Practise what you preach to become a content champion

Don’t forget internal stakeholders when you’re designing your content marketing strategy

Content marketing success isn’t easy. First you need a killer strategy based on a deep understanding of both business objectives and audience needs. Then you need to be able to find and commission the best content creators. Next comes distribution, promotion, analysis and improvement. It’s no wonder you’re exhausted!

Internal buy-in for your content marketing efforts is essential. Creating great content is not cheap and budgets are always under pressure. Therefore you need to win the trust of those who set the budget.

It’s unlikely you’ll be able to create first class content without input from a broader range of internal stakeholders too. Not just in marketing but across customer support, R&D, sales and IT. All of these should be playing a part in informing your strategy and implementing your campaigns. And some of them will be actual content creators, especially in B2B markets.

So, you’ve got all your ducks in a row with the support of colleagues and managers and delivered a knock-out campaign that has met its objectives. Well done you. What next? Onwards and upwards of course! Learn from your success, revise your strategy and push ahead with the next campaign. But wait…

While you may be aware of the campaign’s success, perhaps other people in your organisation are not. If you want their continued and increased support then it’s time to spread the news. This is where you turn your external content marketing expertise inward.

The same rules apply when designing a normal campaign or piece of content: meet audience needs, inform rather than sell, be engaging, find the right medium.

Does your organisation have a regular internal newsletter or magazine? Is there some sort of town hall or other regular meeting? Can you create your own bespoke newsletter aimed at the relevant stakeholders and internal influencers? Or is Salesforce or some other internal network the way to go?

Avoid writing a ‘boast post’ that explains how brilliant you are and little else. Instead, seek to inform stakeholders how their efforts created the success. Explain how further collaboration (and perhaps investment) can benefit different areas of the business.

And don’t limit your focus to in-house efforts. There may be recent research or a competitor’s campaign that your colleagues should know about. Make it relevant to their jobs and beneficial for them to read your content. Help them become content marketing experts because the greater their understanding, the more likely they are to support the work you do.

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