What is the most important question to ask before you roll up your sleeves, get your laptop out and start working on a piece of content? Ask ten different marketers and you may get ten different answers. The truth is, the top question can vary based on your company’s goals and the piece of content at hand. That’s why it’s so important to ask all the right questions up front – and note your answers so they can help make your efforts a little easier and a whole lot more focused.
To help get you started, we asked our content managers about the top questions you should be asking yourself before you kick off your next content project and created a list of five. We included a little context on why each one is important and sprinkled in a few tips throughout.
1. Who is this content targeting?
While this question may feel pretty basic, it’s one of the most overlooked inputs we see. And it’s also one of the most vital to ask upfront. The individuals you’re targeting drive some pretty important decisions such as the angle, tone of voice and technical depth of your content. Beyond those tactical reasons, there’s something more fundamental at play. If you think about a specific persona when you’re creating content, the finished product will become more focused, more compelling and a whole lot more human.
2. For which funnel stage will the content be used?
This one is a great driver for choosing a content type and establishing intent. There are various resources out there that align specific content types with their respective funnel stages. While the rules aren’t steadfast, they typically position short, shallow content at the top and deep, specific content at the bottom. By spending a little time on funnel stage before you start typing, you’ll be better positioned to create content that’s designed to move the right people deeper into your funnel.
3. How did people get here?
Here at Cabral Communications, we spend a lot of time thinking about how content can (and should) link together. Understanding the source that drives people to a given piece of content is a pretty important part of doing that. Whether it’s a blog post, infographic or web page, the more we know about a person’s journey into a new content piece, the more we can shape it around their needs. The benefits include building on concepts they’ve already seen, reducing redundancies and propelling their content journey forward.
4. What do you want readers to do when they’re done?
Great content can draw the right people deeper into your funnel – but only if you lead them. So, when you set out to build a new piece of content, think about the next step you’d like them to take in their content journey and let that guide your efforts. Whether it’s an infographic that leads to an article or a white paper that connects to a product demo – whatever you’re developing should be built with a destination in mind.
5. What do you want people to take away from this piece of content?
Let’s face it, marketers are in a constant battle for attention these days and it’s unlikely that every reader will remember every detail from every piece of content they ever consume. That’s why it’s important to decide on the one thing you want people to take away from your content if you had to sacrifice everything else. Not only will this remind you which point to emphasize throughout the piece, it will help bring a deeper focus into your overall content development efforts.
While these five questions surfaced as the most important, there are many other things you’ll want to consider before kicking off a new piece of content. These include:
- Content creation inputs such as the source material, template or style guide to follow
- Content strategy considerations such as the angle or theme
- Content management details such as the SME contact, timeline and review chain
In our experience, collecting a little information at kick-off can help make content development easier in the long run. While you may not be able to answer all of these questions all the time, even a little preparation can go a long way. And if you ever need a hand kicking off a new piece of content – we’ve got you covered. Just drop us a line and let us know how we can help.