Have you started your 2022 content marketing planning? Before you start to put pen to paper for your plan, it’s crucial to audit your 2021 content and uplevel key insights that can boost your team’s success next year.
In this #ContentChat we explain how to lead an effective content audit with Amy Higgins (@AmyWHiggins), director of content strategy at Salesforce for its Service Cloud. Read the full recap below, where we explain how to structure a content audit, the channels to prioritize during an audit, how to turn your data into insights, and more.
Q1: Why is an annual content audit essential for effective content marketing planning?
A content audit should not be a one-and-done exercise. An annual audit is necessary to understand how to best allocate your marketing budget and resources to meet your community needs.
A1a: Auditing content should be part of your ongoing strategy in order to learn from the past and optimize for the future. #ContentChat https://t.co/wYG1afIO42
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) November 15, 2021
A1b: With annual audits, you can see a high level trend of what worked/didn’t work to help optimize and uncover gaps in your content. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/sKgx9YsuVr
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) November 15, 2021
A1a: In some organizations, a content audit is a one-time exercise. This is a HUGE missed opportunity!
If you are not auditing your content every year, and making budget and resource allocations without your content performance data in-hand, how can you budget? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) November 15, 2021
A1 It lets you know if your content is doing what it’s supposed to do!
It’s essential for producing content that works for both you and your audience, sends the right message, and is to get the brand seen
-Alyx#ContentChat https://t.co/QllSz1AjFn— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) November 15, 2021
A1: A content strategy is a living, breathing mechanism. It feeds off of results of previous content. Without a quarterly audit, a big org is wasting marketing spend for sure.
One must have their finger on the pulse of what is getting results.#ContentChat
— Brett Pucino 👻 🖊 (@BrettPucino) November 15, 2021
Most readily available marketing data is just one piece of the puzzle. An audit helps piece everything together.
A1b: Yes, you can look at your leads dashboard to see what content has contributed to your closed deals, but that’s only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to identifying your #contentstrategy for the coming year. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) November 15, 2021
usually leads is the end of the funnel. Don’t forget to audit how they got there in the beginning. #ContentChat
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) November 15, 2021
An audit can also uncover how your customer content needs have shifted over the last year.
Over the past 18 months, in particular, we’ve seen just how quickly customer content consumption and needs can shift—if you didn’t shift your content strategy appropriately, and quickly, you really left your community hanging. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) November 15, 2021
To reinforce this, @MarketingProfs and @CMIContent found that 55% of B2B content marketing strategies are now at least “moderately different” than pre-pandemic. Only 14% of teams have a strategy that is “not different at all.” https://t.co/Yz6UAK2W9T #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/oLL7U7dkIy
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) November 15, 2021