Science Story Being a successful influencer! Or: What is content strategy, actually?

Whether you are an influencer, involved in corporate communications, or a blogger, wasting your time with poor content is avoidable. A strategic approach to content is crucial for success. Content encompasses text, images, videos, design, structure, and metadata in web or print formats. Learn how our students apply their content strategy knowledge.

How Our Students Utilize Content Strategy for Businesses

In our part-time Master’s program “Content Strategy”, most classes are conducted online. Therefore, we have many international students working in various companies or self-employed. Our students tackle business challenges using content.

Exciting topics include:

• Developing communication strategies for small businesses like a yoga studio
• Creating content strategies for start-ups to effectively communicate and sell their products
• Building trust through content for NGOs like Caritas
• Optimizing online shops
• Improving content production processes and content management for time and cost savings

(Our master’s theses can be found here: https://epub.fh-joanneum.at/nav/classification/1959332 )

What is Content Strategy Exactly? 

I like to compare the components of a content strategy to a house.

The stable foundation for the strategy is formed by the needs of the target group, the company goals and the brand. The roof is the direction that connects everything, and decisions are made and measures developed in between. Controlling measures continuously and gives the structure stability, supports the direction and holds everything together.

Our students get to know all of these areas in more detail. And how to implement a content strategy. The international teachers who accompany them come from practice.

The base of the house

The stable foundation for the strategy consists of:

• Organizational goals
• Audience needs
• Brand, image, desired external perception

Where these three requirements overlap is where the relevant content that your audience enjoys reading or viewing lies. Therefore, analyze your audience carefully. A tip: If content does not meet these three areas, there is no need to create it. Save yourself the time; it will not benefit you.

An Example: Posting photos of cats or puppies on social media will likely generate high engagement as it appeals to the audience’s needs. However, do cats and puppies also support organizational goals and the brand? (Unless you are running a pet store).

The Walls

After establishing the foundation for the content strategy, the supporting walls of the house come into play:

• Content audit: qualitative and quantitative evaluation of existing content
• Content planning and production: With proper planning, production synergies can be utilized, and content can be upcycled or recycled (not everything needs to be newly produced, as you know from the audit).
• Content management: Who is responsible for what? When is content archived or deleted? What tools are helpful?
• Content distribution: Distributing content through channels your audience uses (TikTok or Facebook? Google search or social media?)

I find the content audit particularly valuable. How many pages does the website have? Are there headings everywhere, and how many images are there? Are the website’s contents up to date? Do they align with the brand? Are they helpful to the audience? You can do the same for social media. Evaluate the content you have and see what works well.

The Stability

The walls are held together by controlling. Using the right metrics, you can measure if you are on the right track to achieve your (organizational) goals.

The Roof

Strategy papers are often several pages long, and their contents are frequently unclear. A content strategy statement summarizes the key points in one to two sentences that everyone can remember to decide what content is needed.

Become Successful with Content!

Whether you want to work strategically, optimize processes, or launch as a social media star, a content strategy helps you keep important areas in focus for success.