If content strategy is about actually figuring out where you're going and what you want to accomplish, editorial planning helps you figure out how to actually get the work done. Before you do editorial planning, make sure that you've weighed the costs and benefits of having a blog and thought about content strategy for your blog.
Once you've done that, you're ready to do some editorial planning. There are 3 main things that you should do during this process.
Step 1: Think sustainable
Most of us have the urge to get things done. We want to dive right in and feel like we're making progress. Usually that's a good thing, but with a blog it can be disastrous.
If you read my post from yesterday, you know that a blog is a big endeavor. If you decided that a blog really is a good idea for your organization, then you need to build a strategy for long-term success before you start writing. That's where content strategy comes in.
These 4 questions will start you down the right path.
ask if you should even have one.
You read the headline correctly. I just said that you should be taking a hard look at whether a blog is good for your organization.
Keeping a blog relevant and current is a lot of work. You need to make sure that your efforts will pay off before you put in the effort.
It's been a busy year on the Masterworks blog. We've worked hard to make sure each and every post was valuable to you, our reader. I hope we've been successful.
To close out the year, here's a look at the 5 most popular posts of the year. Enjoy.
3 online reading behaviors you need to know about
Your donors and constituents read differently online. This means you need to write differently as well. This post shares the 3 reading behaviors that should most drastically influence your approach to writing online.
"Most fundraisers focus almost all of their attention on generating income. They often don't apply the same creative energy to reduce expense. I made that mistake myself for many years as I directed World Vision's marketing programs. When we turned our creative energy to the expense side, it was amazing what we were able to accomplish."
Rory Starks, our Vice President of Strategic Engagement, writes about maximizing net income in the August 22 issue of Outcomes Online, the E-newsletter of the Christian Leadership Alliance. Read the rest of Rory's article to learn 7 strategies you can implement at your non-profit.
Kate Bobson is one of our newest faces at Masterworks, and she is serving as the Account Executive for Care Net, Kids Alive International, and Back to God Ministries International. She comes to us from another marketing company, where she worked as an Associate Account Director.
Kate looks forward to helping Masterworks further its strategic and analytical thinking by exposing the company to outside experiences, improving results, and training and encouraging all those she works with. Kate’s position provides her the opportunity to lead our clients strategically, using data and analytics to expand their ministries and help others. Kate particularly enjoys the spirit of collaboration at Masterworks, and feels that we’re all working together to provide a superior service to our clients.
In her spare time, Kate enjoys exploring new places, whether it’s a nearby park, a new city or a new country. She also enjoys spending time playing baseball with her nephews.
Writing digital content isn't the same as writing for print.
Why? Because people digest digital content differently than print media. Your readers are demanding that you write differently. Will you respond?
I’ve listed 3 specific online reading behaviors below. Once you understand them you’ll be equipped to tell your organization’s story better than ever.
3 steps to creating quality content
"More content is better." That's what most people think about digital content. But that simply isn’t true.
The quantity of your content isn’t important. Quality is what matters. And there’s one way to ensure that you’re creating quality content.
Ask “Why?”Ruthlessly.
A brand specialist at a recent Direct Marketing Association conference declared that the reason 52% of highly loyal customers defected from a popular brand was the issue of trust. In fact, trust is the #1 reason people switch brands. Look at Toyota’s problems right now. Trust is broken. Their brand was all about quality. Now that’s gone.
For nonprofits in the field of fundraising, all the advertising and development dollars you can throw at your audience may build awareness, but not trust. So, where do you go for trust? We trust others. Our friends and family. Celebrities we like. Business associates. Even folks we don’t know who seem sincere and appear to be just like us.
In today’s world, trust is viral. Facebook and Twitter are contagious, spreading information in epidemic proportions. Even annoying bulk emails pass along solitary opinions that become “truth” to millions. Your next question is, I’m sure, how do you trust others to promote your brand and get your message right? The short answer is, you must and they won’t.
