Practical Guidance and Examples

Improve Content Strategy Effectiveness Improve Content Production Efficiency

How do I How do I know What is the What roles can I

develop an effective if I have an effective most efficient way create to support content production
content strategy? content strategy? to produce content? efficiency?

Establish Assess Use end-to-end Use specialized roles to improve visibility

key process for the presence project management and collaboration, facilitate prioritization,
steps and inputs and quality of the to eliminate silos and close skill gaps
core components and speed collaboration

Content Strategy Content Strategy Assessment End-to-End Content

Development Roadmap and Documentation Guide Project Managers

Develop content Benchmark

priorities based on business-relevant supporting materials End-to-End Content Role Showcase
audience needs with peer insight Project Teams

Audience-Focused Communications Leader Job Description

Content Strategy Survey Benchmarks (See Appendix) Library (See Appendix)

Audience Channel Guidance

Understanding Tool Framework

0 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
Communicators with a formal
content strategy report higher
Greater Confidence in Formal Strategy
levels of confidence in their content
strategy than communicators with Percentage of Communications Teams With Confidence Level Among Communicators
informal content strategies. Formal, Informal or No Content Strategy With Formal or Informal Content Strategies
• Nearly 90% of communicators Q: Does your Communications team have a content Q: How confident do you feel about the value
report having a formal or informal strategy? the Communications content strategy provides
content strategy. the organization overall?
• 93% of communicators with
a formal content strategy are 12% With a Formal Content Strategy
confident or somewhat confident No Content
With an Informal Content Strategy
in their content strategy, compared Strategy
to 56% of communicators with 40%
informal content strategies. Confident
26%
Somewhat 53%
Confident 30%
50% Neither Confident 3%
Formal nor Unconfident 35%
Content Somewhat 0%
Strategy Unconfident 4%
38%
Informal
Unconfident 3%
Content 4%
Strategy
0% 30% 60%
n = 60 communications leaders n = 53 communications leaders
Source: 2020 Gartner Communications Content Strategy Survey Source: 2020 Gartner Communications Content Strategy Survey

1 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
Our research team reviewed
content strategy documents to
Anatomizing the Content Strategy
better understand the structure
and core components of a Our Research Approach
documented content strategy.
• We found that while content Research Questions Qualitative Analysis
strategy documentation is highly
variable in design, composition,
• What do content strategies look like? We reviewed content strategy documents
and length, there are four
consistently featured essential • What do effective content strategies include? from a range of geographies and industries.
components. Source: Gartner

Key Finding
Variability in Content Strategy Essential Components of Content Strategy

Intent
Audiences
Statement

Measurement
Pillars
and Evaluation

While content strategy documentation is highly … we identified four essential

variable in design, composition, and length … components for any content strategy.

Source: Gartner

2 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
Content strategies have four key
components: intent statement(s),
Four Core Components
audiences, pillars, and measurement
and evaluation plans. Anatomy of a Content Strategy
• Additional supplementary material
may be documented with the Core Components
content strategy to provide
guidance on operationalization.
Measurement
Intent Statement(s) Audiences Pillars
and Evaluation

High-level statements that The key internal and/or The ideas, themes The plan for qualitatively
summarize the overall external audiences that or topics that govern and quantitatively
objectives of the content content is targeted produced content. assessing the success
strategy. toward. of the content strategy.

Supplementary Material
The guidelines that facilitate the operationalization
of the content strategy (e.g., channel strategy,
editorial calendar, intake forms, etc.)

Source: Gartner

3 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
Intent statements summarize
the overall objectives of the
Summarizing With Intent Statements
content strategy.
• Progressive teams write • Benefit of Component: Summarizes the overall objectives for the content strategy.
intent statements about a specific • Benefit of Progressive Approach: Having an intent targeted toward a narrow business goal provides
business goal, allowing the team focus for the team’s energy and resources and reinforces the business value of the content strategy.
to focus on a concrete objective.
• Writing intent statements
to include intermediate Comparison of Common and Progressive Content Strategy Intent Statements
audience behaviors creates
Illustrative Example From a Fictional Package Delivery Company
a clear connection between
content and the business goal,
reinforcing to team members
and business partners alike Common Progressive
the value of investing in and
adhering to a content strategy. Our content advances our brand as the leading Our content assures customers that they are living
package delivery company in North America by up to their sustainability ideals by shipping with us,
highlighting our purpose, values, culture, strategy and making us a carrier of choice and contributing to
mission to internal and external audiences. our company’s overall expansion plan.

The business goal is too broad to enable Narrowly-defined business goal that can be achieved
message prioritization by creating content for one audience

No clear connection between the type of content Intermediate audience behaviors create a connection
produced and the business goal Communications between the content and the specific business goal
wants to drive
Source: Gartner

4 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
Audiences define the target
of Communications’ content efforts
Targeting With Audiences
• Progressive teams focus
on the few key audiences • Benefit of Component: Defines the target of content efforts.
relevant to a specific business • Benefit of Progressive Approach: Focusing on audiences relevant to a narrow business goal
goal, and document in detail their creates deeper audience understanding, improving messaging and business partner consultation.
perceptions, interests and needs.

