Revisiting Your Content Marketing Strategy: A #CMWorld Twitter Chat with Michael Brenner

Our latest B2B Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report found that 69% of top performing content marketers have a documented content strategy. But for content efforts to remain effective, you must continually evaluate it.

Given our current health crisis, now might be a good time to look. Can a pre-pandemic strategy work in this new landscape?

To find out, we went to Michael Brenner, CEO of Marketing Insiders and Author of Mean People Suck. Challenging moments can present opportunities, and Michael gave us reasons why we may want to rethink our content marketing strategy.

What follows is brief recap of our discussion. A big “thank you” to Michael and our #CMWorld Twitter chat community for an insightful hour.

Should you pivot your strategy in light of recent events?

A2: Most of our clients are “Staying the course” on evergreen content and SEO elements of #contentmarketing strategy. But also evaluating anything that isn’t valid or tone deaf #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A2: So most are not pivoting so much as adjusting to the context of the situation. We definitely did some pandemic related content at first but now seeing some return to normal ops. #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A2: we found in early days of stay-at-home orders, search patterns were off but not as much as holidays. Now returning to near normal. Buyers are still looking to get educated #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A2: This highly depends on what your business is and what content you’re putting out.

Nothing is concrete with content. You should always be evaluating and adjusting. The stuff you were going to write can always get pushed to another time if it’s still relevant. #CMWorld

— Hannah Munoz (@hannah_derrose) April 14, 2020

A2: No. There isn’t a pandemic playbook to follow. The key is to speak human, show sensitivity, and truly speak to your audience. #cmworld

— Kevin Lund (@KLundT3) April 14, 2020

A2: Certainly #COVID19 requires a review of your content strategy. It’s a radically new reality/context that may require adaptation, pivoting and/or the creation of new content. #CMWorld

— Shelly Lucas (@pisarose) April 14, 2020

Is there a framework to follow when refreshing your content marketing strategy? How do you know what needs to change? What should you prioritize?

A3: @mdeziel said it best!

Audit the plan, pause what isn’t relevant, create anything timely that isn’t overly opportunistic, be helpful, use empathy #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A3: also, content promotion: our clients are pulling paid Ads in favor of content promotion of their most helpful content. Great time to take advantage of low CPMs #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A3.

Firstly and foremost I’d be looking very carefully at anything that’s already been set up to be published on blogs or social media and just double check what’s being said.

Adjust accordingly if anything comes off as particularly tone-deaf.#CMWorld

— James Tennant (@JamesConverge) April 14, 2020

A3: It should all be based on your customers’ needs. How can you help them now? #CMWorld https://t.co/kvdvRqqXOL

— Jeremy Bednarski (@JeremyBednarski) April 14, 2020

A3. I don’t think there is really a frame-work since everyone is going to have to adjust differently. But, one think remains the same as with any content – listen and observe your audience. They will tell you what they need/want #CMWorld

— Stevie Howard (@MyMktingSense) April 14, 2020

Are there foundational elements that should always be found in your content marketing strategy?

A4: Yes! Always understand your visibility in search. Your engagement and conversion metrics. Understand the keywords your audience uses, the questions they are asking, the content they are engaging with. Plans must address reach, engage and convert measures #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A4: make the audience the hero of your story (as @annhandley taught me) and all will be fine #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A4: also creators – have a plan to celebrate your creators, sharers, customers, advocates, and influencers #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A4: There are elements that should always be consistent in any strategy (content strategy, marketing strategy) you create for your #brand, but they don’t have to be consistent with other brands. Be consistent within your brand to help your #audience know what to expect. #CMWorld

— Mike Myers 🤠 (@mikemyers614) April 14, 2020

A4: Foundational elements…

📌 Audience
📌 Channel
📌 Message/Content
📌 Voice for audience
📌 Goals
📌 KPIs
📌 Measurement#CMWorld

— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) April 14, 2020

A4: Purpose! #CMWorld pic.twitter.com/5WUaKtY4DG

— Lane Anderson (@Lane_Anderson) April 14, 2020

Once you have redeveloped your strategy, what are your next steps? How do you move on to activate it?

A6: No content should be created without an activation plan. Search, social, paid, internal, influencer. Hollywood spends 50% on movie budgets on distribution I learned from @DrewDavisHere at my 2nd #CMWorld live event

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A6: And I go back to my earlier point on taking care of creators, sharers, influencers, etc. Spend as much time activating them. It’s our biggest growth area with clients #CMWorld

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) April 14, 2020

A6: Once you have a plan, delegate action steps to each team immediately. Get that shared calendar, cross team to do list, and future meetings on the radar. Great plans fail due to inaction and lack of direction. #CMWorld

— Rachel Wendte (@rkwendte) April 14, 2020

A6: I test everything so I do a sample rollout to see how it performs. It the sample rollout does well then I will keep doing it. It is all about receiving feedback. #CMWorld https://t.co/pb4IJct15b

— Carlarjenkins (@carlarjenkins) April 14, 2020

Ready to get started? Here are a few resources from Content Marketing Institute.

• How to Develop a Content Strategy: Start With These 3 Questions (Click here)
• 7 Steps to Create a Helpful Interim Content Marketing Strategy (Click here)
• The Evolution of an Award-Winning Content Marketing Strategy (Click here)

How has your strategy changed since the COVID-19 crisis started? Let us know.

For the next few months, CMI is making full-length Content Marketing World 2019 breakout sessions and keynotes available on our YouTube channel. No email. No fee. No strings attached. We hope this helps you as you revisit your content marketing strategy, hone your skills, and more.