Introducing the Content Marketing Team Matrix _ Econsultancy

27/8/2014 Introducing the Content Marketing Team Matrix | Econsultancy

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Introducing the Content Marketing Team Matrixby Chris Lake 27 August 2014 12:03 1 comment

A few months ago I created the Periodic Table of Content Marketing, to provide a handy and

hopefully helpful - cut-out-and-keep guide for content professionals.

The table was both practical and tactical, which resulted in more than tens of thousands of shares, and

hundreds of thousands of views. I remain humbled by its popularity, and the feedback Ive had since I

published it.

Since then Ive been asked many questions, of which two stand out:

1. Why does content strategy only have one element dedicated to it?

2. What kind of skills does a content team need?

To answer the first question, its simply that content strategy is such a big subject that it merits a table of its own, or something similar.

There is much to be said about audiences, legacy content, global vs local approaches to management, team workflow, brand guidelines,

and countless other important things. Watch this space.

The second question is one close to my heart.

Since 2006 Ive had the pleasure of assembling a marvellous team here at Econsultancy. We box well above our weight there are only six

of us on Team Content yet were averaging more than a million stories read a month. Not bad, for a niche blog.

But what would a content team look like if I were to assemble one from scratch today? What skills are required in 2014, in the

post-social, content marketing, mobile age? What is the perfect recipe for success?

Heres what I think (the royal) we need:

More visual design chops. Data visualisation FTW.

To doff our hats in the direction of Nate Silver / Freakonomics and get better at creating compelling stories out of facts and figures.

Data journalism wins too!

To fully understand what makes the audience tick.

To gather feedback and react to it. Promptly.

To dive headfirst into our analytics tools to make sense of what works, and what doesnt.

To constantly tweak our tactics.

Strong distribution processes.

Teams that support one another, and to work with other people across the business.

We also need technology platforms that support content teams, for content can only go so far.

I have tried to distil much of the above into a matrix, made up of 16 fast and loose roles. As a brief aside, Im a big believer in Reid

Hoffmans quote: If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.

With that in mind, here it is. I cobbled it together yesterday afternoon. As a first pass I think it works, but it probably needs to be finessed.

Click on the image for a bigger, clearer version.



Some explanatory notes:

1. Start reading from the top left ('Direction'), and then proceed clockwise. Broadly speaking, the cycle is along the lines of: Leadership

> Insight > Execution > Feedback. Test, refine, repeat!

2. I have been very liberal with regards to the naming of the roles. These are broad descriptions, rather than prescriptive job titles.

For example, you would probably want to replace Listener with Chief Listening Officer, or something similar. You could swap Chief

Content Officer for Content Director. Writer might be Blogger, or Journalist, or Reporter, or something else.

3. Skills matter more than the roles, per se. Multiskilled teams will cover off many of these 16 roles. Thats exactly the way it should be,

and it's how our small team operates. Writers with strong maths and design skills won't be short of work in the years to come.

4. There is a lot of flexibility and overlap in the various sections. Take the top right section: the analyst / researcher role might be a

content producer, or an internally-focused analyst. It depends on your needs as a business, and the approach you take.

5. Some roles such as copywriter are possibly AWOL. I think Writer covers that one, but there may be others that didnt make the

cut, or that I missed. Do shout up if you think others should be added (or roles replaced).

6. I have purposefully avoided certain roles, notably tech and HR, which I think are largely support roles that exist within other parts

of the organisation. I dont think these merit dedicated content roles for most businesses. If you hire a bunch of 'Content Technologists'

to sit on your content team then I suspect your tech is too complicated, or the skills on your team aren't developed enough.



The Cross-Channel Marketing Report 2013, carried out in

association with Responsys, contains a comprehensive analysis

of the use of online and offline marketing channels, integration of

display advertising and use of mobile for marketing.

The Sales Organization of the Future Report, free to registered

Econsultancy users, outlines how the confluence of economic

pressures, the mainstreaming of social media, mobile technology

and a general need to refocus on the customer will radically

change the sales landscape over the next 10 years.

This is a free 11-page briefing containing the latest market trends

and statistics relating to Facebook marketing. This document

contains an overview of market trends, tips for best practice, new

statistics and useful resources.

The Facebook for Businesses in the Middle East and North

Africa Best Practice Guide explores in detail country-specific

best practices for setting up and running a Facebook Business

page in the MENA region.

Does it make sense? Is this kind of structure an accurate reflection of whats needed? What would you change?

Do let me know what you think in the comments area below, or via Twitter.

PS - remember to book your place for the 2014 Festival of Marketing, which takes place in November. It is a two day celebration of the

modern marketing industry featuring speakers from brands including LEGO, Tesco, Barclays, FT.com and more. 5,000 of your peers

will be there.

Chris Lake is Director of Content at Econsultancy. Follow him on Twitter, Google+ or connect via Linkedin.

Topics: Content

Recommended research

Cross-Channel Marketing Report 2013

The Sales Organization of the Future

Facebook Marketing Trends Briefing

Facebook for Businesses in the Middle East and NorthAfrica



Add your own

Juan Pablo Vergara

Director of Digital

Channel Operations at

Suramericana

4:17PM on 27th August

2014

You didn't avoided tech nor HR. You simply gave them

another name such as "the engineer" who make things

happen (this sounds like tech to me) and "the boss" who

hire the team (this sounds like HR to me).

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Introducing the Content Marketing Team Matrix _ Econsultancy

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