Taking Care of Your Content Marketing

© Sticky Content Limited
Amy Nicholson
@StickyAmy
#EdgeFinance
Who’s taking care of your
content?

© 2014 Sticky Content Ltd. Credit Image
This month we’re working with…

Finance clients include…

‘Content marketing is all the marketing that’s left’
Seth Godin

Investec Treasury

7 things you need in your kitbag
©PAImages

1. Why are you here?
©PA.
1. Mission statement
©PAImages

• WHY is this copy going on the site? How will this copy help
advance your business goals? What will users do after reading this
copy? How will you measure the success of this copy?
• WHO is the copy for? What can you say about how busy they are,
their motivation for reading the copy, their knowledge about the
topic? When, where, how will they be coming to this copy?
• WHAT is the key message of the copy? What questions will
readers want the copy to answer?
Ginny Redish, Letting Go of the Words
Before you start writing…

Date| Course Title | 15
You need your pole star

“Welcome to Inc.com, the place
where entrepreneurs and
business owners can find
useful information, advice,
insights, resources and
inspiration for running and
growing their businesses.”
An example…

2. User personas
©PA.
©PAImages

For ‘killer content’, you must accept 3
things:
1. Driven by millions of years of conditioning, your customers
focus on their own needs and those of their families and
loved ones
2. Making your customers feel special means understanding
what they really care about
3. What they really care about can sometimes be the opposite
of what you really care about
The first and most vital step in creating killer web content is to
create a small set of living, breathing readers. People you
can think of as you write. People you have empathy for and can
care about. People you want to design the best (content) in the
world for.
Taken from a blog post by Gerry McGovern, author of Killer Content| copyright Sticky Content Ltd

| Digital Content Strategy copyright Sticky Content Ltd

Content personas
• User personas translate your business
goals into real content needs
• Your personas need to work as creative
tools
• Not necessarily a full representation of
your entire market
• Pen portraits of representative groups
• Throw in telling details to help you
sharpen your content

3. Writers’ guidelines
©PA.
©PAImages

The 3 elements of a tone of voice:
1. What you choose
to say –
messaging/content
strategy
2. How you present
those messages
– information
design
3. The actual words
you use to do this
– language/style ©PAImages

1. Establish a consistent approach that all writers
can follow
2. Improve brand recognition – consistent,
repeatable and distinctively yours
3. Make your written content more usable and
even boost your sales
4. A benchmark to keep your communications
on track, and to ease the stakeholder sign-off
process
Tone of voice guidelines

Nationwide

4. Your editorial calendar
©PAImages

Plan like a publisher
• Maintain an editorial calendar confirming agreed
frequency, timelines, volumes, content owners,
formats, channels etc
• Create content departments and give them
owners
• Cultivate subject matter experts and other
content sources
• Capture ideas regularly
• Develop guidelines: style guide, tone of voice,
format guidelines
• Put in place an editorial board to review content
effectiveness

5. Build on good ideas
©PAImages

Harness the hivemind
Trust they will come
Ask around internally
Make use of data and insights
Work your beat
Where do ideas come from?
©PAImages

Your
domain of
expertise
Your users’
information
needs

ISA investing
tips
ISA investment
ideas for a
falling market
ISA investment
ideas for a rising
market
Saving for your
child
Cash v Stocks
and shares
10 of the best
ISAs

6. Briefing forms
©PAImages

What goes in a briefing form?
destination of content eg position in
IA
source material or stakeholders to
provide input
audience (eg customer segments or
user personas)
deadline
parameters and constraints eg
wordcounts, keywords
format eg case study, Q&A, video
tutorial
additional guidance to consult eg
social media policy, style guide,
format guidelines, compliance
guidance
list of named approvers
CTA: what you want the audience to
think, feel or do as a result of this
content
metrics: what will success look like
and how will you measure it (eg
downloads, sales enquiries, seo
traffic, etc)?

When to use your brief…
When you’re planning content
• To help you crystallise your goals and intentions.
• To how a piece of content fits within your whole activity.
When you’re writing
• To keep you focused on the desired outcomes and the
task at hand.
When you’re commissioning content
• To give writers a clear, agreed understanding of what
their content needs to achieve and the form it should
take.

When to use your brief…
When you’re checking content
• Check you've got all the content elements you need in
place.
When you’re submitting content
• Get approvers to check copy against the briefing form –
seeing the thinking will help them appreciate the
execution.
• If you're managing a lot of stakeholders, do they all need
to sign off on the final content? Can some approve the
brief instead?

7. Formats and processes
©PAImages

‘Recipe book conjures up a specific image complete with format, structure, content, organisation, context and purpose.”
Peter Morville, Ambient Findability
Form makes content usable

Tried-and-trusted digital formats
• FAQ
• Step-by-step
• Q&A
• Document summary
• Timeline / chronology
• Product page
• Case study
• What is… ?
• How to… ?
• User guide
• Facts at a glance
• Menu
• News story
• Testimonial
• Top 10 tips
• Factfile
• Buyer’s guide
• Destination guide
• Checklist
• Biography

Format guidelines: job ads
Section Content Format
Title Job title Title
Standfirst Engaging description of what the person
will be doing
1 sentence
We’re looking for… Top-level description of the ideal candidate 1-2 paragraphs
What’s the role? What the person will be doing day-to-day. The
responsibilities and opportunities of the job
2-6 short paragraphs
You are someone who… Personal qualities, attitudes and skills of the
successful candidate
Bullet list (up to 10 bullets)
Boxes to tick Necessary experience/qualifications in order to
apply for this job
Bullet list (up to 10 bullets)
What’s in it for you? Practical benefits of the role 1 paragraph
Why now? Why Fortune Cookie? Compelling reasons to choose the company
and explanation of current need to recruit
1 paragraph

Deloitte

• Email subject line

• Homepage teaser
• Tweet
• Related products link

• Landing page snippet
/ A-Z entry

• Mobile site

• Tablet site

In your content toolkit:
1. Mission statement
2. User personas
3. Writers’ guidelines
4. Editorial calendar
5. Good ideas – and ways to capture
them
6. Briefing forms
7. Formats

The guard
Most likely to say:
‘No, I can’t move your
deadline.’
Do delegate:
Looking after the
calendar, scheduling
Don’t delegate: social
media ©PAImages

The captain of the quiz team
Most likely to say:
‘I think you’ll find…’
Do delegate:
Managing your style
guide, proofreading
Don’t delegate:
stakeholder
engagement
©PAImages

The teenager
Most likely to say:
‘That’s really boring.’
Do delegate:
Idea generation,
platform research
Don’t delegate:
scheduling ©PAImages

The safety officer
Most likely to say:
‘Have you read the
FCA guidance?’
Do delegate:
Approval, compliance,
final sign-off
Don’t delegate: Idea
generation
©PAImages

@stickycontent
Content strategy workshop
for FS June 2015:
(1/2 day) An introduction to content strategy
for senior executives in FS: framework,
business case and operational implications
(Full day workshop) Content strategy for
Financial Services

Taking Care of Your Content Marketing

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