I think you all heard this famous quote by Mr. Bill Gates that “Content is king“. A lot can be said about this sentence. That is, we can talk a lot about the importance of content in the world of SEO and digital marketing. Content is important for a thousand and one reasons. If you build the best site with a great user interface and user experience, but you don’t publish content on it, it will be of no use to you.
Sites are stores with content that sell their products. Of course, you also read the description of any product you want to buy and take a look at the opinions of users. Various businesses and brands publish video content on Instagram and introduce their new products to users. Publishers use audio content (podcasts) to promote their books. Affiliate marketers use textual content to compare products and try to convince users to visit the seller’s site.
All this means that the production of different contents for different platforms cannot be separated from digital marketing. Digital marketers attract users with accurate, attractive, intelligent and appropriate content and turn them into customers. It is with the help of content that they retain the customer. And it is with the content that they make their brand’s voice heard by everyone. Therefore, part of the energy and time of the digital marketing team is dedicated to producing appropriate content.
Therefore, the digital marketing team and digital marketers also need a content strategy. In addition to the strategy, they should use the tools and equipment that help them formulate and implement the content strategy in a better and more targeted way. One of the most important and best tools to help marketers in this field is Content Strategy Canvas.
What is content strategy canvas? How to design a content strategy canvas? This comprehensive and complete content answers these two important questions.
Table of Contents
What is Content Strategy Canvas?
Content marketing is an important part of digital marketing activities. The digital marketing team and the content of each business based on the type of product it produces and the digital marketing strategy it has must answer questions and fill this canvas. This filled canvas becomes the basis for his content strategy in digital marketing. So, this tool helps to formulate a strategy and makes its implementation easier and more regular. This canvas is the initiative of an individual named Chris Lake. In his opinion, this visualization makes the process of forming the content strategy easier and makes it possible to use all the ideas and opinions of the team and decision makers in the business.
What is content strategy?
Very succinctly and helpfully, Hubspot defines content strategy this way:
A content strategy is a plan in which you use content (audio, visual, and/or written) to achieve your business goals. A successful content strategy will attract your target audience at every stage of the funnel and keep them engaged even after a purchase.
Why should you have a content strategy canvas?
Who is our target market? How to talk to the target user? If a business wants to introduce a product or organize a festival, is it better to make video content or use photos, slides and text? When and on which social network or site should that content be published? As mentioned, there are many questions that need to be answered in order to develop a content and marketing strategy. Some of these questions apply to all teams involved in the business. So everyone should research them and answer them. The summary and results of all discussions and reviews, taking into account all the factors, go on the canvas of the content strategy. In this way, everyone (especially the digital marketing and content team) can easily understand where they are and where they are going and what needs to be done to reach the destination.
How to have a content strategy canvas?
It is not difficult at all. The content team should find the answers to the following questions with the help of others and fill the canvas accordingly:
- Who is the audience?
Who is the content aimed at? And why which content do they react to the most? Where does he live? It is to answer this question that persona marketing will help you a lot.
- What is your situation now? Audit
What kind of content has been published so far? What feedback has there been? What are the competitors doing in this regard?
- What is your brand voice?
What is your brand identity? What values does it reflect? What messages should not be given to the audience that contradict the brand identity? What is your brand voice?
- Who are the content producers?
Who is involved in the content team? For example, how many writers, graphic artists and motion graphic artists do you have? What are your team’s content production standards? What limitations and facilities do you have?
- What kind of content can you produce?
What are your content formats? You may not be able to produce a video or hold a webinar. What other tools and facilities do you need to create content?
- What is the process of producing your content?
What tools do you use to organize your content creation process? Do you have a content calendar? What is your plan for producing green content?
- How and in which channels is your content distributed?
In what platforms and media are the produced contents going to be published? Do you want to promote content? What kind of advertising? Influencer marketing or online advertising?
- What do key business decision makers think?
What do business owners expect from the content team? What do they think about the content produced? Who evaluates the work of the content team and with what criteria?
- What are your goals?
What are your main goals for creating content? What specific goal is each type of content supposed to lead you to? How are achievement of goals measured? Who evaluates content statistics and data?