The Atomic Guide to Content Strategy Frank Delmelle, Senior Content Strategist at These Days Y&R © These Days Y & R Buckle up, strategists Here’s… #ContentStrategy: a new, atomic, bottom-up and future-proof paradigm in 12 decisive steps       © These Days Y & R “A new content strategy paradigm”?  Why? Who needs it?  © These Days Y & R Google content strategy and – excusez le mot – this is all you get: diagram diarrhea  a.k.a #DeathByPowerpoint © These Days Y & R Content strategy seems to be stuck thinking in circles… http://www.slideshare.net/frankdelmelle/thecontent-wheel-45628376 © These Days Y & R … and burgers  That’s a “content strategy burger” (no kiddin’) http://visual.ly/content-strategy-burger © These Days Y & R … and a chalupa… https://medium.com/@markwschaefer/break-the-mold-whycontent-marketing-needs-to-be-like-a-chalupae080b7b054f9#.nr9wupjil © These Days Y & R ‘Content strategy’s very probably Wikipedia’s Most Wicked Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_strategy © These Days Y & R  At the CMI, content strategists in spe get tangled up in toolkits, templates and trellos http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2016/01/checklists-templates-guides/ © These Days Y & R … Entrepreneur.com? http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270956 © These Days Y & R Step Tag your answer(s) with target audience segment(s) #WHO This first tag level will enable you to pull content clusters relevant for specific segments from your content archives, making segmentation ‘a piece of cake’ Illustration: a ‘content atom’ from the top of Bank of America customers’ FAQ list: “How Do I Pay Down Debt?”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV22EP4T8ZQ © These Days Y & R Step Tag your answer with the customer need /desire you’re satisfying #WHAT Tag level number two consists of the keywords, categories or themes that reflect the specific customer questions (wonderings/needs/desires) you’re answering Expect a return in terms of SEO, obviously, but equally so in terms of, for example, ‘sharp as a knife’ subject lines etc © These Days Y & R Illustration: a ‘content atom’ from the top of Thomson Reuters’ clients’ FAQ list: “How Will We Fill Billion Bowls by 2050?”, http://reports.thomsonreuters.com/9billionbowls/   Step Tag your answer with the ROMI* it’ll realize *ROMI being the return on marketing objectives your individual piece of content is supposed to generate In this third level of tags – ranging from awareness to advocacy – your specific KPI’s are listed How will this particular piece of content pull peeps through your funnel? Top-funnel impact? Mid-funnel? Bottom-funnel? Will it increase traffic, sign-ups, qualified leads, … ? #WHY Illustration: a ‘content atom’ from AXA’s leads’ FAQ list: “Will the taxman leave me alone once I’m retired?”, http://thesedays.com/work/axa/pensioenavonturen-aventure-pension © These Days Y & R Step Tag your answer with the CTA(s) to be featured underneath   The fourth level of tags will indicate what each piece of content is pointing at / where you want peeps to go next ‘post content consumption’ ‘See more’, ‘subscribe’, ‘discover product abc’, ‘join us at event xyz’: here you tag your ‘content atom’ with the call to action (CTA) inviting content consumer to proceed to their ‘next best action’: the natural next place in your funnel These tags will a.o enable an information architecture / a UX that (feels like it) makes perfect sense #WHERETO © These Days Y & R Illustration: a ‘content atom’ based on Netflix subscribers’ FAQ list: “Will Francis and Claire lose everything?”, http://www.24-7gamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ netflix_pr_darwin_ui_regular_us_web_442014_7b0b4f0d530e365df57003d58a130df9.jpg In tag level number five you indicate the familiar incident, the moment of truth or the ‘life event’ during which your answer will be especially relevant This will enable you to grab appropriate clusters of content when targeting segments at a specific MOT (while getting rid of old-school campaign thinking in favour of an ‘always on’ ‘content service’…)   Step Tag your answer with the Moments of Truth indicating #WHEN it’ll be (most) relevant   © These Days Y & R Step 10 Tag your answer with the touchpoints / platforms where it will thrive #WHERE More news: the relevance of answers to top FAQs will only very rarely be limited to your   ‘ownedgood web’ Hence this sixth level of tags listing all the touchpoints where your ‘content atom’ could/should thrive   The interesting thing here is that the keys to a sensible ‘channel mix’ can - largely - be found in the nature of your customers’ questions and the quality of your answers For some answers (paid) search will obviously be the natural habitat besides your ‘owned web’, while for others (paid) discovery, (paid) social and/or email will be the logical place to be Tag level #6, in short, will empower integrated media planning and enable content economies of scale (beyond the usual silos) This is where you’ll make content marketing catchphrases such as ‘create once publish many’, ‘maximize return on interview’ e.a (finally and) actually happen © These Days Y & R  Step 11 Tag your answer with the genre/format that’ll make sure it’ll get read/watched #HOW In a seventh level of tags, finally, you indicate the (editorial) genre – opinion, testimonial, expert advice etc – and/or the content format – video tutorial, infographic, listicle, longread, … – that will improve the likelihood of your content atom to be read and/or watched This will enable you to, in a holistic way, pick formats taking into account platform requirements, media preferences/behavior, editorial resources (budget) etc © These Days Y & R Step 12 Answer FAQs #2, #3 etc & scrum from there   © These Days Y & R If designers can build UXs from the bottom up, why shouldn’t content strategists be capable to follow suit? #AtomicDesign BTW: an atomic approach might also help to get your content strategy sold Your consistent answers to customers’ FAQs will certainly prove to remedy the ‘diagram itch’ that gets you stuck in the elevator pitch http://www.justinmind.com/blog/atomic-design-user-experience/ © These Days Y & R    Summary? Break up and FAQ around!   © These Days Y & R The key to untie the content strategic knot and/or declutter your content strategy is to be found in its most fundamental component: your answers to the top of your (future) customer’s FAQ list Illustration: a ‘content atom’ from the CMO’s FAQ list: “How To Make The Banner Blind See Again?”, https://medium.com/@thesedays/6-ways-to-reanimatethe-battered-banner-ad-3cf781895025#.r3e392fmu © These Days Y & R An atomic content strategy will answer FAQ #1 first, proceed to answer one question at a time, tag each answer systematically with its why, who, how, when and where(to) … and scrum from there © These Days Y & R Illustration: an earned media ‘content atom’ about/ for Tesla/Solar City (…)’s future customers’ FAQ list: “How Will Elon Musk Change The World?”, http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-willchange-your-life.html Strategically sound soundtrack? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tko1G6XRiQ; Image: screenshot from: http://helloitsadam.com/happy-birthday-debbie-harry/ © These Days Y & R And one more for the road: keep an eye on Quora’s ‘No Answers Yet’ You might just hit a content jackpot;) https://www.quora.com/search?q=how+to+find+questions+with+no+answers+yet? © These Days Y & R Still not sure where to start? welcome@thesedays.com   © These Days Y & R [...]... capable to follow suit? #AtomicDesign BTW: an atomic approach might also help to get your content strategy sold Your consistent answers to customers’ FAQs will certainly prove to remedy the ‘diagram itch’ that gets you stuck in the elevator pitch http://www.justinmind.com/blog /atomic- design-user-experience/ © These Days Y & R    Summary? Break up and FAQ around!   © These Days Y & R The key to untie the content. .. and/or declutter your content strategy is to be found in its most fundamental component: your answers to the top of your (future) customer’s FAQ list Illustration: a content atom’ from the CMO’s FAQ list: “How To Make The Banner Blind See Again?”, https://medium.com/@thesedays/6-ways -to- reanimatethe-battered-banner-ad-3cf781895025#.r3e392fmu © These Days Y & R An atomic content strategy will answer... Revolution!   © These Days Y & R “Unleash the 12 steps!”  © These Days Y & R Kaboom!  Step 1 Nuke the diagram diarrhea Tabula rasa! Clean those desks! Let’s get back to the basics and rebuild from the bottom up © These Days Y & R Step 2 Focus on the very top of your (future) customer’s FAQ list* *The ranking of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) being the one thing your customers – and your strategy s indispensable... © These Days Y & R Step 8 Tag your answer with the CTA(s) to be featured underneath   The fourth level of tags will indicate what each piece of content is pointing at / where you want peeps to go next ‘post content consumption’ ‘See more’, ‘subscribe’, ‘discover product abc’, ‘join us at event xyz’: here you tag your content atom’ with the call to action (CTA) inviting content consumer to proceed to. .. (most) relevant   © These Days Y & R Step 10 Tag your answer with the touchpoints / platforms where it will thrive #WHERE More news: the relevance of answers to top FAQs will only very rarely be limited to your   ‘ownedgood web’ Hence this sixth level of tags listing all the touchpoints where your content atom’ could/should thrive   The interesting thing here is that the keys to a sensible ‘channel... middle men – are guaranteed to care about: answers to their questions © These Days Y & R Content relevance, by the way, is the one thing that will never entirely be delivered by the bots Focusing on your audience’s FAQ will make sure you steer clear of both commoditized content and ‘last year’s’ shallow (meaningless) content snacks (to offer relevant content atoms’ instead.) © These Days Y & R Tweet that!... strategic levels: give each content atom’ a strategic passport, i.e a content profile with these 7 tags: #WHO #WHAT, #WHY, #WHERETO, #WHEN, #HOW and #WHERE… and you’ll find the fragmentation that used to be your worst headache, will at once become your best friend The future-proof paradigm shift? Once they’re tagged, your content atoms will make up the core of a content strategy that’s scalable, targetable,... will improve the likelihood of your content atom to be read and/or watched This will enable you to, in a holistic way, pick formats taking into account platform requirements, media preferences/behavior, editorial resources (budget) etc © These Days Y & R Step 12 Answer FAQs #2, #3 etc & scrum from there   © These Days Y & R If designers can build UXs from the bottom up, why shouldn’t content strategists... piece of cake’ Illustration: a content atom’ from the top of Bank of America customers’ FAQ list: “How Do I Pay Down Debt?”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV22EP4T8ZQ © These Days Y & R Step 6 Tag your answer with the customer need /desire you’re satisfying #WHAT Tag level number two consists of the keywords, categories or themes that reflect the specific customer questions (wonderings/needs/desires)... Owned? One -to- one? © These Days Y & R Excuses? Splintered segments? Content shocks? Algorithm anxiety? Broken journeys? … It wouldn’t be entirely fair, of course, to have content strategist take all the blame Their task has turned rather sysyphean… © These Days Y & R Still, claiming that content strategy could do with some decluttering would be a flagrant understatement     © These Days Y & R   Solution? ... from the bottom up, why shouldn’t content strategists be capable to follow suit? #AtomicDesign BTW: an atomic approach might also help to get your content strategy sold Your consistent answers to. .. around!   © These Days Y & R The key to untie the content strategic knot and/or declutter your content strategy is to be found in its most fundamental component: your answers to the top of your... back to the basics and rebuild from the bottom up © These Days Y & R Step Focus on the very top of your (future) customer’s FAQ list* *The ranking of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) being the