How to use the Periodic Table of Content Marketing

How to use the Periodic Table of Content Marketing

If you click the image a large screenshot should appear. I hope it is all reasonably self-explanatory. There are eight areas that I have focused on, as follows:

Strategy

The fundamental key to success. Planning and focus is essential. You need a clear strategy, mapped to your long-term business goals. 

Format

Content comes in many different shapes and sizes. Note that you can use multiple formats for a single piece of content. Slice and dice! Right now, I’m writing a blog post to support a visualisation. Maybe I’ll produce a video or slideshow too.

Content Type

These are based on the common types of content that work well for our business. Many of them will work well for your brand too. Sometimes you’ll use multiple content types for a single piece of content. You could file this periodic table under a few different types.

Platform

These are content distribution platforms. You might own some of these (e.g. #59, your website). Others are social sites (your own, your network, third parties). All of these help spread the word about your content. 

Metrics

These help you to measure the performance of your content. For the purposes of brevity, I have largely grouped these metrics together (e.g. ‘acquisition metrics’). 

Goals

All content should support your primary business goals, whether that’s to generate lots of traffic, or to sell more, or to increase brand awareness. Laser-guided content will tick a few of these boxes.  

Sharing Triggers

This is largely inspired by Unruly Media’s triggers for sharing content. Think about the emotional drivers behind sharing, and make sure the content you create makes people feel something. 

Checklist

I will probably edit this post at least 10 times after publishing it, and no doubt the periodic table will need a tweak here or there. Errors need to be fixed, and all content should be properly optimised (for search, for social, and to support your business goals). Be diligent!

A few footnotes…

• I have largely numbered the table vertically, rather than horizontally, as it makes more sense to me to do it that way.
• There may be a little duplication here and there. Forgive me.
• I haven’t included certain things, such as podcasts, pretty much because I don’t use them. They may be valuable for your business, so by all means add them (I’ve left a little space here and there).
• I have included the likes of Hacker News because they appeal to our business. You may have your own alternatives.
• Some elements could live in multiple categories. 
• I designed this in Excel the day after a wine tasting event, so it is a little bit lo-fi. If there is any demand for wall charts or mouse mats then I shall hire a designer to polish it up.