If you’re paying attention to the digital arena these days, you’ve probably noticed that content and storytelling is in vogue. Storytelling, content marketing, curation, inbound, long-form content, blogging. These are just a few of the content related tactics that experts giving webinars across the web would have you feel guilty about not implementing.
But here’s the thing, you shouldn’t feel guilty. Let’s all take a deep breath and own the fact that there’s no way for anyone, except for maybe Fortune 500 companies, to invest in all of these tactics at once. Here’s why:
- Effective content is expensive.
- Effective content is time intensive.
These two issues make it vital that you choose only the content tactics that fit your goals. It’s also vital you invest in developing a solid content strategy up front in order to save you and your organization time and money down the road. A good strategy, driven by solid goals, can save you from investing in unnecessary tactics and reworking ineffective content.
Last week I had the privilege of facilitating a session at CLA’s annual conference in Dallas about this very topic. During my workshop, we discussed three fundamental methodologies from content strategy that nonprofits can use to start developing more effective content immediately.
- Audit & Analysis: During Audit & Analysis you’re trying to understand what content you have, and how well it aligns with your goals. Ask questions like: Does our content help us fulfill our goals? Will it satisfy the needs of our audience? Will it work on multiple devices?
- Content Planning: Content planning is all about taking some time to build a blueprint for your content, just like you would if you were building a house. By planning out your content ahead of time, you’ll ensure that it is persuasive and focused on both your audience and your goals.
- Workflow & Governance: Once you’ve mapped your current content and mapped out anything that needs to be created from scratch, it’s time to define the process for content creation and maintenance. It’s easy to get started. Simply document the steps needed to create new content, as well as the process for updating it after it’s launched. Flowcharts work very well.
The bottom line?
Investing in these content strategy methodologies will ensure that your content investments advance your organization’s mission in a way that stewards donor dollars well.
If you want to dig deeper into developing a strategic framework for your digital content, you can explore my presentation on Slideshare or send me an email. I’d love to talk.