Organisational impact of content marketing

In the last few days, we described in great detail how companies can adopt content marketing in a pragmatic way. The truth of the story is that the implementation of these ideas has a strong impact on your organisation. Content management is a time-consuming and therefore expensive operation. Nonetheless it is vital to prepare your content management thoroughly and properly in advance, so the process can unfold efficiently and with impact. In order to make your organisation content marketing-ready, you need to take account of the following aspects:

Who is the editor-in-chief? This person is responsible for the overall compilation of your content planning. He/she facilitates content creation and assures the planning to be respected. This role may be allocated to the Conversation Manager as part of his/her duties. After all, content is a proactive manner to encourage conversations.
Who creates the content? The editor-in-chief cannot be expected to make all the content. It is advisable to appoint a team of employees to assist him/her in this task. Campaigns are usually farmed out to advertising agencies, as are certain parts of most projects. However, much of the content for these projects will still need to be created within the company. State clearly who is in charge of each project. Routine content updates are best carried out in-house, since this will be both cheaper and more flexible.
What does the planning look like? Make a clear and practical planning including updates, projects and campaigns. Specify who is responsible for the creation and spreading of content for each element. A quarterly planning is probably the most relevant. A year plan is not sufficiently â€˜agile’ and will reduce your ability to react to changing circumstances. Successful content exploits current trends and events.
Always take account of the context. The atmosphere, place or manner in which your film/advert is viewed will determine to a large extent whether it is appreciated or not. Even the best food loses its taste in bad company or a grotty restaurant! Try to take account of the context of your target group. If they are likely to view your material on a mobile application, don’t forget this when putting together your story line. The better you are at managing the context, the greater the impact of your content will be.
Do you have in-house writing or video talent? Content scores heavily if it is well written and well presented. Do you have employees who show talent in either or both? If so, they can be useful partners for your content creation. If you don’t have natural talents, try to encourage the most suitable members of your team to help, providing extra training if necessary.
Don’t forget external content. You don’t need to create all the content yourself. Hundreds of interesting articles, reports and videos are already available, many of which may fit your story perfectly. When you come across information of this kind, share it with your target group. It will confirm their impression of your being an expert in the field. Install a number of practical tools, such as Google Reader, to help you with your content selection.
Connecting with influential people within your category. It really helps to share your content on a larger scale if you are connected with influencers and opinion leaders in your category. Develop a program to connect with them and get to know them. See how you can help them and they will help you in return.

If you look back to our approach and suggestions, what is your feedback? Did we forget anything? Do you have examples of companies doing a wonderful job in this domain? Please let us know; we’re open to all suggestions!

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