AGILE CONTENT MARKETING

By Jeff Freund

Principles for Content

Marketing Success

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Contents

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We don’t usually speak of Content Marketing and Software Development in the same sentence, but they actually have some things in common, the biggest of which is how to run “the factory.” For content marketers, it’s the content factory and for developers, it’s the product factory. In this ebook, we’ll highlight how a set of core principles that have inspired software development practices can also be used to boost your content marketing success.

Introduction Agile Principles The Twelve Agile Principles for Content Marketing

Summary About the Author

Originally published in blog format with the Content Marketing Institute.http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/10/go-agile-adapt-12-principles-to-content-marketing/ | 2

Introduction We don’t usually speak of Content Marketing and Software

Development in the same sentence, but they actually have some things

in common, the biggest of which is how run “the factory.” For content

marketers, it’s the content factory and for developers, it’s the product

factory.

Content marketers are responsible for continually deliver high-quality,

impactful content, while developers must continually deliver high-

quality, functional software. A lot of time has been devoted to increasing

the throughput and quality of content or software development. The

number of new tools, new processes, new practices, new paradigms,

and new philosophies is increasing rapidly. But over the last 20 years,

there’s one revolution in software development that stands out above

all else and that is the rise of Agile software development.

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Agile Principles Agile is rooted in a set of core principles, which were first codified in

2001. The principles have been adopted in several software

development practices with names like Scrum, Lean and Feature-

driven Development. But Agile Principles should not be limited to just

software development. As the role of content in the buyer’s journey

grows and marketers are responsible for consistently producing high

quality content, now more than ever it’s time to shine the Agile spotlight

on content marketing. Marketers applying these principles in their own

content marketing operations can reap huge benefits. Here are the 12

Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, with all words adapted for

content marketing italicized.

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1PRINCIPLE #1

It all starts with the audience, the buyers, and the consumers, and

delivering valuable content to them where and when it will have impact.

This is the mission of content marketing and takes its worthy spot as

the first principle.

Our highest priority is to impact the audience through timely and continuous delivery of valuable content.

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2PRINCIPLE #2

It is never too late to halt or change the creation of a piece of content. It

will happen – a customer case study will be compromised by an

account management issue, a competitor will beat you to the punch on

a thought-leadership topic, or the market context will shift and make

your white paper outdated. It is far better to shift gears even at the last

minute than to deliver something misaligned or irrelevant. Welcome the

opportunity to get it right rather than be frustrated over the causes of

change.

Welcome changing requirements, even late in content creation. Agile processes harness change for competitive advantage.

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3PRINCIPLE #3

Each channel or media format has its own nuances and time cycles for

creation and consumption. From spontaneous social posts to long-form

white papers, be clear and realistic about delivery-time cycles and

expectations.

Deliver content frequently, from a couple of minutes to a couple of months.

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4PRINCIPLE #4

Continuous dialogue around prioritization, progress, roadblocks, and

needs with an informed and empowered delegate from outside the

content team is essential to keeping the factory running at full steam. In

software development, this role is filled by the product manager. In

content marketing, this role is typically filled by the managing editor.

Deliver content frequently, from a couple of minutes to a couple of months.

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5PRINCIPLE #5

Software developers and writers share many traits. They need to blend

creativity with science. They need to collaborate, yet go heads down

with focus on their individual tasks. And they don’t like people looking

over their shoulders and micromanaging them. Figure out what your

content marketing team members need to be successful, provide it, and

trust their commitment and motivation to get the job done.

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

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6PRINCIPLE #6

Ever notice how an internal email about a content asset can have 10

times as many words as the content asset itself? This is all too common

and inefficient. Conversations – not more emails – will cure this

inefficiency and remove ambiguity and misunderstanding among

content creators and their subject matter experts, product managers,

etc.

The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a team is face-to-face conversation.

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7PRINCIPLE #7

Impact will be measured in different ways for difference teams. But

progress should be measured in metrics that drive the business and

revenue, such as leads, conversion, sales, upsells, and cross-sells, etc.

Impactful content is the primary measure of progress.

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8PRINCIPLE #8

A well-tuned factory can produce at a predictable, sustainable, and

high-throughput capacity. Sustainability prevents burnout on the team

and loss of quality at deadline crunch time. It is also important to think

about sustainability of the audience. Why generate more content than

the audience can actually consume?

Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, content marketers, and audience should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

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9PRINCIPLE #9

High standards for writing lead to lower editing costs, better reusability,

and an overall faster completion time. Likewise, rigor on asset

production makes repurposing, rebranding, and content updates much

more efficient. Can you repackage all your collateral with one update to

a template? If not, there is a lack of efficiency to be fixed.

Continuous attention to writing excellence and good production practices enhances agility.

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l0PRINCIPLE #10

Keep things simple, avoid unneeded cycles, and create straight-forward

processes. For example, do not have content creators putting pen to

paper without full clarity on what they are creating – the difference

between a writer having full persona profiles or not can be a factor of

two in terms of time and cost to generate a piece of content.

Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done – is essential.

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llPRINCIPLE #11

You will get greater results by giving 10 tasks to an empowered five-

person team than by assigning two tasks to each of the five people.

Self-organization leads to a culture of ownership and accountability,

and is more adaptable and resilient.

The best ideas, content creation, and production emerge from self-organizing teams

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l2PRINCIPLE #12

Continuous improvement is a hallmark of all Agile practices. Honest

reflection and evaluation lead to improvements. Don’t be afraid to

experiment, try new things, or top doing things that aren’t working.

What’s imperative is to instill team ownership of the Content Factory –

everyone on the team needs to be part of the process evolution, not

just following orders from above.

At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

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Summary These Agile principles are just the start to understanding how an Agile

methodology can be applied to your content marketing efforts. There

are incremental gains from simply adopting one or more of these

principles into your content marketing operations. Maybe one of these

12 items even solves a huge frustration point within your team or

organization. However, the real magic of Agile happens when you

practice it fully as your operational model.

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About the Author Jeff FreundJeff Freund is a 15+ year veteran of the content industry. He is

currently founder and CEO of Akoonu, a provider of products that

enable customers to successfully execute a Smart Content Strategy –

so they can better engage their target audience, maximize the value of

their content marketing investments, and drive real business growth.

Previously, he was a founder of Clickability, the leading SaaS Web

Content Management platform, and served as the company’s CTO and

CEO.

Throughout his career, Jeff has worked closely with customers to truly

understand the needs of marketers and technologists in industries such

as High Tech, Financial Services, Media, and Manufacturing. He has

been active in the Digital Marketing ecosystem through extensive M&A

experience and as a thought leader speaking at conferences and on

panels.

Connect with Jeff: www.linkedin.com/in/jefffreund/

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Copyright 2014 Jeff Freund

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