As Pardon My Content becomes a full-on consulting firm with all the bells, whistles and glitz and glam associated with that, the question inevitably comes up when I meet new people: “content strategy?”
Paired with the kind of inflection that questions my basic sanity, I have to bring them on the journey that brought me to content strategy so they can get an idea of what I do and what it means for their business.
I did parts of content strategy before I even realized it had that name.
Developing an editorial strategy for a multi-author blog, managing the content for a video streaming platform with hundreds of users and multiple levels of access, optimizing websites for search engines, writing and editing content for blogs, are all part and parcel of what a content strategist will do.
Alone they do not make up content strategy, but they are areas that content strategists exert responsibility over for a deeper end.
The issues of content are deeper than publishing tools, editorial calendars, and SEO; as I journeyed through my experiences as a publisher, designer and entrepreneur the deeper questions kept poking their inimitable and intractable little heads up through the cracks.
The content strategist is a philosopher in that they take the harder road forward by asking “why?”
From the answer to this question spring more questions: “what”, “how”, “where”, “for whom?”
And each of these questions leads down a separate road, forking, merging and crossing others in ways that make Los Angeles highways look simplistic. My role as a content strategist is to map the roadways, explain their intersections and the path that will lead you where your business wants to go.
I work with your designer, your developer, your content writers, your brand managers, and other stakeholders to determine what kind of content you will have, how it will be presented and how it will be delivered that leads to a positive impact upon your business.
If you’re in business on the web (and you should be), you have content, content that needs a plan.