Organizing for Content:How Companies Conduct Content in Harmony

Sept 9, 2013

Rebecca LiebIndustry Analyst | @lieblink @altimetergroup

Photo Credit: Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Every brand is a publisher – there’s a need to “feed the beast” constantly, often in-real time

57%Percentage of companies that named Content Marketing as their top go-to-market strategy in 2013

Source: Altimeter Group. Social Business Survey, Q4 2012; n=130

“We’re not an editorial organization, but now we need to create content. We’re turning to our agency partners, but that’s not sufficient. How do we feed the beast, get the engagement for members, and make sense for the brand?”

Kelly ColbertStaff VP, Advertising and Social Media

Content is created in silos – resulting in duplication and inconsistent messaging across the organization

How Companies Organize for Content

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“We were not sharing, there was a lot of duplication. You'd have four teams building a very similar video.”

Marketing ExecutiveFortune 500 Company

Increasing numbers of channels and platforms demand new skills and cross-functional coordination – compounding the problem

Altimeter Group has identified the following six enterprise models for governing the orchestration of content within organizations, to ensure that content is created in harmony.

11

Content Center of Excellence

Who: A consortium of experts from a variety of organizational divisions

What: Provides leadership, evangelization, best practices, research, support, and/or training

Editorial Board or Content Council

Who: Content creators and/or marketing executives that meet frequently

What: Align content around an editorial calendar, plan workflow, coordinate initiatives, and share and repurpose assets

Examples: Intel, SAS, Dell

Content Lead

Who/What: Executive who leads content initiatives editorially and/or strategically, without cross departmental authority

Examples: Dell, Intel

Executive Steering Committee

Who: A cross-functional strategic group comprised of senior executive

What: Focused on gut checking and approving content from the perspective of product/subject matter expertise as well as marketing/creative

Examples: Dell

Cross-Functional Content Chief

Who: Executive with cross departmental authority and buy-in from senior management. Titles include: Chief Content Officer, Head of Digital Strategy

What: Set a global content strategy

Examples: Marketo

Content Department/Division

Who: In-house or agency

What: Delivers large scale content creation that’s often heavily technical, with high demands for mobile, video, and images

Examples: Marketo, Ford, Nissan, Amex Open

“Organizing for Content: Models to Incorporate Content Strategy and Content Marketing in the Enterprise”

Published April 26, 2013

Based on 78 interviews with brands, content service providers, and experts

Download at altimetergroup.com/research

Rebecca Liebrebecca@altimetergroup.co

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Q&ADownload at altimetergroup.com/research