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The Big Picture: End-to-End Content Strategy

It’s true what they say: The sum of the parts is larger than the whole. Just consider content marketing, content strategy, branding … each piece might be brilliant, but still not drive results. A cohesive message and creative across all content delivery vehicles will help raise awareness and need and make you memorable and trustworthy. An easy choice.

I found myself talking about “sum of the parts” content strategy with a new client. His goal: to increase sales of a single product. Here’s the short version:

Client:

I’d like to sell more product. Here’s the banner ad we’ve been using. And the radio spot. And the  video. Can you improve the copy so it sells more?

Me:

Well, sure, but first … Where does it go when you click? Is that page compelling and have a consistent message? What’s the call to action? What’s the primary benefit? Who are you talking to? Why should the buyer trust your product? Where else are you delivering these messages?

Some people are impulse buyers. But many more need to be convinced – they need several reminders that you have what they really need. To illustrate, I drew this picture for him:

content_delivery illustration by Shelly Bowen

Don’t Forget to Elevate the Category

First, let’s craft your overall message. (See center of circle.) Let’s determine the primary benefits, features, and reasons your product is credible for your target audience. Then, let’s talk about it — your product and the category — again and again in the same way, persuasively, transparently, with value, across all channels.

This was a little more than my client had in mind. But he was really excited.

Improving the content for one piece of your marketing campaign can help results incrementally. Creating a cohesive end-to-end content strategy for messaging for all in-house departments and contractors to follow … now that can improve results exponentially.

Above, I’m referring to the messaging component of content strategy — to read about all that encompasses a true content strategy, see: Knol on Content Strategy: A community exploration of an emerging field of practice.

Helpful Content Strategy and Web Writing Books

Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works (Interactive Technologies)
Content Strategy for the Web
The Web Content Strategist’s Bible: The Complete Guide To A New And Lucrative Career For Writers Of All Kinds

Posted by Shelly Bowen on Oct 21, 2009. Filed under Web Content Strategy

 

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