The Inside Scoop on Content Marketing Strategy (the Book and the Practice)

We have a news scoop this week.

A new book launches Wednesday – Content Marketing Strategy – that looks at the title subject and what it’s really like to make it a core business of your overall marketing and business strategy.

And the author? CMI’s chief strategy advisor Robert Rose. (Yes, this scoop was rather easy to get.)

Does the world really need another book about content marketing? It certainly needs this one. Sure, we’re biased, but Robert explains why in this week’s CMI News video. Watch it below, or keep reading for the highlights:

True, the marketplace has a lot of books in the marketplace covering content marketing. Robert’s written three of them – two with CMI founder Joe Pulizzi.  

“So much of what is written about content marketing strategy – including what I most often talk about – focuses on either the content or the marketing. I wanted to write what I’ve learned over the last 10 years about the strategy,” Robert says.

Evolution of strategy

Around 2008, Robert and Joe began working on the challenge of managing content marketing. They published a book with that title in 2011. “We always felt like the strategy of content marketing would become a set of activities – not just a format or about the content itself,” Robert explains.

“Over the last decade, I’ve learned so much from so many practitioners that I wanted to write a book about how you manage content marketing strategically. So, yes, it’s an old, new story,” he says.

Even in 2023, few companies have a content marketing strategy completely figured out. Some do, and we talk about them a lot. Cleveland Clinic, Red Bull, Arrow Electronics, HubSpot, Salesforce, and REI purposely devised content marketing strategies meant to differentiate. They have consciously designed, implemented, and measured a content marketing approach based on learned best practices. They are succeeding.

But others, such as Amazon, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Nike, and LEGO, backed into an intelligent content marketing strategy. They have built brand and marketing programs around the idea of developing valuable content and operating as a media company. However, most of these companies wouldn’t consciously acknowledge they built a content marketing strategy.

If asked, these companies would say that acquiring or launching a media company operation was just a smart business strategy to diversify their ability to consistently reach their consumers.

They’re right, of course. They haven’t read any of the books or been influenced by the Content Marketing Institute. They might not even recognize they’re taking a unique approach to content marketing. And they are succeeding.

Deliberate and accidental success

 “As content marketing has grown as a practice both consciously and unconsciously, I’ve observed both types of companies over the years,” Robert says.

What are the commonalities? What are the best practices? What activities do these companies do so differently that provide a long-term competitive advantage?

That’s what Robert covers in his new book. It’s a geeky book filled with things like processes, governance, roles, responsibilities, and measurement plans.

It’s also more than a book. Robert launched a content hub of the same name. At www.ContentMarketingStrategy.com, you can consume additional resources, join a community, access one-on-one coaching for your challenges, and sign up for ongoing education.

If you’re at Content Marketing World next week, you can say hi to the author (and all the rest of us who haven’t written a book.) We’d love to meet you. If you’re unable to make it, we’ll still meet you next week in this same spot.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

• 5 Strategic Frameworks To Take the Guesswork Out of Content Planning
• Build a Sustainable Content Practice With This 5-Point Blueprint
• Mnemonic Content Strategy Framework Can Spark Conversations [Rose-Colored Glasses]

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute