Content strategy in phases

You’ve identified a need for a content strategy project, but you have limited resources available. How can you get enough funding to complete the project? And how do you move the project forward?

Taking a phased approach can enable you to start your content strategy project with limited resources.

First phase: Discovery

Regardless of your requirements, the first thing you need to do when starting a content strategy project is to clarify the problems you are trying to solve. Completing a discovery project is one way to do this and is the first phase we recommend.

During discovery, you clarify the problems you are trying to solve, identify any gaps, pinpoint organizational needs and requirements, and start building a roadmap. The investment in discovery work means a much smoother project implementation.

Getting funding approved

The price tag for content strategy projects, especially at the enterprise level, can be steep. When you pitch to upper management, it can be challenging to get funding approved without having any results or return on investment (ROI) to show yet.

Break your project into phases to help get funding approval. This approach gives your management a way to spread out the cost. Project phases also give management an opportunity to see progress before approving additional funding.

If you need to show results early in the project, consider a proof of concept to show project feasibility and ROI.

Staying on track

Enterprise-level projects often take a year or more to complete. Your day one estimate will not be accurate. You may run into obstacles you didn’t expect or identify a new requirement you weren’t aware of. Project phases allow you to refine your plans as you move forward.

Additionally, project phases give you a more reasonable set of goals. For each phase, you have an end goal. Working toward a goal during each phase helps you stay on track and keeps your project moving forward. Without phases, the project can become an amorphous blob.

Every organization has unique requirements and resources. The phases in your project should reflect your needs, deadlines, etc.

If you want to get started with a phased content strategy project, contact us.