Getting started in content strategy is difficult. The industry is still relatively new, and so there's much debate about what the right blend of tactics are from multiple disciplines that make up the most effective content strategies. This presentation explains content strategy for beginners through the lens of the Jim Collins book, Good to Great, by leveraging his "Hedgehog Concept" as a metaphor for developing a strategy for great content. Originally presented May 22, 2014 at the Zenith Social Media Marketing Conference in Duluth, Minnesota.

1. The Hedgehog’s Guide
to Content Strategy
Josh Braaten
CollegisEducation.com
@JLBraaten

2. Josh Braaten
• Director of Inbound
Marketing, Collegis Education
• Vice President of Minnesota
Search Engine Marketing
Association
• Co-Founder of Glass en Masse

3. The lowly
hedgehog has
many predators,
all posing
unique threats.

4. The eagle
has razor-
sharp talons
and beaks.

5. Snakes are
poisonous
and just
plain nope.

6. Wolves
have knife-
like teeth.

7. Against all of
these incredible
threats, the
hedgehog has
but one defense.

8. When the going
gets tough, a
hedgehog rolls
up into a ball,
protecting itself
with its spines.

9. Predators fall
flat on their
faces against
a hedgehog’s
spines.

10. Where Most Content Fails

11. Jumping Head-First Without a Plan
Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1jvxcu9

12. Not Staying on the Ball with Content
Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1jgAvjM

13. Jumping Between Tactics Before Success
Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1jgAvjM

14. Reaching Too Far, Too Fast
Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1jvxlOp

15. Hedgehog Content Marketing

16. Presenting… The Hedgehog Concept
Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1jvBbXD

17. Hedgehog Concept
The intersection of:
1. What you’re good at
2. What you’re
passionate about
3. Where you can make
money
-Good to Great
By Jim Collins

18. A narrowly-focused content marketing strategy, the
strength of which derives from the precise execution
of a select number of consistent tactics targeted at
a specific and known customer persona.
Alternate definition: The content marketing
strategy to invest in if you don’t have a lot of time
or money but want scalable results.
Hedgehog Content Marketing

19. How to Act Like a Hedgehog

20. A Hedgehog Knows His Audience
Photo Credit: http://gph.is/1jPLRzP

21. Personas Promote Concrete Customers
Harry Hedgehog Motivations:
• Eating tasty fruits
• Spine maintenance
Paint Points:
• Loveable, but sharp-witted
• Embarrassing spine shedding
Goals:
• Luxury spine-care products
• Variety of fruits; delivered
“A fruit basket and a bubble bath
sound lovely right about now.”

22. Message Maps Connect Needs to the Brand
Awareness Consideration Close Stay
Mindset:
I love fruit and wish I
could find healthy
recipes and people
who appreciate it
Mindset:
I have high standards
and only want to
purchase fruit from
those that “get it”
Mindset:
Will my fruit both
look and taste pristine
if it’s shipped to me?
Mindset:
My friends appreciate
when I find them
“hidden gems” online
Message:
This is a place for
high-quality fruit
recipes, gifts and
conversations
Message:
Our company is an
authority on fruit
quality, which can be
verified by our
growing community
of fruit enthusiasts.
Message:
Our fruit will impress
you and your
friends/family in
every way or your
money back.
Message:
Show your fruit
savviness by sharing
these recipes and
exclusive discounts
with your friends.

23. Keywords and
Topics
Keywords help break down
all of the individual
conversations you want to
have with people.
Keyword Avg. Monthly Searches (exact match)
fruit 49500
fruit salad 49500
fruit baskets 40500
grapefruit 40500
fruit pizza 33100
fruits 33100
fruits basket 27100
fruit dip 14800
fruit smoothie recipes 14800
kiwi fruit 14800
fruit basket 12100
fruit cake 12100
fruit cake recipe 12100
fruit bouquet 12100
fruit salad recipe 12100
fruit arrangements 9900
fruit basket delivery 9900
fruit trees 8100
cheap fruit baskets 8100
fruit bowl 6600
fruit of the month 6600
fruit smoothie 6600

24. Map Keywords to
Your Brand
Keywords discipline you to
remain consistent in your
brand and focused on the
goals and journey of the
customer.
Awareness
• Fruit bouquet, basket
and bowl arrangement
how-to’s
• Fruit recipes blog
Consideration
• Fruit of the month club
benefits, features and
testimonials
• Fruit basket delivery
Close
• Customer fruit basket
arrangements
• Cheap fruit baskets
Stay
• Customer fruit recipe
“selfies”

25. Create a Consistent Platform for Your Brand
Daily Weekly Monthly
Social Media:
• Customer fruit “selfies”
• Curate fruit recipes
• Share fruit arrangement
content
Blog:
• Fast and easy fruit
recipes for the week
(Mondays)
• Fruit recipes to try this
weekend (Thursdays)
• Build-your-own fruit
arrangement how-to
series (Saturdays)
Newsletter:
• Curate fruit recipes from
the blog
• Curate best customer
fruit arrangements
• Advertise fruit of the
month club and fruit
baskets

26. At the end of
the day, it
doesn’t take a
lot to give the
customer what
they want.
Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1lk18sx

27. From Good to Great Content

28. “In each of these dramatic, remarkable, good-to-
great corporate transformations, we found the
same thing: There was no miracle moment.
Instead, a down-to-earth, pragmatic, committed-
to-excellence process—a framework—kept each
company, its leaders, and its people on track for
the long haul.”
- Jim Collins on Good to Great, JimCollins.com
Good to Great Content Marketing
Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1iGUGM5

29. Search for Each Topic to Know What’s Good
Photo credit: http://gph.is/1mfmHeS

30. Deepen Your
Understanding of
Your Customer.
Tools such as Google
Analytics, Qualaroo and
Usertesting.com create a
path to better know and
serve your customers.

31. Scale the Content That Needs to Be Created

32. Scale Who and How Many People See Content
Share With Friends
Pay to Promote to Fans
Syndicate to People Like Your Customers
Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1gsu0e1

33. Scale How Often and What You Write About
Daily Weekly Monthly
Social Media:
• Customer fruit “selfies”
• Curate fruit recipes
• Share fruit arrangement
content
Blog:
• Fast and easy fruit
recipes for the week
(Mondays)
• Fruit recipes to try this
weekend (Thursdays)
• Build-your-own fruit
arrangement how-to
series (Saturdays)
Newsletter:
• Curate fruit recipes from
the blog
• Curate best customer
fruit arrangements
• Advertise fruit of the
month club and fruit
baskets

34. Content Strategy Produces a Flywheel Effect
Goal Completions
This chart plots blog
traffic gained over
time, illustrating
each month’s effort
as a different band
of traffic.
A flywheel effect
occurs when each
incremental effort
becomes easier as
successes start to
add up.
Monthly blog traffic
for the last year

35. Thank You
Josh Braaten
CollegisEducation.com
@JLBraaten
Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1lk18sx