Re: Digest for contentstrategy@googlegroups.com - 7 Messages in 1 Topic

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Lisa Trager

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Apr 12, 2013, 6:19:23 PM4/12/13
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Hi Andrew,

Yes I can definitely relate to the challenges of selling CS within the agency world. I think you've laid out the overall benefits and general process in a good way.  There are always tons more we do, bit to your point it depends upon the project and budget.

One additional challenge I've experienced is that within most of the bigger agencies you will also find a variety of roles with 'strategist' in the title - like digital strategist, social media strategist - or other members of the UX team where there is some overlap.  But one major difference is that these roles are usually more tactical and don't always make recommendations based upon the quantitative and qualitative research you described and which differentiates CS.

Another interesting fact is that with the rise and popularity of content marketing maybe the road to evangelising CS is simply a change in nomenclature.

Lisa Trager
Twitter: Lisalt
Tragester@gmail. Com

On Apr 12, 2013 2:48 PM, <content...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/contentstrategy/topics

    Andrew Kaufman <andy...@gmail.com> Apr 11 03:26PM -0700  

    Hi all!
     
    As a recent transplant to the agency world, I've been thinking a lot
    recently about how to make a business case for content strategy to our
    clients, many of who don't really understand what it is or why it matters.
     
    Since we haven't really "sold" content strategy as a service before, part
    of what I've been trying to do is not only find a way to explain to our
    clients the benefits of content strategy, but also to our internal business
    development and account services teams so that they have the information
    they need when they're scoping out projects.
     
    One of the challenges I've faced is trying to describe Content Strategy
    without just describing the tactics and deliverables that result from the
    process. But it's often hard to communicate that CS is more about the
    overall process than any one specific output.
     
    To that end, I put together a post that tries to do just that:
    http://www.brightercollective.com/content-strategy/the-case-for-content-strategy/
     
    I'd love any and all feedback on what I have so far, as well as to hear
    about how others have dealt with these challenges.
     
    Thanks in advance!
     
    --
    Andrew R. Kaufman
    andy...@gmail.com
    Twitter: andy2001
    AIM: volumes2001
    Freelance Content Strategist <http://www.freelancecontentstrategist.com/>
    310-845-5375

     

    Andrew Kaufman <andy...@gmail.com> Apr 11 03:58PM -0700  

    Thanks Karen, this is really helpful!
     
    I especially like the idea of selling both through logic and emotion.
     
    One other thing we've been running into is that clients seem to be enamored
    with "Content Marketing" now, but they don't understand that they need to
    start with a well thought out content strategy in order to make their
    content marketing efforts worthwhile. They just want to start producing
    content right away.
     
     
     
    --
    Andrew R. Kaufman
    andy...@gmail.com
    Twitter: andy2001
    AIM: volumes2001
    Freelance Content Strategist <http://www.freelancecontentstrategist.com/>
    310-845-5375

     

    Laura Creekmore <lcre...@gmail.com> Apr 11 06:27PM -0500  

    Oh, do we feel your pain. Our efforts are complicated by the terminology, for sure, as well as content marketing (done properly) also requiring a good (wait for it....) strategy!
     
    When I run into that kind of confusion, I try to focus less on the terms and more on the benefits and results. If they WANT content marketing -- perfectly legitimate tactic -- they will NEED a strategy and the operational and technical systems to make that program work.
     
    Good luck!
     
    Laura Creekmore
    615.500.4131
    la...@creekcontent.com
    http://www.creekcontent.com
     

     

    Hilary Marsh <hil...@hilarymarsh.com> Apr 12 08:53AM -0500  

    Andrew,
     
    I want to build on what Laura said -- it's so important to adjust your
    message to what the audience is interested in knowing about (we need to
    apply a content strategy for management or any other audience. ;-)). Talk
    about ROI, quality, time savings, etc. In other words, focus on the "why"
    and less on the "how."
     
    --Hilary
     
     
    --
    Hilary Marsh | 312-806-7854 | hil...@hilarymarsh.com
    *
    *Content strategy for associations, nonprofits, corporations:
    websites, blogs, social media, e-newsletters
    http://www.hilarymarsh.com
    also hilarymarsh on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Slideshare, etc.

     

    Sara Fraser <sarak...@gmail.com> Apr 12 10:19AM -0400  

    Hi Andrew,
    Piggybacking here on previous point. Your client wanting to create content
    (now, now, now) is a great thing. For many of us, getting that initial
    buy-in is a challenge. The key to strategy is simply common sense. It's
    asking: What is the point of the content? It's the sweet spot between what
    the business wants to say and what the user/prospect/reader wants to hear.
    There they'll find relevance. Publishing before nailing down that concept
    is just... silly.
    Good luck!
    Sara Fraser
     
     

     

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