Playbook 3

8/20/2019 Playbook 3

1/36

ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

CONTENTLY1

The Ultimate Content Strategist

Playbook No. 3:

Staffing and Launching Your Content Marketing Program

Copyright © 2015 Contently. All rights reserved. contently.com By Joe Lazauskas


2/36


CONTENTLY2

I. Introduction 3

II. Crafting a Brand Voice & Mission Statement 8

III. Identifying Story Types & Topics 15

IV. Building an Editorial Calendar 20

V. Staffing Your Content Team 24

VI. Creating an Approval Workflow 30

VII. Conclusion 35

Table of Contents

http://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdf


3/36


CONTENTLY3

On he evening o March 2, our conen/markeing eam

ound isel celebraing a a Soho dive bar called Mila-

no’s or a ew reasons: hree birhdays; wo new

addiions o he eam; and, mos imporanly, a suc-

cessul monh o February in which we saw over

200,000 readers. We oased, bu in ruh, a lo o ha

success was atribued o work we did monhs ago.

Though i el like new pieces were atracing all our

readers, only 40 percen o our readers and 48 percen

o our oal atenion ime or he monh came rom

poss published in February.

Wha had he bigges impac was ha we spen he

previous 18 monhs publishing hree or our sories per

day. In February, sories published las year like “The

Pros, Cons, and Coss o he Top 10 Conen Disribuion

Plaorms,” “7 Keys o SEO or Conen Markeers,” and

“Wha’s he Difference Beween B2B and B2C Marke-

ing?” all generaed over 1,000 readers and 3,000 aten-

ion minues, jus like hey do every monh.

In December 2013, Jay Acunzo, hen senior conen

manager a HubSpo, had a similar revelaion. Tha

monh, he crunched he numbers and ound ha 70

percen o he roughly 2 million his on HubSpo’s

blog came rom poss ha were more han a monh

old. “Tha enire eam could sop blogging or a whole

monh and sill see 70% o he expeced resuls—zero

work needed,” he wroe in a blog pos. “Now ha’s ROI!

Show me a PPC campaign capable o doing ha .”

TOTAL TRAFFI C

IN FEB.

TOTAL ATTENTION TIME

IN FEB.

FEBRUARY POSTS PREV. POSTS

40%

60%

48%52%

http://nextviewventures.com/blog/should-startups-blog/http://nextviewventures.com/blog/should-startups-blog/


4/36


CONTENTLY4

Jay was shocked. So was I. And ha’s naural—when

you do conen markeing well, i can eel like highway

robbery. As venure capialis and conen marke-

ing exper Tomasz Tunguz recenly wroe on his blog,

“Conen is one o he ew orms o markeing ha has

a compounding reurn.”

The idea o compounding reurns in conen markeing

may sound complex, bu i’s acually quie simple. Mos

brand publishers aren’ in he business o publishing

imely news; raher, hey ocus on elling sories ha

enerain, solve a problem, or provide imporan advice

and inormaion. These evergreen sories remain

relevan or a long period o ime and coninue o bring

in new readers via search and social. Tunguz, or

insance, ound ha he average pos on his blog

generaes abou 150 views on he firs day, and abou

20 or each subsequen day. Afer one year, he average

pos sill generaes abou 18 views per day.

Tha may no sound like a lo o pageviews, bu when

you’re publishing new sories every day, here’s a

compounding effec. Each day, here are more oal

sories generaing raffic, which resuls in compounding

growh. In a hypoheical model, hose compounding

reurns would resul in readership growh ha looks

somehing like his:


5/36


CONTENTLY5

“Like a bank accoun ha sars ou small and earns

incremenal gains, bu over ime becomes quie large,”

Tunguz wries, “conen markeing effors require

consisen invesmen bu ulimaely can yield enor-

mous resuls.”

O course, his is an ideal model, and simply publishing

every day does no guaranee success. As we covered in

Playbook No. 2, you need o have a conen roadmap—

a clearly defined audience and a sense o all he gaps

in he conen marke so you can capialize on every

opporuniy o capure your audience’s atenion. You

also need o produce sories ha are good enough o

be shared. Oherwise, here won’ be a compounding

reurn on social. The same goes or search.

