A Simple Three-Point Checklist for Documenting Your B2B Content Strategy Right Now

A Simple Three-Point Checklist for Documenting Your B2B Content Strategy Right Now

We’ll start with the first part. Why is a Documented B2B Content Strategy So Important? When your content strategy is documented, you don’t have to re-explain things to people over and over again. Are we all agreed on the value of a documented content strategy? If our content is going to accomplish anything, it needs to be discovered, it needs to be consumed, and it needs to ultimately drive action (all with the right audiences, of course). From here, you can build out your editorial plan and start focusing on consumption. Once you’ve fleshed out a mix of channels and topics that align with your audience, the next step is focusing on engagement. The “Consumption” phase of your content strategy should account for the following: How will our content stand out from competitors? And if you don’t have time to create that documented B2B content strategy at this moment? Make a note to yourself.

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Putting B2B Content Marketing into Context

On the first day of 2019, I laid out a series of New Year’s resolutions for content marketers. At the top of the list was creating a documented content strategy.

Maybe you came across the post. Maybe you nodded your head while reading that particular item and said, “Yup, I’m gonna do that.” But most likely, you still haven’t yet. I’m not trying to be presumptive, just speaking in probabilities: research tells us that documenting a content strategy has been the subject of pervasive and perpetual procrastination across our field for some time.

What gives? Why do we keep putting it off?

“Usually procrastination happens because the task seems too difficult,” according to psychiatrist A. Chris Heath, MD (via PsyCom). Makes sense, based on my personal experience.

In this case, I think the difficulty and complexity seem a lot greater than they actually are. So, B2B content marketers, today I’m going to try and make both the “why” and “how” of this matter as simple and straightforward as possible. We’ll start with the first part.

Why is a Documented B2B Content Strategy So Important?

There are two primary reasons.

First of all, neuroscience has found that we are more likely to accomplish our goals if we write them down. According to an article on Forbes last year from Mark Murphy, there are a couple of psychological factors driving this:

  • External storage: When your goals are written down, in a tangible and visible form (whether a physical piece of paper or even a digital document) they are harder to ignore. This is why Post-it Notes exist.
  • Encoding: The actual process of writing something down makes it far more ingrained in our memories. This owes to the generation effect, “a phenomenon where information is better remembered if it is generated from one’s own mind rather than simply read.”

So that’s a big part of it. The second component is tangentially related, but has more to do with the collaborative nature of a marketing operation. When you’re trying to keep numerous individuals aligned around the same vision, it’s essential to have a single source of truth that’s accessible to everyone.

The above psychological principles come into play from a team aspect — your colleagues will better adhere to a strategy if they can actually see it, and the process of encoding will take place if everyone is collectively involved with documentation — but there are also more basic and practical elements.

When your content strategy is documented, you don’t have to re-explain things to people over and over again. You have a central point of reference for various freelancers, contractors, new hires, clients, external business partners, and so forth. It provides a concrete and objective basis for decision-making.

You also might spot flaws in your strategy more quickly (for example, an SEO specialist may see something amiss in the documentation and say, “We’ve gotta fix that,” whereas it may have gone unnoticed).

Are we all agreed on the value of a documented content strategy? Good. Let’s get one put together.

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