The “Discovery” process will make you win at content
Content marketing is becoming more important every day. It establishes credibility, promotes your brand, and fosters interest in your products and services. At the foundation of any successful content marketing strategy is an effective “Discovery” process.
The Discovery process is the secret sauce. It eliminates the risks of your content investment by addressing the most important questions upfront:
What are your goals?
What metrics are you collecting and why?
What are your timetables?
What are your key value propositions to highlight?
What are your differentiators?
How should you segment your audience?
What promotional channels will be most effective?
What keywords should you focus on?
Addressing these questions will help your organization determine what you want to get out of your content strategy and set you up for success.
Our consultancy offers a done-for-you content service in which our team of writers, editors, designers, social media managers and content strategists work with our clients to institute a proven and measurable strategy. The absolute most important piece of this strategy is our Discovery process.
The following breaks down how we onboard new clients in the first four weeks using our Discovery process.
Pre-Kickoff
Immediately after contracts have been signed we initiate our “pre-kickoff” phase:
Onboarding questionnaire — The first thing we do with any client is ask them to fill out our onboarding questionnaire. The intent of the questionnaire is to address many of the questions listed above. It establishes a foundation of understanding and ensures we’re on the same page. Also, soliciting responses from the client enables us to pick up on valuable subtleties that influence the content we craft (i.e., terminology, diction, cadence, tone, etc).
Define goals, priorities, and timetables — Next, we work with the client to understand their strategic vision as well as their short-term tactical objectives. For instance, if a company is preparing to launch a new product, their priority is to build an audience that’s primed to buy at launch. Or, another company may simply wish to extend the credibility and authority associated with their brand. Different companies have different goals, priorities and timetables when it comes to their businesses. It’s critical we understand them at the onset and act in accordance.
Gather Materials — We also take this time to gather materials from the client that will supplement the content we generate and help fuel the system we implement for them. Such materials include company photos, digital brochures, white papers, user guides, email lists, and site maps.
Identify primary account POC — Lastly, we make sure we identify a primary POC on the client’s side who we can reliably communicate with. This may seem like no big deal, but having a mutually agreed upon, dedicated POC on that client side is critical. It strengthens communication, mitigates ambiguity, and instills accountability on both sides.
Week 1: Roadmapping and Logistics
Following the pre-kickoff phase, we transition into the first formal week of working with a client. Much of the first week centers upon audience research, handling logistics, and mapping out a client’s content pipeline.
Audience Research — First, we thoroughly investigate the client’s business. We learn about their story and vision, and hone in on exactly what their audience looks like. Understanding their target audience is key. To do this, we develop buyer personas. These buyer personas are generalized representations of a client’s “ideal customer” or a customer who wants their product, has the ability to pay for their product, and has the authority to purchase their product.
Baseline Metrics — Next, we document their most important baseline metrics. These can vary depending on the client’s goals, priorities, and timetables. Once they’ve been identified, we use them to measure the effectiveness of our strategy and to provide insight into what should be done next and when.
Credentials & Access Control—We also obtain their account credentials and gain access to any infrastructure we need in order to successfully institute our content service. E.g., social media accounts, Google Analytics, Web hosting access, blog, etc.
Content Calendar — By the end of the week, we’re ready to develop their content calendar and plan all upcoming content marketing activity. There are many benefits to using a calendar format rather than simply putting together a long list. A calendar format is visual and a client is able to see what content is being published, packaged and promoted throughout the course of the year.
Our team uses a tool called Calendar Tree for this. It’s an easy way to create and share schedules that others can easily add to their personal calendars with just a few clicks.
Learn How to Win at Content Marketing with this 5 Minute Video
Week 2: Content Research
After roadmapping and logistics have been addressed in Week 1, we then transition into the content research phase.
Hub & Spoke Strategy — The biggest problem many face when they first give content marketing a try is that the content they develop is disjointed and isolated. Each of their topics stands alone — there’s no framework or cohesion. This leaves readers with little reason to explore additional content. The hub and spoke strategy addresses this problem. It’s a way to organize the relationships between all of the pieces of content that are developed. Doing so adds depth to the content and educates the reader about the entirety of a particular topic.
We institute the hub and spoke strategy for all of our clients. At the beginning of Week 2, we determine what their main content hub will be as well as the sub-topics that will branch off from it (the spokes). The main hub is the “big idea” or central piece of content that speaks to each sub-topic at a high-level. From there, the sub-topics (or spokes) branch off and link to series of articles that speak to each particular sub-topic more in depth. Doing so creates a content flywheel that more capably educates our client’s audience and keeps them immersed in the client’s sphere of influence.
