Creating Your Content Plan

I d e n t i f y y o u r s t o r y, e m p o w e r

t h e h e r o , s l a y t h e d ra g o n , a n d

r e a p t h e s p o i l s o f v i c t o r y.

What is Content Anyway?

Content isn’t king…but it should, at the very least,

be truth.

1

Content is Storytelling

A l l c o n t e n t f o l l o w s t h e s a m e

s t o r y p a t t e r n t h a t h a s b e e n

u s e d s i n c e B e o w u l f w a s

w r i t t e n .

The Content Structure

Introduce Your Hero

Ident i fy & descr ibe conf l ic t

Go on a journey

Find a solut ion and s lay the dragon

Sometimes reality is too

complex. Stories give it form.“

-Jean Luc Godard

The Hero

C u s t o m e r, s u b s c r i b e r, t a r g e t a u d i e n c e

M ay n o t b e a h e r o y e t – q u e s t n o t b e g u n

T h e “ d ra g o n ” c r e a t e s t h e h e r o

M u s t g o t h r o u g h a q u e s t t o f i n d t h e s k i l l s , t o o l s , a n d “ s o l u t i o n s ”

t o s l a y t h e b e a s t

Conflict

Conf l i c t c reates substance – but i t sucks

Conf l i c t for your hero creates a ton of

cha l lenges

Conf l i c t i s never over – stor ies come to an end

The Journey

The journey of the hero has many paths

Those paths are answers and so lut ions

You strateg ica l ly use content to let the hero

know your so lut ion i s the best “sword”

Slaying the Dragon

Your so lut ion should be the hero ’s sword

When i t i s , the hero te l l s everyone!

I f your so lut ion doesn ’ t work, then the hero wi l l

te l l everyone!

The Content Mix

Content can be anything. But if definitely shouldn’t

be everything.

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Content isthe tool ofthe truth

T h e r i g h t m i x o f c o n t e n t n e e d

t o b e o f f e r e d t o y o u r h e r o t o

m a x i m i z e t h e i r t i m e a n d

d e c i s i o n m a k i n g p r o c e s s .

The Content Mix

B logs

Soc ia l media content (or ig ina l + ampl i f ied)

Case stud ies , ebooks , whi tepapers

Webinars , v ideos, and seminars

Emai l market ing, d i rect market ing, conferences

The Right Content

Not a one s ized f i ts a l l approach

What ’s worked in the past may work in present

Organic promot ion versus pa id / advert i s ing

What ava i lab le resources do you have?

How long do you have?

Key Hero Considerations

Content should be focused on the hero ’s path

Eas ier to f ind that path than create a new one

On the same path, there are tons of so lut ions

Cut through the no ise and become the s igna l !

The Promotional Mix

Promotion is the light that illuminates the truth.

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Promotion makes the pathvisible

A n d e v e r y o t h e r p r o v i d e r i s

p r o m o t i n g , t o o . Yo u n e e d t o

f i n d s t r a t e g i c w ay s t o c o m p e t e

w i t h o t h e r s o l u t i o n o f f e r i n g s .

The Right Promotion

The co ld t ruth about promot ing

Channels versus vehic les

Communi ty engagement

Bui ld ing a t r ibe of 1 i s better than hav ing a l i s t

o f 10,000

Channels Versus Vehicles

Channels = soc ia l media, news, emai l , etc .

Vehic les = accounts , journa l i s ts , rev iew

webs i tes , etc .

The goal i s to integrate wi th estab l i shed

vehic les to improve your channel v i s ib i l i ty

Knowing Your Hero

How well do you know the dragon slayers?

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How well do you know your hero?

M o v i n g a w ay f r o m g u e s s e s a n d

a s s u m p t i o n s a n d t o w a r d s

c o n c r e t e , t a n g i b l e i n f o r m a t i o n

i s t h e c o r n e r s t o n e o f c o n t e n t

c a m p a i g n s .

Your Hero is Complex

What we know: the hero i s dr iven by a want.

What we need to know: what are the behind the

scenes informat ion that dr ive your hero.

How do we get that: ana ly t i cs , survey data,

Q&A, etc .

Your Only as Good as Your Assumption

Assumpt ion dr iven market ing sucks

Having data doesn ’ t mean you’ re not assuming

You need to be ab le to extract key s toryte l l ing

deta i l s f rom the data to make a bus iness case

“I Have Good Intuition”

Maybe…but h ighly unl ike ly

Being “r ight” i sn ’ t intu i t ion. You’ re a lways us ing

data

The hero can ’ t enter the dragon’s layer wi th

your too ls i f you never ident i f ied the hero

Never laugh at live dragons.“

-J.R.R. Tolk ien

Now what do I do?

Go Forth and Slay the

Dragon

www.michaelpelosi.net