“There’s no a whole lo o value in wriing a decen

blog pos anymore,” explained Moz ounder and SEO

luminary Rand Fishkin. “[There’s no a lo o value]

unless you can be prety exraordinary.”

While he poenial compounding reurns o conen

markeing are enough o make any brand markeer’s

mouh waer, he challenge o doing i successully is

sill a massive underaking. You need o creae a seady

cadence o conen so your reurns grow quickly, bu

ha conen also has o be so good ha i will sand

ou in he sea o crappy poss ha pollue he web. And

since he compeiion is geting fiercer every day, you

need o coninuously improve and evolve i you wan o

sand ou.

We’ve reached a crucial sage in our Ulimae Conen

Playbook series—he poin where he difficul work

begins and brands sar o ail. Over he pas ew years,

many brands have successully evangelized a conen

program and drawn up a srong sraegy; ew, however,

have successully execued and seized ha opporuniy.


6/36


CONTENTLY6

Bu i you ake he appropriae seps, he likelihood o

success increases—and he poenial rewards are well

worh he invesmen o ime and money.

For he res o our hird conen markeing playbook,

we’ll ake you hrough he five necessary seps required

o execue a conen markeing program, developed

rom he bes pracices we learned rom our own

experiences as publishers and he work we’ve done

launching he conen markeing effors o hundreds o

companies around he globe:

1. Crafing a brand voice and conen markeing mission

saemen o guide your effors.

2. Ideniying your sory ypes and requiremens so you

know wha o creae.

3. Building an ediorial calendar o hold yoursel ac-

counable o a consisen publishing schedule.

4. Saffing your conen eam so you can begin creaing

conen.

5. Creaing an approval workflow so you can operae

like a real newsroom.


7/36


CONTENTLY7

2. Crafting a Brand Voice &

Mission Statement

Creating a mission statement is one of the most difficultyet enjoyable stages of the content marketing journey.

A great mission statement speaks not only to your con-

tent plan and goals, but also captures who you are as a

brand and as a publisher. It’s the rallying cry that makes

you excited to come to work every day, pushing you todo more—and do better—than your competitors.


8/36


CONTENTLY8

Like he word “irony,” brand voice is somehing people love o alk abou

bu don’ really undersand. I’s ar more han a se o adjecives (clev-

er, smar, millennial) and can’ be capured in a mock wee. I goes ar

deeper han ha, which makes sense: Your brand voice is a he hear o

every piece o conen you creae.

To craf a brand voice, I’m a big an o an exercise ha conen sraegis

Melissa Lasky Wall recenly advocaed in a piece on The Conen Srae-

gis. Her advice is so brillian ha insead o summarizing her ideas and

buchering i in he process, I’ll jus share her recommendaion in ull:


9/36


CONTENTLY9

Say you’re going o a dinner pary ull o people you

don’ know. Wheher you admi i or no, you’ll wan

each o he oher people a he pary o leave wih a

cerain viewpoin or opinion abou you a he end o he

nigh. So you ac a cerain way, choose cerain words

and conversaion opics over ohers, make cerain jokes,

and generally work o be he mos charming, or unny,

or book-smar, or emoionally sensiive, ec. version o

yoursel, depending on which o hese rais are he mos

imporan or you o convey.

Wih brands, i’s really no all ha differen. The unda-

menals o voice comes down o a personaliy—priori-

izing a se o rais ha comprise an ideniy, and hen

communicaing in a way ha expresses and prioriizes

hose rais. Which means ha, in order o creae a suc-cessul voice, a brand is required o ake on some o he

personaliy o, well, an acual person (he Supreme Cour

would be so pleased).

The logical quesion now is, “So wha personaliy rais

does my brand embody?” The answer can only come rom

one source: your brand isel. No one else can ideniy

your brand’s values and poin o view oher han he

individuals who comprise i. The mos successul brands

sand or an idea (Apple, GE, IBM), and ha idea is a

good place o sar when i comes o disilling your brand

values ino a key concep or ideniy.

