Updated January 20, 2022
Why your company create content? It for? It will help them?
If you don't know the answer, you need to find the answer. And you should do so before creating anything else for a company blog, website, newsletter, or any other content platform.
Why? Because if friend Without knowing what someone will gain from using your branded content, your audience won't see a compelling reason to engage with it.
The lack of answers also makes choosing relevant topics, Format and distribution channels more difficult .
Luckily, there's a simple way to frame the answers to all of these questions so everyone involved with your content (planners, producers, and consumers) will know: Write content mission statement .
What is a content mission statement?
A content mission statement is one of the three key components of every brand content marketing strategy . The content mission statement is a central principle of your branded content, and it can govern the strategic and creative decision-making of your content team.
The mission statement content answer why, who and what is in your #content, @joderama said through @CMIContent. #ContentMarketing Click to Tweet
A strong content mission statement reflects your business values and helps you differentiate your storytelling from other content competing for your audience's attention.
It can also inform advertising decisions about content, including:
- The types of stories your brand will tell (e.g. themes focus on)
- How those stories shape up (e.g., core content format and background)
- Content how work collectively to create the desired experience for your audience
Here's a brief overview of what you need to craft a content mission statement for your business:
3 pieces of mission statement puzzle
A great mission statement details three elements:
- Core subjects – the audience you want to help with your content
- What will be delivered – the type of information you provide
- Results or benefits – what your audience can do with your content
Above Orbit Media Blog Andy Crestodina offers a simple formula: “Our company is where [Audience X] find [Content Y] for [Benefit Z] (with 'our company' referring to everything your business creates, publishes, and shares with its customers). ”
Let's see how to fill in x, y, z:
The audience is your people
Your business may have many objects . Your mission statement should focus on the audience segments your content can do best – i.e. where you can serve an unmet need, deliver value in areas where your audience is most interested. Your competitors may have overlooked or addressed a serious knowledge gap or other obstacle that may be preventing your audience from achieving their goals.
To narrow your focus, see what's most urgent to you target marketing and ask the audience that can best help you get there. For example, maybe the goal is loyalty and your audience is the people who have purchased from your business. Or it could be an audience your sales team has struggled to gain traction with.
Ask which audience can help you achieve your most pressing #marketing goals, @joderama said via @CMIContent. Click to Tweet
You can also take cues from the company's mission statement. For example, consider the mission statement that lies at the heart of Autodesk About page :
Autodesk's mission is to empower innovators with technology to design and build so they can achieve the latest possible. Our technologies include architecture, engineering and construction, product design and manufacturing, and media and entertainment, empowering innovators everywhere to tackle big challenges. and small.
While its software tools include dozens of applications that benefit companies across many industries, Autodesk chooses to target creators and manufacturers – designers, engineers. , architects, manufacturers and artists — not just the purchasing committees at the corporations where those things are made.
While this is not an exclusive “content mission,” this statement underscores a focus that also runs through all of the content Autodesk creates, from a focus on education. Technology Center empowers the maker community to apply the latest creation and testing techniques to Inspiring stories on the Autodesk University site. If your content program is new or not quite see it as unique lean If not, try adapting your company's mission statement to articulate how the values described extend to the content you create.
Another great example from a media brand The Hustle which crafted a mission statement with the same irreverent, no-nonsense tone it uses to deliver the essentials in the daily newsletter:
We make it easy for you to quickly make smart business decisions.
You see, there is a huge amount of information that you, our dear reader, do not have access to. Even if you're too busy, don't know the right people, don't know where to look – whatever. Our mission is to unlock that information and make it available to you in an easy-to-use format.
While most publishers consider “informing our audience” core to their mission, The Hustle speaks to a common source of frustration for audiences – their fear of missing out. the most powerful and provocative information available.
Remember: consumers may benefit from choosing your product or service over others, but not all of them have the same needs, preferences, or motivations for doing so. As the founder of CMI Joe Pulizzi have shown if you create engaging content designed to target everyone, it probably won't be of value to anyone.
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Benefits are your audience's reason
Once you've identified your audience, summarize the distinct benefits that audience will get from your content.
Audience personality provides a clear picture of your target audience's most pressing needs. (If you don't have these on hand, we have a quick and easy guide to Build audience personality .)
But you also have to take into account the reasons your business is a good fit to meet your audience's needs, and how your approach stands out from other brands your audience might interact with.
Detail why your business is a good fit to deliver and stand out with # the content your audience needs, @joderama via @CMIContent said. Click to Tweet
Take a look at The Hustle's mission statement again and notice two features that speak to audiences' interests:
- “highlight some themes stories”
- “add perspective and color to make it easy to understand”
Picking stories that they feel subscribers will want to see (something consumers in the media with time can certainly appreciate) and making those stories relatable is The benefits are meaningful to all audiences, who have ever read a news story only to wonder what's more meaningful or how it might affect them personally.
As you craft your mission statement, think about what you can do for your audience that other content resources don't have, or what information needs your content competitors don't. response. Identifying that will help you pinpoint opportunities to highlight your unique areas of expertise and distinct brand advantage without making your content speak for you.
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Content is your way
Defining your content audience and interests are relatively straightforward decisions, as your marketing goes analyze and competitive research efforts can help inform those factors.
But your mission statement also needs to take into account how you brand content deliver a uniquely valuable and personal experience to your audience. It's not something you can just rely on logic and data on because there's a strong emotional component involved.
As a brand, what do you value most? What topics are you most passionate about, have the deepest experience with, or are more authoritative and knowledgeable than any other content creator in your space? The answer is how you discover the stories your brand wants to tell – and how you convince your audience to want to interact with them.
For example, take this blog mission statement review from Moz :
Shamans, doctors, and industry-leading experts offer their best advice, research, how-tos, and insights – all with the aim of helping you sharpen your SEO skills and continue to grow your business. your online marketplace.
Two things in this statement highlight the benefits of your audience: (1) sharpen your SEO and online marketing skills, and (2) partner with leading industry experts to provide that support. Who wouldn't want to learn from the most experienced experts without having to gather those insights on their own?
As another example, consider the mission statement for Ikea Behind the Scenes a story-based blog, focused on personal experiences located within the company Life at Home Catalog of content provided:
Think of this page as your behind the scenes – go inside and follow IKEA products on their journey from concept, prototype to finished product. You'll meet product developers, designers, engineers and suppliers and experience the Democratic Design process in action through snapshots of home visits and design work across floors of the factory. There will be surprises and failures as well as successes, but it will never be boring. Welcome backstage at IKEA!
Ikea stressed in a smart way that before the decorative products and home furnishings become fixtures daily in the lives of customers, then the entire supply chain of those who work behind the scenes to create shape and build them. All are part of the journey and Ikea ready to step it up to show on "show floor" technical contents of his (warts and all) illustrate the commitment of the company to with thoughtful design.
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Who does your brand want to be?
Not only does creating a content mission statement help you determine what kind of stories will align with your company's vision of marketing success — and which won't — it can also state Turn on the principles and priorities your business is most passionate about. For audiences who share that passion, it's a meaningful differentiator that will set the stage for increased engagement, higher trust, and deeper loyalty.
Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute
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