Comparison of Common and Progressive Content Strategy Audience Sections

Illustrative Example From a Fictional Package Delivery Company

Common Progressive

Corporate Shipping Clients Retail Shipping Customers Environmentally-Conscious Customers

Frontline Employees Corporate Employees • Curious, self-aware individuals who connect

individual consumption with environmental impact
• High level of interest in alternative transportation
Thought Leaders Investors technologies

No audiences have been prioritized or deprioritized Prioritized audiences all have a direct relationship
to the content strategy’s stated intent(s)

Understood solely by their relationship to the company Understood by their perceptions, interests and needs
Source: Gartner

5 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
Communications uses pillars
to organize and plan content.
Planning With Pillars
• Progressive teams define
pillars as a way for unique • Benefit of Component: Establishes the structure for organizing and planning proactive and reactive content.
company expertise to fulfill • Benefit of Progressive Approach: Defining pillars that address business-relevant audience needs in a
an audience need. differentiated way enables prioritization of content most likely to create audience, and ultimately business, value.
• Progressively-documented
pillars are better able to
determine and shape key Comparison of Common and Progressive Content Strategy Pillars Sections
initiatives and messages.
Illustrative Example From a Fictional Package Delivery Company

Common Progressive

Community Innovation Helping You Ship Sustainably Delivering a Greener Future

• Philanthropy • Security
• Day of Service • Artificial Intelligence Content that makes consumers Content that makes consumers
• Drones feel they have control over feel that choosing us aligns with
packaging waste their self-image
Operations People • Low-emission drones
• Optimal packaging practices
• New facilities, • Employee recognition • Planning routes with AI
• Recycling and upcycling
stores or fleets • Day in the Life packaging • Partnering with environmental
agencies

Generic topics could apply to any company Reflects the company’s unique expertise to fulfill certain
audience needs

Categorizes every piece of content Determines the key initiatives and messages that
Communications produces Communications will produce content about
Source: Gartner

6 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
Communications uses measurement
and evaluation to establish how the
Improving With Measurement and Evaluation
content strategy will be tracked and
assessed. • Benefit of Component: Establishes how the content strategy will be measured and evaluated for success.
• Progressive teams track both • Benefit of Progressive Approach: Tracking and comparing content engagement and impact helps prove content
content engagement and content strategy successes and pinpoint areas for revision.
impact and establish a formal set
of guidelines for reviewing and
assessing the content strategy’s
effectiveness. Comparison of Common and Progressive Content Strategy Measurement and Evaluation Sections
Illustrative Example From a Fictional Package Delivery Company

Common Progressive
Measuring Content Production
Measuring Content Production
• Amount of strategic content produced
• Amount of strategic
Measuring Contentcontent
Impactproduced
• Percent of team resources used for strategic content
• Percent of team resources used for strategic content
Measuring Content Engagement • Number of inquiries about biodegradable packaging
Measuring Content Engagement
• Number of views, likes, comments, shares, etc. Timelineoffor Evaluating Strategy shares, etc.
• Number views, likes, comments,
• Tactics and pillars to be evaluated based on the
release of the quarterly behavioral metric dashboard

Only tracks content production and audience Tracks the impact of content on audience behaviors
engagement with content along with content production and engagement

No guidelines for evaluating content strategy Evaluation guidelines include both a time frame
for review as well as the basis upon which strategy
will be scored
Source: Gartner

7 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1
This rubric helps you evaluate the
presence and quality of the four core
Assess Your Content Strategy
components of a content strategy.
Content Strategy Assessment Rubric

Component Red Flags Litmus Test

The business goal covers a wide breadth Is our business goal narrow enough so that we
High level of audiences and behaviors. can name the specific audiences that contribute
statements that We have more than three intent statements. to it most?
Intent summarize the
Statement(s) overall objectives Do the intent statement(s) establish a link
of the content It’s not clear how the content we plan on between the value our content provides the
strategy. producing will affect the business goal. audience, the desired audience behavior, and the
ultimate business impact?
The key internal It is difficult to name an audience that has been Have we deprioritized any audiences?
and/or external excluded. Do we clearly signal our prioritized audience(s)?
Audiences audiences that
content is Audience groups are identified solely Have we captured what we know about the
targeted toward. by their relationship to the company. audience's perceptions, interests, and/or needs?

Pillars could feasibly be used by any organization

within our industry. Do our pillars reflect our unique expertise
The ideas, Pillars exactly reflect components of our and our value proposition to audiences?
themes or topics organizational strategy or identity.
Pillars
that govern Do our pillars provide the framework for
produced content. Pillars categorize every piece of content campaigning key initiatives and messages?
we produce. Can we use our pillars to filter other content
requests?

The plan for Tracked metrics focus only on audience Have we documented how we will measure
qualitatively and consumption of and engagement with content. audience behavior change?
Measurement quantitatively Do we have a plan for when and how
and Evaluation assessing the Guidelines for revising the content strategy to update and revise our content strategy?
success of the are vague or not present. Do we know what success looks like?
content strategy. Do we know what failure looks like?

Source: Gartner

8 © 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 723460_MTG1