You may be hinking ha wha I’m describing resembles

a common branding exercise, in which eams boil heir

brand down o our or five words or colors or images, ec.

Bu ideniying he voice involves a bi more anhropo-

morphizaion han ha (and yes, ha’s a word—I looked

i up).


10/36


CONTENTLY10

Anoher way o hink o i is his: I your brand was he person a he dinner

pary, who would i be? The gadge reak who snagged an iPhone 6 a week

beore hey wen on sale? The hones and kind riend you’d consul while

geting dressed or a dae? The mad scienis deermined o find a way o

make uel ou o pencil shavings?

These examples may sound hyperbolic, bu hey ge a values ha lead

people o prioriize cerain skills and behaviors over ohers. Brands are no

differen.


11/36


CONTENTLY11

A clear sense o ideniy is wha caegorizes he bes

brand publishers. GE is he smar, inquisiive, clev-er science nerd who blows your mind. Red Bull is he

deah-deying rock sar you wan o hang ou wih.

HubSpo is he inbound markeing genius who wans

o help you ge ha promoion. Moz is he wizard o

SEO wih secres ha will undamenally change your

business. In differen ways, hey’re all a kind o person

who will accumulae a posse o ineresed admirers a

ha dinner pary.

O course, his exercise o anhropomorphizaion is jus

ha—an exercise. Brands can’ have a voice or a mis-

sion; he people who communicae on heir behal do.

When I spoke wih he men behind he conen power-

houses a HubSpo, Moz, and GE, ha much was clear.

You can hear he mission in he brand voice.

TOMAS KELLNER, MANAGING EDITOR, GE REPORTS:

“Here we are. We’re 130 years old. We were ounded byThomas Edison, and guess wha? We are sill working

on really hard problems ha he enire plane has o

be dealing wih, wheher i’s he uure o energy or

wheher i’s he uure o elecriciy or wheher i’s new

propulsion or planes ha will ge you rom New York

o Tokyo in our hours.”

JOE CHERNOV, VP OF MARKETING, HUBSPOT:

“HubSpo is no only a company, bu i’s also he caa-

lys o a movemen. And as a communiy has coalesced

around ha movemen, i’s our job o nurure and

oser i.”

RAND FISHKIN, FOUNDER, MOZ:

“[Conen is] par o our DNA. We believe in sharing and

being ransparen in puting ou here he hings ha

we’ve learned. ... We wan o ry and help markeers

firs. Tha’s our underlying goal. We really don’ hink

abou conen markeing as being par o our unnel. I’s

par o our mission.”


12/36


CONTENTLY12

While he business goals o your conen markeing effors are impor-

an—be i generaing leads, sales, brand awareness, indusry educaion,

or, more likely, some combinaion o iniiaives—we find i exremely

helpul o keep your goals ocused on he audience you wan o serve.

For example, his is our mission saemen or The

Conen Sraegis:


13/36


CONTENTLY13

I he markeing blogosphere were a college, here would

currenly be abou 10,000 proessors angling or en-

ure—and all o hem would be eaching some version o

inbound 101 or remedial conen. Picure a dusy hall ull

o creaky desks, a syllabus ull o old lisicles and ques-

ionable sas, and he eacher droning on and on while

he sudens pass noes in he orm o Pibull GIFs.

Then picure he Kool-Aid man bursing hrough he wall

screaming, “ OHHH YEAHHHHHHHHH !”

Tha’s us. We’re he Kool-Aid man o markeing pubs.

Wha’s ha mean? Well, firs and oremos we wan o

give you inormaion you can’ find anywhere else on he

Inerne, and we wan o do i every single day. Forge

elling you ha cerain hings work—we wan o ell you

why hey work, how hey work, and wha’s going o work

nex. We’re going o coninuously alk o he smares

people in our indusry, and we’re going o ell you wha

we find ou. Media is changing markeing (and vice

versa), and undersanding wha i all means and how o

ake advanage means hinking beyond he ropes o he

pas.

We also aim o have un because his is un! The lae,

grea David Carr pu i bes when he said, “Creaing

media conen is a divering aciviy ha rarely resembles

acual work.” And i you’re reading The Conen Sraegis,

i likely means your job involves elling sories in some

way or anoher.

