. In the old days, the formula used so successfully by mass marketers was:

Money X mass media = Sales.

This used to work, no longer, now  that media has fragmented into thousands of pieces, and individuals have a personal menu of media consumption based on their interests, time, and competing priorities in their lives. The formula marketers now have to use is something like:

Time X tailored and personalised media = a chance for a sale.

Much more uncertain.

In this context, spending some time considering the productivity of the investment being made in social media, and you are making them, even if it is just the employee who spends some of your time checking their facebook timeline, would  be useful.

Following is a framework you might like to think about. The reality is that it is little different from a normal Marketing Audit, is it just that we are focussing on social and the content that fuels engagement.

Social media competitive analysis.

1. What are we doing?
2. What are direct competitors doing?
3. What are the successful Social media attention grabbers doing?
4. What kind of content are our competitors producing and distributing?
5. How, where and when are they distributing?
6. How are competitive strategies performing? A. In keeping their customers engaged, and, B. In attracting other customers, including ours
7. Where do we have opportunities?
8. Where are we under-performing?
9. What can we do to restructure our activities within existing capabilities?
10. What capabilities do we need/should be developed?

Content plan

1. Determine the behavioural and “tone” of the intended audience
2. Indentify what type of content should be developed
3. Source and develop the content
4. Create a content calendar
5. Develop a set of performance metrics
6. Build in the expectation of continuous A/B testing, tweaking testing, tweaking….
7. Build a list of users, and track their use of and engagement with your content, being prepared to personalise
8. Leverage the list, but ensure that the communication is always personal, and appropriate to the current situation of the prospect.

Repeat all above, again.

Content marketing has become all the rage, there are so called gurus out there selling new brands of snake-oil, and many are extraordinarily good at parting you with your money. However, the simple and fundamental truth of marketing remains: you must add value to your customers lives. Failure to do that results in just having a big bag of fancy hot air, not much use to anyone, no matter how fancy the plan.

Oh, and one last thing about plans that I bang on relentlessly to my clients: You get only 1 point out of 10 for the plan, the other 9 are reserved for implementation.

For a “How to” of an audit of the technical detail  on your site, this post of Neil Patels is a terrific start.

I would value your feedback on how you undertake a content audit, so let me know.