The Elements of Content Strategy - Erin Kissane [9]
Content strategy recommendations made without consideration of available resources are unlikely to result in success. When we work with big organizations, we may be able to simply note that our recommendations will require additional resources to execute. With smaller companies, we can’t simply assume that our clients will magic up an extra twenty hours a week to implement a full-scale “content marketing” plan—or anything else very time-consuming. In some cases, we may have to limit our plans to things that can be accomplished by reshuffling existing staff members and budgets. Whatever the situation, it’s our responsibility to:
Understand existing resources: Are there people available to work on content? Are they good at it? What kind of training do they need? Are there other writers or editors in the company who might be made available to help? Is there a budget for hiring freelancers or new staff members?
Make the business case for content strategy: How will the recommended content changes meet overarching organizational goals? Will they replace less efficient processes, and if so, what resources will they free up? Will they directly contribute to revenue increases by boosting sales? Cut costs by reducing customer service hours? Bring in new business by improving the company’s brand image?
Prepare clients and managers for organizational change: Can we begin introducing new systems and processes well in advance of publication deadlines? If new people will be hired, can we help with job descriptions or make hiring recommendations? Can we refer talented, reliable freelancers?
At the end of the day, we and our clients must remember than content is created (and revised and maintained) only when a human being is assigned and paid to do so.
The notion that content is expensive brings up another topic as well, though it’s one this book lacks the space to address. Within the field of content strategy, a sub-specialization dedicated to the business side of large-scale content production and distribution has begun to emerge. Although many organizations produce content under the aegis of marketing or fundraising, some are in the business of content itself. Publishers qualify, of course, but so does the sprawling beast we call the entertainment industry and the many new kinds of companies that have sprung up to take advantage of the internet’s ultra-cheap distribution model. Content specialists who have a talent for financial strategy and the nerve to experiment will likely find this niche both interesting and lucrative.
Influence #2: The Curator
The word “curator” comes from the Latin “cura,” meaning care. The original curators cared for public resources in ancient Rome: grain and oil supplies, aqueducts, public account books, and roads all had their own curators. In fourteenth-century England, the term came to refer to Christian clerics whose primary responsibility was the spiritual cure or care of their parishioners. In the 1660s, we finally begin to see the word begin to refer to “the officer in charge of a museum, gallery of art, library, or the like; a keeper, custodian” (http://bkaprt.com/cs/4/).5
In a consideration of this evolution, art-world critic David Levi Strauss writes that curators “have always been a curious mixture of bureaucrat and priest” (http://bkaprt.com/cs/5/),6 balancing practical administration with the care of the soul. And as content strategist Dan Zambonini has written, these museum and gallery curators care for—rather than merely about—their collections (http://bkaprt.com/cs/6/).7
And this gets to the heart of our work as content strategists. We must plan for the orderly acquisition, cataloging, and practical maintenance of the content in our care. But just as much, we must protect its essence and truthfulness, and keep it safe from creeping degradation of quality and tone. In both of these contexts, curators