The explosive might of the information age over the past two decades has transformed content into currency — enabling individuals, teams and organisations to transact subject matter across a plethora of platforms, both for self-expression and commercial means. Here’s how you can optimise thought leadership projects with tried and tested content strategy practices.

Since the beginning of the millennium, desktops, smartphones and social media have revolutionised our lives in profound ways while global internet usage rocketed from less than 7% in 2000 to over 60% in 2022. As the online world navigates to digital (and metaverse) realities, users are experimenting in a realm of endless capability — and with it, a soaring appetite is burgeoning to create unique content experiences.

Strategising about content may sound like consultant wizardry to the skeptical mind. And rightfully so, considering the sheer volume of grandiose statements littered across the world wide web, subjectively advocating a magical recipe for enhanced online clout and authority.

But fear not. Whether you’re a solo show, or a team of cross-functional collaborators, your intellectual property requires objective, pragmatic attention. It needs an analytical mindset in an otherwise highly subjective domain of public opinion. 

Bombarded with online clutter, creators and curators face a daunting challenge to evoke attention and retain usage among time-sensitive audiences with complex user needs.

The simple answer: prioritisation. To justify time invested and promotional spend, the content you iterate, curate or experientially activate must be grounded in measurable impact.

Much like intricate musical arrangements, content strategy covers multiple facets — from planning and development, to user experience, research, positioning, storytelling, and information architecture.

Most notably, it involves prioritising content and planning how information will be experienced from eclectic perspectives.

Without conceptual direction, content can manifest in much the same way as an unrehearsed, conductorless orchestra. And while improvisation entails a wonderful exchange of ambient articulation, this is neither the stage nor the context for it. The intricacy of your next initiative requires structured orchestration of various components along the content value chain.

Delivering engaging experiences that resonate with audiences are often hard earned and vastly underestimated. The research and planning that goes into content development or knowledge management efforts tend to involve intricate components to guide objectivity.

Below are some actionable truths for adopting a more strategic approach when creating or curating content in complex organisational dynamics with independent teams and variable user needs.

1. Prioritise advisory, curation & creation

Many teams, by design, lack crucial elements to enable optimal flow within an organisation. Moving from a responsive, transactional mode of operation to a target state that encompasses 3 enablers (advisory, curation, creation) will ensure your priorities drive business impact.

2. Enable flow of content

Expounding on the above target state can help further guide your content development priorities and drive business impact. The below strategic model enables internal stakeholders to engage more efficiently along the content value chain.

3. Codify the publication flow 

Large-scale organisations often fall short with a collaboration dynamic that tends to be vastly chaotic without orchestrated cadence (i.e. fragmented involvement across editorial, design and digital communications). 

For multinational entities, and given the diversity of their internal stakeholder matrices, the contributor model needs to become more inherently modular — allowing for independent projects to be rapidly prototyped and produced by applying sprint methodology. 

Formalising a publication practice with an independent content advisory function that advocates a clear-cut approach enables internal stakeholders across the organisation to engage more efficiently along the value chain with transparent access to:

• resources (primary data/reference materials/capability leads),
• editorial (content review),
• design (visualisation expertise/technology), and
• digital communications (social media, website, media outreach)

— ensuring optimal timing, reach and impact.

4. Data, story & design

Content production efforts that fail to incorporate these 3 elements can result in half-baked subject matter that delivers abstract value to the target audience and reputational risk to the author, brand or organisation. This framework should be top-of-mind for any internal publishing team when producing thought leadership.

Ask yourself these questions when developing insightful content:

• Data: Do you have actionable insights (primary/secondary research findings) that will inform the potential audience?
• Story: Are you taking your audience on a journey and turning ideas/insights into something they can absorb and act on? Are you answering the “so what” for your audience?
• Design: Are you applying the most impactful and efficient way to communicate your message, rather than simply distracting the audience with flashy imagery?

Source: Longitude