How to plan publications effectively? Use the content collector matrix!
Invite someone to write a poem, and he won’t plot. Offer to write a haiku, and in five minutes you will get the first version! The reason is in restrictions and structures: people think in templates.
It’s a paradox, but creative people need rules and frameworks to create masterpieces. With content marketing it’s even worse: an employee working five days from 9 to 18 can’t constantly generate breakthrough content. But there is a way out! The Content Raven Matrix will help! Imagine that you are a product delivery service. The upper layer of the matrix can be a collection of recipes. And the collection of additional beats on types of content:
- temporary – action on mutton and recipe of dumplings from this meat;
- seasonal – summer discount on vinishko and recommendations on compatibility of wine and cheese;
- permanent – a selection of cheap and nourishing dishes for students.
“Evergreen” content at the medium level can be the story of a meat supplier about his enterprise or farm. At the latter level, in the same type of content, place a video or infographics of how to order and pay for products on the site.
Originally, the Raven-Matrix method was used for stringing and writing long texts (longrides), but in fact it is excellent for forming a content plan of any orientation. Blog, corporate news, social networks, video channel – any platform is suitable. Even stocks and sales can be planned using this template. The approach was formed based on the behavior of people in ordinary life. Shane Snow and Joe Lazauskas explain the authors of Storitelling on the Verge:
However, as people get to know each other and get closer, they open up to each other more and more. What we like and what we don’t like, where we like to spend time, which of the politicians we support and why, after all, you throw away a tea bag after the first brew, because you can brew a second time!
This is how the content collector matrix works:
- At the beginning of the relationship with the target audience, we talk about shared values and interests (the “What is of interest/bother” stage should not be confused with goals, it is not about sales growth).
- Then you can share success stories, expert opinions of company employees and the like (stage “Who are you”).
- Finally, it’s time to make a proposal and talk about your wonderful knee-jerk flashlights: “Remember when we discussed what time it was better to pick mushrooms? Put on our flashlight and you can pick mushrooms even at night. It’s only 99.99 for the rest of the week!”
The second dimension of the template is the content type. Temporary content has an expiration date: action, new products, changes in assortment, shop hours. Seasonal content also has an expiration date, but it can be reproduced every year. The article or mailing list “When to change rubber” can be restarted every spring and autumn if it is about car tires. But for a condom manufacturer or a condom seller such material will be evergreen content.
Breaking down content by expiration dates adds a planning element to the strategy. It’s easier to find the weak points. For example, you have only news, and in the search engine your content is not presented at all. So, it’s time to create a big structured article-vacuuming traffic. Or vice versa: you write too much on general topics, but do not share interesting events in the life of the brand. To sum up: the content collector matrix simplifies the work on content strategy and allows even a novice content marketer to quickly create a publication plan.
