Define your editorial strategy using the 5Ws
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 8:29 am
Marketing
March 6, 2024
Photo of Alexia Peytoureau sitting on a terrace defining an editorial strategy behind her computer.
Table of contents hide
1st W of the editorial strategy, the Why: why do you write?
2 2nd W, the Who: who do you write for?
3 3rd W, the what: what are you going to write about?
4 4th W of the editorial strategy, the malaysia whatsapp Where: where are you going to write?
5 5th W, the when: when are you going to publish?
6 Benefits of Content Marketing Strategy
7 Disadvantages of Inbound Marketing
8 How to measure the effectiveness of your editorial strategy?
“Creativity without strategy is called art. Creativity with strategy is called advertising.” Jeff Richards
Moving forward without an editorial strategy for your brand is like moving forward in a thick fog: you see nothing, have no reference points to rely on and you don't know where to go. You just take one step at a time and see what happens.
Admit that when you have a business, this is not the best solution if you want to gain notoriety, increase your sales, stand out from the competition and anticipate difficulties.
I need help with my editorial strategy!
Setting up a publishing strategy allows you to define your future actions in the short, medium and long term. You follow a specific objective and it is much more effective than posting articles on the fly on your blog or creating posts on social networks at random.
There’s no point in starting to produce editorial or visual content if you haven’t thought about your strategy. It’s the central pillar of your content marketing.
I suggest you use the 5W method , also widely used in web writing for editorial creation.
1st W of the editorial strategy, the Why: why do you write?
You want to create content, ok, but to answer what is your objective? This is the first question to ask yourself to create relevant content that serves your business .
Do you want to create SEO content primarily to improve your natural referencing ? Do you want to gain notoriety ? Do you want your company to appear as an expert in its sector? Do you want to create a community around your brand?
Choose just one: this is the goal that will help you define which tools you will use to develop content and which editorial line you will follow.
2nd W, the Who: who do you write for?
Step two: define who you are addressing. Who is your target? And to go further, who is your persona ?
Writing content that speaks to everyone is the best way to never stand out and to be drowned in the crowd. Normally, your persona is already defined, from the beginning of your business but if this is not the case, it is time to seriously consider it.
Read also: How to determine your company values?
3rd W, the what: what are you going to write about?
Are you going to write editorial content to give your opinion on a topic? Do you want to write product comparisons to help your customers make their choice? Do you want to give advice to your audience on your field of expertise?
Normally with the previous two steps you should already have an idea of what you are going to write.
However, don't hesitate to go further by looking for the most searched keywords in your field and the most typed queries by Internet users. This can give you content ideas for your editorial plan.
Also think about the type of content you want to create: visuals (images, videos), infographics, white papers, blog articles (long or short), podcasts, etc.
4th W of the editorial strategy, the Where: where are you going to write?
This is the logical next step depending on the type of content you want to create: where are you going to publish?
You usually have three possibilities that complement each other perfectly:
The blog: yours but also guest articles that you could write for other sites in order to improve your popularity ( netlinking strategy ).
Social networks: which ones are the most suitable for you? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tik Tok…
The newsletter: you still need to have a well-filled mailing list!
5th W, the when: when are you going to publish?
At this stage of your inbound marketing (another name for the content strategy to attract prospects to you), you can think about the editorial planning or calendar .
Start by defining the frequency with which you will publish on each channel (blog, social networks, newsletter).
Then organize your content ideas over three to six months to get a head start.
Your free editorial calendar template!
Read also: How to find article ideas?
The benefits of content marketing strategy
You follow a guideline . Each of your marketing actions, each web content written responds to a precise objective and is useful to your business.
Strategy allows you to plan , organize , and get ahead of your content creation so you're never caught off guard and publish regularly.
Regular publication on your site improves your natural referencing and helps to build loyalty among your prospects.
You think about your targets' journey . A prospect consults at least 5 contents of a company before considering the slightest action. With a good strategy , you can improve your conversion by offering content responding to each stage (discovery, evaluation, decision) and by guiding the visitor.
You create trust : regular, free quality content establishes a relationship of trust between you and your prospect.
And it works: you will increase your website traffic, your visibility on search engines and social networks and with all this your conversions and your sales!
The Disadvantages of Inbound Marketing
It takes time! Your efforts will only be visible after a few weeks or even months.
Time is money: it is better to surround yourself with competent professionals (SEO, web editor, community manager) and of course, you have to devote a certain budget to it.
You have to be rigorous and constant .
Content production must be up to standard: quality to meet the needs of prospects is essential, but also work on SEO (for blog articles, site pages or even product sheets).
How to measure the effectiveness of your editorial strategy?
I told you it worked, but you don't have to take my word for it (and you shouldn't!). It is possible to measure the effectiveness of your strategy and adjust the relevance of content as needed using Google Analytics .
Set goals and check the conversion rate : “newsletter subscription”, “white paper download” …
Check the number of page views and the most read articles ,
Take an interest in the keywords typed into Google that led to your articles,
Look at where your visits come from : social networks, organic traffic (coming from a click from search results).
On social media, you can look at the number of comments , shares , and interactions with media content to adjust what you post.