There’s no reason ha markeing conen has o be dry or

boring—afer all, a good sory is a good sory, no mater

wha i’s abou. Jus because we’re wriing abou conen

markeing doesn’ mean we can’ use NBA meaphors

or make un o our own buzzwords. There’s no reason a

sory abou ROI or legal approvals can’ have a ew jokes

in i. Markeers are humans oo.

http://mtv.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:mtv.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/tumblr_mcmcbaIReE1qa9pg6o1_500-1421345667.gifhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar6xC8KM-jkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar6xC8KM-jkhttp://mtv.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:mtv.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/tumblr_mcmcbaIReE1qa9pg6o1_500-1421345667.gif


14/36


CONTENTLY14

A Conenly, we alk a lo abou “building a beter media world,” which

sounds like somehing ou o Silicon Valley , bu i’s rue. We believe in

helping people ell amazing sories insead o polluing he web wih me-

diocriy, and in he power o diching inrusive adverising in avor o grea

media experiences. The Inerne is wha we make i, and we wan o make

i awesome.


15/36


CONTENTLY15

Noice how ocused we are on our readers; ha’s no a

ron. We do have clear business goals or The Conen

Sraegis—building brand awareness, oriying our

repuaion as a conen markeing hough leader, ed-

ucaing cliens and poenial cliens, and driving email

subscribers, leads, sales and opporuniies—bu our pri-

mary ocus and ediorial mission remains helping our

readers become beter, smarer conen markeers. And

we’ve ound puting our readers firs is he bes way o

drive all o hose resuls.

Our mission saemen reflecs our commimen o

ediorial puriy, and i you alk o successul brand

publishers, hey’ll ell you ha commimen is key. In

he words o Joe Chernov: “[O]wning your audience

comes wih huge responsibiliies—namely he need

o ‘proec’ ha audience rom markeing’s shadow. ...

I we ell vicim o he empaion o srip-mine ha

audience wih over promoions, we’d desroy he asse

many people have worked so hard o build.”

As you ideniy your brand voice and craf your mis-

sion saemen, keep all o ha in mind. You have o

pu your readers firs and give hem wha hey’re no

geting elsewhere. Your mission saemen will be your

guiding ligh, he documen ha keeps you in check,

inspires you, and proecs your conen rom marke-

ing’s shadow. I’s crucial. I don’ know where we’d be

wihou i.


16/36


CONTENTLY16

3. Identifying Story Types & Topics

Once you have a mission statement that makes you

beam with pride, it’s time to figure out what types of con-tent you should create—blog posts, reported features,

photography, illustrations, infographics, comics, videos,

white papers and e-books, etc. This is a critical step. You

can’t start to map out your editorial calendar, staff your

content team, or design your approval workflow until youknow what kind of content you’re going to make.


17/36


CONTENTLY17

This is anoher sep ha should be inormed by he

conen sraegy analysis you already conduced (as

oulined in our las playbook). I your paricular niche

is sauraed wih basic blog poss bu lacking longorm

eaures and videos, you may wan o inves in he la-

er. I no one’s poking un a your indusry wih com-

ics, ha could represen a grea opporuniy or you o

sand ou. Bu keep a ew rules o humb in mind:

1. Try a litle bi o everyhing ou. Conen markeing

involves a cycle o consan learning and opimiza-

ion. A Conenly, we boil his process down o he

execuive-riendly abbreviaion o CEO—creae, en-

gage, opimize—and visualize i wih he flywheel be-

low. Your iniial conen sraegy should be a refined

educaed guess abou wha will work, bu you need

o be consanly esing new hings and opimizing

based off he resuls.

2. Prioriize qualiy over quaniy. I’s hard o sand ou,

so you shouldn’ hink o your inographics as some-

hing you can ge done cheaply on Fiverr, or your

original phoography as somehing Seve he Lead

Gen Guy can ake care o wih his Samsung Galaxy.

Keep ha in mind when evaluaing differen ormas.

