Having a Content Marketing Mission Statement is Your Key to Success

In deciding your content, one essential ingredient can make a big difference. This particular thing matters so much that it could decide the fate of your content marketing strategy. It is not a secret or something that is so trivial. In fact, you know that it exists. The problem is that often it’s neglected or just absent along the course of your content creation process. So what is this big thing? Is it crucial and does it guarantee success? Indeed, it is nothing new. The thing is content marketing mission, and it is the key to success.

What is a Content Marketing Mission?

A content marketing mission is a statement that serves as the guiding compass to which direction your content must move. It provides you the defining elements of every piece that you should create. Here’s a perfect example to help you understand better.

“WebMD – Better information. Better health.”

WebMD.com is one of the leading providers of health-related content on the web. It’s authoritative in the health niche and is frequently cited by various organizations and individuals. How did they achieve this famed status? Simple, they worked and developed their content with complete alignment to their content marketing mission. “Better information, Better health” sounds so straightforward and plainly understandable. What we know from this is that WebMD provides “better information,” thus, it helps the reader achieve “better health.”

One thing about having a content marketing mission is that it’s effective. It provides your content creators and your editorial team with an excellent framework about which articles the need to share, which videos they have to create and what content type is best for delivering your message. While creating content when having a content marketing mission is easy, crafting the best mission statement requires some quality research and excellent decision making. The key to arriving at the right one is to understand what makes a good content marketing mission.

Anatomy of a Good Mission Statement

An effective mission statement requires three key elements: Audience, Deliverable, and Outcome. Who would you want to talk through your content? What are you providing them? Lastly, what will they get once they have it? Try to come up with the answers to these three questions and you ‘ll be able to generate a sound and dynamic content marketing mission.

In determining your audience, you have to keep in mind that you must reach the right prospects. If you embrace a wider and more diverse audience, there’s the tendency of making your content bland and less appealing. The cause of this is because most of your audience is usually looking for something that makes them feel special. On the contrary, going too narrow and selecting a very specific and limited audience could be ineffective as it will render your content useless or unappealing to the majority. The catch here is to find the right fit for your content. Surely, you don’t need to embrace everyone, but you must also remember that you have to maximize your reach to boost the potential of your content marketing strategy.

The second element of a content marketing mission is your deliverables. You need to state explicitly in your mission statement what you want to offer to your clients. Unlike your company’s mission, a content marketing mission should be straightforward. It doesn’t require being catchy.  It exists not to communicate with your audience but with your marketing team. They must understand that you have to deliver a particular set of content and that such content needs to provide the expected business results for your company. What you get and what the audience gets from your content matters. It’s important that you are clear as possible in your mission statement.

The outcome, the third element of a marketing mission, refers to what transformation or results your content must convey. When you provide users content, you are expecting something in return. As mentioned in our article on valuable lessons in content marketing, you have to build and provide your audience with proper value before you can extract any value from them. It’s here that you must balance your content between being crafted to provide you something in return and being created to deliver value to your audience.

A SMART Way to Do It Right

Now that you are aware of what marketing mission is and what makes up one, you might be wondering how or where to start. There’s something that you can borrow from the world of business planning, more specifically, goal setting. The SMART strategy in formulating a goal is an overly exploited one. In fact, it has become a household term for most firms and businesses. SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely, is practically applicable in formulating and implementing your content marketing mission. Here are some key points.

• Specific: Your mission must clearly identify the three elements mentioned above

• Measurable: There must be a way for you to benchmark your content on your content marketing mission. Likewise, you must have a way to assess whether you are hitting your mission or not.

• Attainable: You don’t have to aim for the stars. Aim for the moon or something better that’s not beyond your reach. Your mission must be realistic.

• Relevant: The ultimate aim of content marketing is to connect with your audience. The best way to ensure this is to think of a mission that has a proven relevance to your clients, to your products and services, and to your company.

• Timely: The right time is the best time and the best time is the right time. Timing is critical, and should always reflect in your content marketing mission. Think of something that matters today, something that can contribute to your company’s growth and incorporate it in your mission.

Outsourcing and How It Contributes to Achieving Your Content Mission

When you have a proper mission in place, developing content is a breeze. The problem is that with a purpose in mind, you must invest more time in ensuring the quality of your content. This extra could drain your resources and eat up much of your day. As a company, especially if you are small enterprise or a start-up, this could lead to your downfall. How can you overcome this? The best thing to do is to outsource.

Outsourcing diversifies your content and provides it a fresher look. Moreover, if you get to tap a dedicated team who has the expertise in content marketing, you are providing a win-win solution for your audience and your company. The audience is satisfied and gets what they want. At the same time, you have the assurance that your business is represented well by your content which builds your brand’s reputation.

A Content Mission Statement Is Your Ultimate Ace

In this complex and perplexing world of content marketing, having a mission statement is your ultimate ace in the hole. It not only provides you with a framework on how you should convey your message, but it also gives you the ability to refine your content so that it’s effective. The truth is that most content marketing strategies are unsuccessful because they have failed to look at their content compass, or worse, have forgotten to create one in the first place. You don’t want this to happen to you, right? If you have doubts about your content or if you are looking for someone to help you craft a good content marketing mission, our team is just a click away. Remember, a good compass never leaves you astray.