Stakeholder Interviews — After we’ve developed the first iteration of the client’s hub and spoke strategy, we then interview the major stakeholders (e.g., primary account POCs, executives, users / customers, etc). The interview questions center upon how the hub and spoke strategy is architected. We use it to fuel the conversation and solicit feedback. We then take what we’ve learned from the interviews, prioritize the feedback, and iterate upon the strategy.
Experience the “Buying Experience” — In addition to the stakeholder interviews, we also make sure to go through the buying experience firsthand. This gives us a better understanding of the product offering and helps us to empathize with the customer experience. If our client sells a product online, this process is relatively straightforward. If our client sells a service, we make sure to go through the process of scheduling a sales call and documenting the comprehensive sales experience.
Lead Magnets — During this week, we also work with the client to identify what their primary lead magnets should be. A lead magnet is a special piece of content offered in a package to a prospect in exchange for their contact information. The goal of lead magnets is to offer value to the prospect upfront for free. They eliminate flyby visitors and create opportunities to nurture leads into making purchases over time. Examples of lead magnets include email courses, white papers, worksheets, and videos.
SEO analysis — As a component of this content research phase, we also perform SEO analysis. We identify the client’s primary keywords and anchor terms, and embed them throughout the content we generate. We also embed them within their website’s metadata in order to improve search performance. If we’re able to identify and use the appropriate long-tail and short-tail keywords, a client can see significant improvement in their search results in just a few months. We use Google Trends and client feedback to help us determine what long-tail and short-tail keywords we should use within their content.
Content Backlog — The last thing we do during the second week of Discovery is develop the client’s content backlog. The content backlog is what we use to record the ideas we have for upcoming blog and email content. We create different headlines associated with each content idea — title, author, status of piece, publication date, corresponding notes, etc — and then share it with the client in order to solicit feedback and receive approval.
The content backlog is a nice way for us to keep all of the content ideas in one place. As a rule of thumb we typically try to write down as many ideas as we can think of, then we prioritize them. However, just because we add something to the content backlog doesn’t necessarily mean it will ever turn into a published piece of content. Plenty of articles never end up materializing. All of that being said, the content backlog forces us to put more thought into what we publish, and of course, prevents us from forgetting about potential content ideas.
Week 3: Content Creation
Now that we’ve addressed all of the preliminary logistics and completed our content research, we are ready to begin creating content.
Headline Optimization — First, we take the highest priority content ideas from the content backlog and generate optimized headlines for them. Headlines are extremely important. They must be compelling enough to garner interest from the client’s audience and they also must be accurate. If a headline is clickbaity and misleading, the content will perform poorly and negatively impact the client’s brand.
To generate headlines we use a Headline Analyzer that measures the likelihood a title will drive traffic, foster engagement and improve search results. We also test the headline in Google to make sure we’re effectively differentiating the content’s positioning. We want to make sure the headline stands apart from the other content that’s already out there.
Content Drafts — Once we have a researched topic and an optimized headline, one of our writers will compose the initial draft. Our editor will then review it, make the appropriate changes, share it with the client and receive their approval before publication.
Market Influencers—As the article is being drafted, our content strategist and social media manager will search for relevant market influencers who may be willing to share the forthcoming article. This form of influencer outreach helps with relationship development, link building, and content promotion.
Week 4: Execution
Finally, we are ready to execute. All of the hard work we’ve put in up to this point is about to pay off. It’s time to institute our content strategy and systematically grow.
Publish — Once the client has approved the first draft, we go ahead and schedule its publication based on the content calendar. We receive a lot of questions regarding when the best times to publish are. The answer is, it depends. They vary based on the audience composition and the type of content that’s being published.
Promote — After the article is published, we have a process to promote it that’s made up of these five sharing tactics:
- Promote via social media
- Send to relevant influencers and encourage them to share with their audiences
- Crosspost to sites like Reddit and Quora that have narrowly focused and easily identifiable sub-communities
- Republish to other relevant social blogging platforms (e.g., LinkedIn Publishing, Medium, etc)
- Invest in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) traffic depending on the context of the article and its call to action (CTA)
Measure—After an article has been published and promoted, we curate the article’s metrics at the end of the month. We then use the data to determine the articles effectiveness and impact. We measure consumption, engagement, audience growth, leads generated, and sales.
Iterate and Optimize — At the end of each month we review the metrics and use insights from them to determine how we should iterate and optimize the content we generate and promote.
Far too often organizations ignore the Discovery process. They neglect to see its importance. They waste their time and energy spinning their wheels and ultimately implement ineffective strategies.
Over time, our consultancy has learned the importance of Discovery. You have to invest in Discovery upfront in order to save time and money in the long run and accelerate your return on your content investment.
Is it involved and time consuming? Yes.
Is it resource intensive? Yup.
Is it worth it? Absolutely.
The Discovery process lays the foundation, acts as a guiding compass, and ultimately helps organizations win at content.