3. Describe your sory ypes or conen novices. I

you’re reading his, here’s a good chance you’re more

sophisicaed han your colleagues when i comes

o conen. Over-explain wha each conen orma

enails.

C R E A T E

E N G A G

EO P T

I M I Z

E


18/36


CONTENTLY18

QUICK HITTER

250–500 words o inroduce breaking news, research, or

a cool visual componen like an inographic or video.

WEBSOURCED INDEPTH

500–1,200 words based on web sources; includes a

complex level o analysis.

BASIC REPORTED STORY

400–800 words wih beween one and hree sources.

LONGFORM FEATURE STORY

1,000+ words wih a compelling narraive ocus and

muliple primary sources.

INFOGRAPHIC

Graphic visual represenaion o inormaion, daa, or

knowledge ha communicaes key indusry opics.

VID EO

A sory up o five minues long abou soryelling,

including inerviews wih hough leaders and/or brie

news updaes.

COMIC

Single or muliple panel illusraions lampooning heconen markeing indusry.

EBOOK

3,000–10,000-word guides and indusry repors, usually

downloadable in exchange or an email address.

To see wha his looks like, here are our differen sory ypes:


19/36


CONTENTLY19

BRANDS

News, rends, and analysis o he branded conen

movemen.

MEDIA

Journalism, naive adverising, and he uure o he

media business.

ROI

Bes pracices or ying conen o business resuls.

SOCIAL

Sraegies, ools, and ips or spreading conen hrough

he social web.

VOI CES

Though leadership, opinions, and perspecives on he

uure o conen.

Nex, i’s imporan o deail he differen opics you’d like o cover. Our opics align wih he five main

secions o The Conen Sraegis: Brands, Media, Social, ROI, and Voices.

Once you have hese ables compiled, keep reerring back o hem as you creae your ediorial calendar

o make sure you’re rying ou each opic wih all possible sory ypes.


20/36


CONTENTLY20

4. Building an Editorial Calendar

Now it’s time for the fun part—building your editorial cal-

endar. Since you still have a lot to figure out before youcan get up and running, you’ll likely want to give yourself

a cushion of six to eight weeks before you start publish-

ing. Building an editorial calendar will give you a clear

picture of what types of stories you’ll publish on a daily

basis and who you need to hire to get up and running.


21/36


CONTENTLY21

While he ulimae goal is o become a daily publisher,

you don’ wan o overwhelm yoursel when you’re jus

saring ou. Don’ sacrifice qualiy or quaniy. Gener-

ally, we recommend saring ou wih wo sories per

week and increasing rom here—hough you migh be

able o handle less or more depending on your iner-

nal capabiliies. I’s imporan o be ambiious, bu no

unrealisic.

To be hones, we’re spoiled when i comes o ediorial

calendars. The Conenly plaorm has a gorgeous drag-

and-drop calendar wih easy filers, a ex edior, and

buil-in approval workflows. However, no everyone

can afford his ype o sofware.

I you have absoluely no budge or a calendar bu

are running your sie on WordPress, your bes be is o

use he WordPress calendar. I’s basic bu ges he job

done. I you don’ have WordPress, see i your conen

managemen sysem (CMS) offers somehing similar. I

no, HubSpo’s ediorial calendar emplae is a decen

sopgap measure you can edi easily o fi your needs.

DivvyHQ can also ge he job done i you have a small

budge and eam since is ediorial calendar sofware is

priced on a per-sea basis.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorial-calendar/http://offers.hubspot.com/blog-editorial-calendarhttps://app.divvyhq.com/marketingsite/pricing/?_ga=1.203862034.36584171.1425843988https://app.divvyhq.com/marketingsite/pricing/?_ga=1.203862034.36584171.1425843988http://offers.hubspot.com/blog-editorial-calendarhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/editorial-calendar/


22/36


CONTENTLY22

AUT HOR :

The soryeller or soryellers responsible or producing

he sory (he wrier, designer, illusraor, videographer,

ec.).

DUE DATE:

When he sory or sory asses are due rom he auhor.

