Today, I co-lead a Content Marketing for Non-profits and Associations workshop with Steve Drake, Becky Rasmussen and Kevin Sparkman, at Content Marketing World, in Columbus, OH.
I have the privilege of giving the broad overview presentation about Content Marketing in the opening session of the workshop.
And part of my presentation is how, through Content Marketing Strategy, you “find your center” in the fast moving, multiplatform, ever-changing world of marketing communications today.
For the 2nd time (I gave the same presentation in Seattle last week to the ECO Net Summit), I’m going to contextualize Content Marketing Strategy in terms of VUCA.
VUCA is an acronym I’ve learned from Seattle-area leadership consultants Don Johnston and Cynthia Weeks, of Parallax Consulting. Its origins are from the US Army War College, and it stands for:
V = Volatility
U = Uncertainty
C = Complexity
A = Ambiguity
According to the Wikipedia definition “VUCA is a practical code for awareness and readiness” that contributes to preparedness, anticipation, evolution and intervention.
What’s the relevance to Content Marketing in general, and Content Strategy, specifically?
I believe that there is nothing more VOLATILE, UNCERTAIN, COMPLEX and AMBIGUOUS than the always on, multiplatform, social media, “consumer in charge of the message” environment that we live in today.
In fact, we see a lot of random acts of marketing, as marketers and their organizations rush from one emerging social network to the next (where was Pinterest a year ago, for example) or from one platform to the next.
Based on conversations I have, from prospects to clients to people I meet at conferences, I believe this leaves the average marketing communications professional feeling confused, overwhelmed and ineffective in their jobs.
In the business leadership world, a response to VUCA has been the development of VUCA Prime. VUCA Prime, originated by leadership consultant Bob Johansen through his work with military, corporate, non-profit and government clients, stands for:
V = Vision
U = Understanding
C = Clarity
A = Agility
Facing the VUCA influences on marketing with a VUCA Prime response places emphasis on visioning future desired outcomes, understanding the constantly changing context within which that visioning exists, having the clarity to make sense of it all and the agility to respond.
And, lo and behold, this is exactly what Content Marketing Strategy provides us.
This means that content marketers who recognize and understand the VUCA world we operate within can – like military and business leaders – be prepared and resolved through a strategic content agenda.
It’s through the strategic content agenda that organizations can “find their center” in response to VUCA influences on channels, audiences, etc. in order to consistently achieve favorable desired outcomes with intent, rather than through random acts of marketing.
I hope that everybody at Content Marketing World 2012 has a great experience, and that this little discussion about VUCA helps place into context why Content Marketing Strategy is such an important facet of modern communications.
Nicely framed connection, Russell, between VUCA and Content Marketing/Content Strategy. As you say, the challenge is to find ways to move forward in the midst of feeling “confused, overwhelmed and ineffective …”
The ongoing challenge is the continuing lack of predictability in our VUCA environment. What we need to acknowledge and accept is that we will lose our center – over and over again. And we will have to move forward without being sure. In order to do that, we need actionable responses to the changes coming at us. In this marketing context, we need ways for leaders and organizations to, as you say, “find their center” through the strategic content agenda – over and over again.
Part of finding our center is having an actionable vision based on our own Content Strategy. We need a commitment to where we want to be, while being flexible about how we get there. The Content Strategy you are helping us create for our own company, Parallax Consulting, is getting us closer to our vision in a way that narrows and prioritizes next steps. This is very helpful, since the alternative is an almost incapacitating number of possibilities.
Part of making sure the actions we take in support of our strategic vision remain relevant requires us to be alert to “weak signals.” Weak signals are the early indicators of patterns and meaning in the midst of the “noise” created by the huge amount of data available to us.
What I’ve learned from you is that in the marketing world this huge amount of available data shows up like this:
– a nearly endless roll out of ways to reach audiences
(social media platforms, mobile devices, strategies),
– plus all the ways businesses have to track that,
– plus all the ways they have to track what their competitors
may be doing on those platforms and devices,
– plus the incredible number of tools being developed to
help marketers manage all of this,
– and, it’s changing all the time …
So, how do we narrow this down to something manageable, while also ensuring we’re on board with the platforms, devices and tools that will become tomorrow’s standard? How do we make sure we’re both sending and receiving relevant information – that we’re prepared for what’s coming instead of only focusing on what we’ve always done? This is where a subject matter expert is helpful – in this case you with your Content Marketing expertise – helping us filter, track, prioritize – over and over again.