They say whiskey starts arguments, not because people drink too much of it, but because they can’t agree on what it is. Is bourbon a whiskey? Is Scotch a whiskey? Is whisky whiskey? Content strategists have their own definitions of content strategy too.
Content strategy crosses industries and disciplines, and means different things to different people. Some people have content strategist titles but aren’t doing content strategy.
The scope of content strategy can vary from optimizing microcopy for small screens to enterprise or government-level initiatives.
Most definitions agree that content strategy includes ensuring that every content unit has a strategy behind it. Every image, every word, every part number, every thing must have a purpose. But purpose is not enough. Graffiti on a train is content that has a purpose.
A complete definition includes cost.
Content strategy ensures that an organization creates and manages purpose-driven content as cost effectively as possible.
Reducing the cost to create content is not necessarily a goal. The goal is to create content that maximizes profit for the company. The closer content strategy is aligned at the enterprise level, the more cost-effective the strategy can be.
Creating content for $250,000 that reduces call center costs by $2,000,000 per year is a good content strategy. A strategy that creates that same content, in more langauges, for $100,000 is even better. And so on.
Content strategy initiatives often involve creating less content. Multiple teams creating similar content is a common issue.
External content strategist are often a catalyst for companies improve their content management processes.