PUBLISH DATE:

The dae you inend o publish he piece. Be sure o

schedule exra ime or revisions, adding in more ime

(a leas our days) or more complex opics or less ime

(one or wo days) or simpler poss.

INTENDED AUDIENCE:

The primary or secondary audience he sory is inend-

ed o reach, as we oulined in our las playbook.

FORMAT / TYPE:

As oulined above.

TOPIC:

As oulined above.

URL:

The URL o he sory once i is published.

TARGET KEYWORDS OPTIONAL:

I can also be useul o include arge keywords or he

wrier o keep in mind—alhough you never wan o

encourage keyword suffing, which will damage he

qualiy o your sory. I’s a fine line, so make sure you

walk i.

Bu whaever sysem you use, you wan o be sure you can rack and filer a ew imporan deails:


23/36


CONTENTLY23

As you sar o fill ou your calendar, esablish a seady publishing

cadence. Posing a a regular pace will make i much easier o ge ino

a rhyhm when i comes ime o engage your audience, measure your

success, and opimize or he nex round o publishing.

For example, here’s a curren snapsho o our calendar or The Conen

Sraegis. Noice how here’s a seady flow o wo o our poss each

weekday. This ensures ha we deliver consisen value o our readers

on each o our primary disribuion channels (email, Facebook, Twiter,

LinkedIn, and Google+).

Now ha you can see wha ype o conen you need o creae, i's ime

o saff up.


24/36


CONTENTLY24

5. Staffing Your Content Team

The idea of staffing a content team and building a

“brand newsroom” is enough to give some marketers a

panic attack. But it’s less complex than you think.


25/36


CONTENTLY25

Firs, evaluae wha inernal resources you already have.

Tha’s going o be he bigges acor ha deermines he

mix o in-house people and reelancers you need o

deliver based on he sraegy you’ve oulined.

Mos successul brand publishers ake a hybrid ap-

proach o heir newsroom. A core in-house eam serves

as he proecor o he brand voice, disribues and

measures conen, and opimizes ediorial sraegy;

reelancers add subjec mater experise and soryelling

firepower o he mix.

“I hink ha brands are using reelancers a lo more

simply because i’s a lo easier or hem o scale based

on wha heir conen needs and requiremens are,”

Michele Linn, he Conen Markeing Insiue’s direcor

o conen, recenly old The Conen Sraegis.

Coca-Cola, or insance, has a small core eam o edi-

ors and designers, complemening ha wih a saff o

reelance soryellers hrough Conenly o scale heir

conen operaion. They now publish 12–15 pieces per

week on Coca-Cola Journey. “We’ve really ried o carve

ou a bea sysem wih our Conenly wriers,” said Jay

Moye, Coca-Cola Journey’s managing edior. “I’s nice o

know who we can go o or cerain sories.”

Those wriers can also supply resh sory ideas, voices,

and perspecives ha spice up your soryelling. One o

Coca-Cola Journey’s mos popular poss, or example,

was a sory abou Coke-hemed weddings—a phenom-

enon unearhed by a reelancer named Laura Randall.

The eaure sory old he ale o a ew happy couples

and heir Coke-red nupials.

http://contently.com/strategist/2015/01/21/build-vs-buy-why-top-brands-are-leaning-on-freelancers-to-build-hybrid-newsrooms/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/01/21/build-vs-buy-why-top-brands-are-leaning-on-freelancers-to-build-hybrid-newsrooms/


26/36


CONTENTLY26

“Tha was no an idea ha we can ake credi or. Tha

was Laura’s idea,” Moye said. “And here are many more

where ha came rom.”

Bu while reelance resources can be a grea help, i’s

imporan o have a leas one in-house employee

devoed o guiding your conen markeing operaion—

ideally someone wih a wealh o ediorial experience.

A GE Repors, ha person is Tomas Kellner, a veeran

reporer rom Forbes who wries mos o he magazine’s

eaure sories, direcs ediorial sraegy, and eaches

soryelling workshops o GE employees around he

world. Kellner also relies on a small squad o inernal

wriers and reelancers rom conen markeing agency

Group SJR.

