The document discusses developing a content strategy through conducting research on target audiences. It emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer needs and pain points when creating buyer personas and blueprints to guide content creation. Both online and offline methods for research are outlined, including surveys, interviews, databases and events. The results should be analyzed and incorporated into the overarching content strategy, marketing plan and guide production of content that meets audience needs.

1. Content Development
BEHIND THE STRATEGY

2. Marketing
Architecture
• Content development is not just about producing
blogs and advertisements for marketing.
• Content is a desire to share expertise with a
marketplace that does not have the skills to handle
their problems.
• A marketing plan does not make a strategy
• Real audiences bounce all over the internet to find
information they need quickly
• Technology is a beneficial tool for your marketing
department and not a curse.
• Buyer personas enables an execution of both
content doctrine and plan
• Research / Analysis / Experimentation / Testing /
Review / Publishing are the steps to developing
content.
Online marketing is a lot more than
just numbers, its about
understanding the needs of your
audience. It’s also about creating
the right content to help build trust
and gain listeners to your brand.

3. Real People Real
Problems
Consumers are real people, even if
they run a business. They need
answers quickly to solve their
issue. Knowing what they are
struggling with will help build trust
for your business.

4. Needs vs Wants
• Consumers need to feel comfortable
in their employment.
• Consumers may not have all the
answers, but they sure do need them
for their bosses
• Consumers need fast and reliable
sources of information
• Consumers needs various content
formats to digest on the go
• Consumers need to feel important to
a business
• Consumers want FREE stuff
• Consumers want to digest info on
their own time
• Consumers want to be understood
• Consumers want valuable
information first
• Consumers want options from free to
paid
• Consumers want their problems to
be smaller or to go away completely
without spending precious resources

5. Content Architecture
QUICK OVERVIEW OF A CONTENT STRATEGY

6. Content Blue
Prints
Before developing content, a
business will need to develop the
blue prints first. The blue print is
the strategy that governs the
marketing plan.

7. The Strategy (Master Blue Print)
• When it comes down to developing a strategy that works for a business, two things
are needed for success. The first one is determination to see it from vision to reality.
The second aspect is a strong desire to develop the strategy to stay focused on the
audience’s needs and not wants.
• The strategy will measure success, have goal setting, channel distribution, sales
integration and be willing to be audited as the time comes.
• The strategy has to be documented so that rules will not be broken and failures in
other areas can be traced back to the root. Keep a ready version on a central file that
is easily accessible. Keep the master version offline and off network completely.
• Intergrade your buyer personas into the framework so that your teams can create the
right content for the consumer. Focus on the pain points and easy to measure
objectives that includes marketing and sales or have one that is the primary element
for the content focus.

8. Developing your Buyer Profiles
• Create at least 3 profiles for the content strategy
• Have to be realistic, preferred to be based off real consumers
• Keep it simple as possible and organized by info value
• Know at least 6 pressure points aka pain points
• Know their browsing habits
• Know their technology uses (mobile phone, etc.)
• Fill out a basic demographics section

9. Marketing Plan (Slave Blue Print)
• The marketing plan is birthed after the strategy and it is the executable file. The plan
offers the teams means to develop timely content, but it is not the editorial calendar.
The plan offers value by being a guideline for content developers to create campaigns
and content.
• The plan of action usually is simple and easily documented. Consider that it ties in the
strategy with goals that are similar to the long term means. The marketing plan is the
short term version and often changes as the business flexes and shrinks accordingly
to the content.
• This is where the buyer persona profiles dip their toe into creating content. The
variables such as pain points, motivation and other factors. The MP should help drive
content production on the fact that there is need for fresh relevant content that a buyer
requires in their buyer cycle. This offers an advantage to making easy changes to the
plan than to the strategy, in case a researcher was wrong on a pain point.

10. Research 1.0
ONLINE OR OFFLINE DATA COLLECTION

11. The Framework
for Research
The right questions will be the framework
for defining your audiences needs and
desires. A small outline of questions should
be created, no more than 20 at worse and
no less than 6.There are two ways to get
the info you need, one is online and the
other is offline.

12. Research 1.0.1
ONLINE TECHNIQUES
• Social Engineering Techniques
• Networking Events online
• Survey’s with and without rewards
• Onsite survey's & questionnaires
• Follow ups for CSR /Info Drive
• Social Media Promos / combination
• Researching databases of known
clients
OFFLINE TECHNIQUES
• Conferences
• Business Card Exchanges
• Filling out questionnaires and surveys
• Trade shows
• Live face to face interviews
• Word of mouth
• Business meetings

13. Driving Responses Online
• Knowledge is power and without knowing what your audience needs. A business can
feel powerless to market correctly. A business can decide to collect their data online,
instead of going offline. As you saw in Research 1.0.1 the two different means to
collect raw data from a potential audience. It will take time for the right tools to come
into play to get the data, this is why some reward influence may be the ace that will
triumph in the end.
• By using the various tactics to get human responses to create a strategy, a business
can ensure its survival. At times it may be best to offer an incentive to collect such
data for internal use, the rewards themselves do not have to spoil a business. It
should be tempting enough for people to want to take action. This could be harder for
start ups, unless they have a following that is willing to invest themselves for the
reward.
• Besides hosting a questionnaire and survey on the website, there are other sites that
will host the data form for next to nothing. Google Analytics is a good way to collect
demographics for a website. This will also allow the webmaster to create conversion
goals within Google Analytics as the strategy is implemented.

14. Offline Data Drive
• Driving data to your marketers can take place in the offline world. Building
relationships at trade shows, conferences and through sharing business could mean a
new resource.
• The data collected from such sources can be entered into a CRM system for later use.
Permission marketing is more effective than interruption marketing. People want your
information as they progress. Creating lasting impressions in the world around you
through content can give your consumers a favorable feeling.
• Do not forget to use incentives to drive home vital data as you want to be able to
create masterful works. The data can be refined later as you find out what your
audience wants to hear. The data may change, this is why its important to follow up
with update your info so that your business retains its edge.
• This data has to be shared with your sales team, not matter who ever develops the
contacts first.

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