March 6, 2024
Photo of Alexia Peytoureau sitting on a terrace defining an editorial strategy behind her computer.
Table of contents hide
1st W of the editorial strategy, the Why: why do you write?
2 2nd W, the Who: who do you write for?
3 3rd W, the what: what are you going to write about?
4 4th W of the editorial strategy, the malaysia whatsapp Where: where are you going to write?
5 5th W, the when: when are you going to publish?
6 Benefits of Content Marketing Strategy
7 Disadvantages of Inbound Marketing
8 How to measure the effectiveness of your editorial strategy?
“Creativity without strategy is called art. Creativity with strategy is called advertising.” Jeff Richards
Moving forward without an editorial strategy for your brand is like moving forward in a thick fog: you see nothing, have no reference points to rely on and you don't know where to go. You just take one step at a time and see what happens.
Admit that when you have a business, this is not the best solution if you want to gain notoriety, increase your sales, stand out from the competition and anticipate difficulties.
I need help with my editorial strategy!
Setting up a publishing strategy allows you to define your future actions in the short, medium and long term. You follow a specific objective and it is much more effective than posting articles on the fly on your blog or creating posts on social networks at random.
There’s no point in starting to produce editorial or visual content if you haven’t thought about your strategy. It’s the central pillar of your content marketing.
I suggest you use the 5W method , also widely used in web writing for editorial creation.
1st W of the editorial strategy, the Why: why do you write?
You want to create content, ok, but to answer what is your objective? This is the first question to ask yourself to create relevant content that serves your business .
Do you want to create SEO content primarily to improve your natural referencing ? Do you want to gain notoriety ? Do you want your company to appear as an expert in its sector? Do you want to create a community around your brand?
Choose just one: this is the goal that will help you define which tools you will use to develop content and which editorial line you will follow.
2nd W, the Who: who do you write for?
Step two: define who you are addressing. Who is your target? And to go further, who is your persona ?
Writing content that speaks to everyone is the best way to never stand out and to be drowned in the crowd. Normally, your persona is already defined, from the beginning of your business but if this is not the case, it is time to seriously consider it.
Read also: How to determine your company values?
3rd W, the what: what are you going to write about?
Are you going to write editorial content to give your opinion on a topic? Do you want to write product comparisons to help your customers make their choice? Do you want to give advice to your audience on your field of expertise?
Normally with the previous two steps you should already have an idea of what you are going to write.
However, don't hesitate to go further by looking for the most searched keywords in your field and the most typed queries by Internet users. This can give you content ideas for your editorial plan.
Also think about the type of content you want to create: visuals (images, videos), infographics, white papers, blog articles (long or short), podcasts, etc.
4th W of the editorial strategy, the Where: where are you going to write?
This is the logical next step depending on the type of content you want to create: where are you going to publish?
You usually have three possibilities that complement each other perfectly:
The blog: yours but also guest articles that you could write for other sites in order to improve your popularity ( netlinking strategy ).
Social networks: which ones are the most suitable for you? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tik Tok…
The newsletter: you still need to have a well-filled mailing list!
5th W, the when: when are you going to publish?
At this stage of your inbound marketing (another name for the content strategy to attract prospects to you), you can think about the editorial planning or calendar .
Start by defining the frequency with which you will publish on each channel (blog, social networks, newsletter).
Then organize your content ideas over three to six months to get a head start.
Your free editorial calendar template!
Read also: How to find article ideas?
The benefits of content marketing strategy
You follow a guideline . Each of your marketing actions, each web content written responds to a precise objective and is useful to your business.
Strategy allows you to plan , organize , and get ahead of your content creation so you're never caught off guard and publish regularly.
Regular publication on your site improves your natural referencing and helps to build loyalty among your prospects.
You think about your targets' journey . A prospect consults at least 5 contents of a company before considering the slightest action. With a good strategy , you can improve your conversion by offering content responding to each stage (discovery, evaluation, decision) and by guiding the visitor.
You create trust : regular, free quality content establishes a relationship of trust between you and your prospect.
And it works: you will increase your website traffic, your visibility on search engines and social networks and with all this your conversions and your sales!
The Disadvantages of Inbound Marketing
It takes time! Your efforts will only be visible after a few weeks or even months.
Time is money: it is better to surround yourself with competent professionals (SEO, web editor, community manager) and of course, you have to devote a certain budget to it.
You have to be rigorous and constant .
Content production must be up to standard: quality to meet the needs of prospects is essential, but also work on SEO (for blog articles, site pages or even product sheets).
How to measure the effectiveness of your editorial strategy?
I told you it worked, but you don't have to take my word for it (and you shouldn't!). It is possible to measure the effectiveness of your strategy and adjust the relevance of content as needed using Google Analytics .
Set goals and check the conversion rate : “newsletter subscription”, “white paper download” …
Check the number of page views and the most read articles ,
Take an interest in the keywords typed into Google that led to your articles,
Look at where your visits come from : social networks, organic traffic (coming from a click from search results).
On social media, you can look at the number of comments , shares , and interactions with media content to adjust what you post.