How is this going to work?
...you may or may not be asking! I’ve broken this down into five broad stages. These are an outline of the steps that I will follow to craft you the content you desire. Of course, if you have a different way of doing things or have a particular requirement then I’m all ears. Remember, the best outcome is one that we’ve both contributed to.
Process
Discover
Let’s talk! We’ll have an initial conversation to work out your short and long term goals, and from there create a solid brief encapsulating the topic, tone, intended audience, channels, promotion, and metrics for success. At this stage, I’ll be looking to find the ‘why’ to answer the ‘so what?’ question. Also consider what your audience connects with, and how can we make the most of that opportunity?
It could be that you have a clear idea of what you want in mind, or you have a rough idea but not sure how best to execute - that’s fine! I’ll fit in with you how you need me to. My job here is to dig for the storyline and bring your vision to life, so get ready for me to ask a lot of questions!
Remember, content goals won’t always directly align with your business goals so let’s work together to make sure expectations are CLEAR and we’re set up for success.
Research
The deep dive. This can be either interviewing relevant stakeholders - depending on the type of content - or conducting my own research into the topic. I’m really keen to understand the ‘why’ behind something; its reason to be, its importance, what part it plays in the bigger picture.This is also the time when other ideas to further develop your content might arise!
Plan
I will use my research to create an outline of the piece, which I will send to you to make sure I’ve covered everything required. Please do bear in mind at this point that as the piece evolves, headings and structure may change - but the main ideas and points in the plan will stay the same. If you trust me and don’t need to check the outline then great! I’ll crack on with creating :)
Write
…where the magic happens! Using the plan and brief, I’ll write the piece of content. Simple as.
Take a look at the types of content I cover.
Review
During the discovery stage, we will agree who the content reviewers will be. With that in mind, once I’m happy with the initial draft of the piece I will send it over to the reviewers. If you have some changes, not an issue. Let me know and I’ll adapt the piece in line with your feedback. The quicker you’re able to review the piece and send feedback (or sign off!), the sooner you can get the piece out to the world and get your content engine MOVING!
