Rage Against the Machine: Overcoming the Four Main Barriers to Content Strategy Success

Noz Urbina says many of his roles have been in large, regulated industries.

4 barriers are

Thinking like a publisher

Can't stand the word "publishing." Conjures old paradigm of few powerful who have the power of what's published. The model is outdated. Not how we interact with audiences today.

Today's content is multichannel. It's not only about pushing content into channels but about finding the right message for the right people. Like "omnichannel" better, a different mentality. Channels are what the customers want to do. Customers move fluently between channels. Channels can be more than the sum of their parts.

To overcome, think like a product manager. There's that "content as product" again. Use design thinking, journey maps, and holistic views.

Content is not king. It is currency. Only valuable when you can exchange content for something of value.

Hanging on to the past

The most dangerous phrase in the language is "we've always done it this way." Mentality holds back projects.

Don't just provide a training course. Provide a support program, the long game.

Working in silos

If you look too closely, you miss the big picture. Measure individual interactions, you miss the satisfaction from the journey.

Build cross-functional standards groups. Journey-based KPIs. What does success look like in each department, and are they pulling in the same direction? Build RACI charts.

Build a content strategy for your content strategy. Messaging architecture, editorial calendar, communications cadence, etc. Write stuff down, but concisely, in easily accessible places.

Death by tagging

Build meaningful models. The more structure and semantics in your original template, the less retrospective tagging is required. Without a good content model, reuse won't happen.

Natural language processing, the right tools, and a good taxonomy can scale tagging and personalization. Proper measurement requires consistent tagging.