To visualize his hybrid model, le’s look a how we

srucured our own ediorial eam a Conenly—and

how i’s evolved as we’ve proven he business value o

our conen effors and grown our eam.


27/36


CONTENTLY27

VP OF CON TEN T

EDITORINCHIEF

EDITORIAL INTERN

DESIGNER

Here’s wha our ediorial org char looked like in December 2013, when we hired our firs ull-ime edi-

or (me!) and sared invesing serious resources in our own conen markeing:

POOL OF FREELANCERS

(journaliss, designers,

illusraors, videographers)


28/36


CONTENTLY28

VP OF CON TEN T

sam slaugher

EDITORINCHIEF DESIGN TEAM

And here’s how we srucure hings oday:

SOCIAL MEDIAEDITOR

ASS OCI ATEEDITOR

PHOTO EDITOR

par ime

AST. EDI TOR

par ime

POOL OF FREELANCERS

(journaliss, designers,

illusraors, videographers)


29/36


CONTENTLY29

As our conen effors have grown more ambiious (elling beter sories,

launching a second magazine, ec.) our eam has goten bigger. Simul-

aneously, he pool o reelancers we use hrough our own nework has

allowed us o easily scale our effors.

Ulimaely, growing your eam gradually is he saes and smares way

o go. As much as I would have loved o have oday’s eam 15 monhs

ago, we had o figure ou wha worked wih a small operaion beore

aking ha leap.

Anoher noe: I you don’ have he power o hire people o ull-ime

ediorial posiions, you can sill build a core saff wih reelancers. When

you’re saring small, hiring a reelance managing edior or 10 hours a

week, a phoo edior/designer or anoher five, and a hal-dozen ree-

lance wriers can be sufficien o ge he job done—as long as every-

one is good enough. A Conenly, we supply our cliens wih reelance

managing ediors, and i’s proven o be a highly successul model. All

hose ediors are rigorously veted and usually have a leas 10 years o

experience.


30/36


CONTENTLY30

6. Creating an Approval Workflow

In sports, there’s a common cliché about everyone know-

ing their role and sticking to it. The same can be said for

publishing.


31/36


CONTENTLY31

Whose job is i o generae sory ideas? Who urns hose sory ideas ino

assignmens so you don’ blow your enire budge on 50 ca lisicles?Who edis hose sories? Who presses Publish?

Below is he approval workflow or ediorial eam uses a Conenly or

The Conen Sraegis or a day-o-day ex aricle. As you’ll see, anyone

can come up wih a sory idea, bu as he capain o our conen sra-

egy, I’m he one who assigns every sory on he calendar. And hough

members o our eam are responsible or edis, phoo reamens, and

copy edis, each sory comes back o me or approval beore i goes live.

Tha way, i here are any misakes—or anyhing ha doesn’ fi our syle

or sandard o qualiy—I cach i beore i goes live (or, i no, I ake he

blame).


32/36


CONTENTLY32

CONTENT IDEATION / PITCHES

wriers / conenly saff

EDIT 1

associae edior

EDIT 2

edior-in-chie

COPY EDIT

copy edior

PUBLISH

edior-in-chie

PHOTO TREATMENT

phoo edior

LEGAL QUESTIONS?

CREATE ASSIGNMENT

edior-in-chie

FIRST DRAFT

wrier


33/36


CONTENTLY33

This process changes slighly or mulimedia poss, or i

I’m he auhor o he aricle, bu he sysem works hesame: I assign, approve, and deal wih he consequenc-

es, boh good and bad.

Our sysem happens o be relaively simple because we

work a a small company wihou a lo o bureaucracy

and don’ cover a highly regulaed indusry like finance

or pharmaceuicals. And i you do work a a airly large

company or in one o hose indusries, you migh be

shaking your head because you know here’s one big

challenge you’ll have o overcome: brand and legal ap-

provals. You’ve heard he horror sories abou organiza-

ions ha ake monhs o approve simple social media

updaes. I’s somehing ha can compleely derail a

conen operaion and needs o be avoided a all coss.

The key—as Conenly Sudios Direcor John Hazard

wroe las all in an excellen guide o conen approv-

als—is o ge lawyers and superfluous brand managers

ou o he approval process as much as possible by

seting and documening clear guidelines ha ensureyour conen is complian wih legal and brand syle

sandards. To sreamline your publishing inrasrucure,

you need o make sure everyone is aware o hose san-

dards. How do you do ha? Convenienly enough, i’s

he same way you ensure ediorial qualiy—by placing

one key sakeholder in charge o final decisions.

GE Repors publishes a a quick, seady cadence, even

hough a lo o heir sories repor on he company’s

emerging echnologies in highly regulaed areas like

healhcare, where non-complian conen can have se-

rious legal consequences. Bu because o he sandards

he company has in place, he ediorial eam has he

power and flexibiliy o publish a he speed o news

wihou ear o penaly.


34/36


CONTENTLY34

Managing Edior Tomas Kellner ensures ha every soryis ac-checked wih inernal sources, a pracice he per-

eced during his journalism career. And when a sory

acually does need o go hrough legal approval, he

knows when o send i up he chain o command based

on his ediorial insincs. “Wih healh care, or exam-

ple, you could no publish a sory wihou legal approv-

al,” he said. “Ofen, when you alk abou a device, i

acually has o go hrough wo ses o lawyers. I has o

go hrough he regular legal deparmen, bu hen i also

has o go hrough he regulaory lawyers ha make sure

ha wha you’re saying acually describes airly wha

he machine is doing.”

However, he process doesn’ bog down GE Repors’

publishing schedule because o he clear undersanding

and close relaionship ha Kellner has buil wih his

legal deparmen over ime. “In he beginning, i was a

difficul pracice or me o learn,” he explained. “I didn’

know who hese people were and how o ge he copy

hrough efficienly. I ofen go suck. I’s like build-ing a house. You have o pu in he plumbing. Once

you know who hese people are, you don’ have o go

hrough he various gaekeepers—you can go direcly o

hem and check on your sory and see how i’s mov-

ing.”

And since Kellner serves as he keeper o GE Repors’

ediorial voice and conen sandards, he company has

a sysem o checks and balances ha allows i o sand

ou as a sellar publisher wihou geting sued.

“When i comes o a company publicaion and your

sories ge noiced by he op-level publicaions, you are

under a special degree o scruiny,” Kellner said.

I a 130-year-old behemoh like GE can ge is conen

approvals in order, so can you.


35/36


CONTENTLY35

Nearly every week, I inerview successul brand pub-

lishers, and one o he firs quesions is almos always

abou how hey srucure heir “newsrooms.” Who’s on

your eam, I ask. How does he sausage ge made?

Universally, here’s an upswing in heir voice; pride

shines hrough. And ha’s because hey know a univer-

sal hing; saffing, launching, and coordinaing a con-

en markeing machine is hard work, and i’s a process

ha akes ime o perec. Bu once your eam is in a

groove, i’s a beauiul hing o behold; you make each

oher beter, and i’s a oregone conclusion ha your

success will keep building over ime.

Conclusion

This isn’ a unique senimen; i’s somehing you’ll hear

rom coaches, enrepreneurs, sales heads, or, heck, even

he manager a your avorie dive bar. For ens o hou-

sands o years, people have been coming ogeher o

make somehing grea—i’s jus ha only recenly has

ha hing been grea branded conen.

Now, you have he ools o saff and launch he conen

markeing machine o your dreams and sar consis-

enly creaing high-qualiy conen ha you’re proud

o. In our nex (and ourh) conen markeing playbook,

we’ll alk abou how o disribue ha conen and build

a loyal audience. Say uned.


36/36


CONTENTLY36

Want more insights into the

state of content marketing?

For daily insights, subscribe to our online magazine,

The Content Strategist.

And if you’d like to talk to someone about Contently’s services,

please reach out to us at [email protected]

or visit contently.com.

contently.com
http://contently.com/strategist/http://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://contently.com/http://www.contently.com/http://www.contently.com/http://contently.com/http://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://contently.com/strategist/

Date post:	07-Aug-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	nunob
View:	217 times
Download:	0 times

Playbook 3

Documents