{"id":1273,"date":"2017-05-18T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T15:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commarts.pleather.us\/2017\/05\/18\/how-to-build-an-agile-visual-content-strategy-in-7-steps\/"},"modified":"2017-05-18T15:03:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T15:03:00","slug":"how-to-build-an-agile-visual-content-strategy-in-7-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/2017\/05\/18\/how-to-build-an-agile-visual-content-strategy-in-7-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW TO BUILD AN AGILE VISUAL CONTENT STRATEGY IN 7 STEPS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This article originally appeared on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/how-to-craft-visual-content-strategy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Column Five<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to be more strategic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These might as well be trigger words. What does that phrase really mean? The subtext is often something like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cLet\u2019s slow down and not do anything and have several more meetings.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cCan one of you put in the hard work to figure out what being strategic actually means, then bring us some proposed frameworks for making a decision so we can scrutinize them from our armchairs?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Strategy is a good thing, but it can\u00a0be overwhelming. Where to start? What do you focus on? It always helps to create a shared definition of strategy\u2014and a framework to discuss it\u2014that is simple enough to understand without doing 10 years at a Big 4 consulting firm.<\/p>\n<p>There are many levels of strategy in an organization, both broad and niche. In this post, I\u2019m\u00a0focusing specifically on visual content marketing strategy, which is an important and growing subset of your overall content strategy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146245\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152813\/visual-content-strategy-8-1024x853.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"853\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><strong>THE KEY TO A STRONG VISUAL CONTENT STRATEGY<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Too often content marketers proceed without a strategy, or with an overly stringent strategy. When things don\u2019t work, they have to go back to square one to reassess the foundation of their strategy. This is painful because it often requires scrapping some good work in progress\u2014work that would be nice to complete but would ultimately distract from the larger prize.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t want to waste work. You can\u2019t afford to either. The right visual content strategy can prevent this. But what makes a good strategy?<\/p>\n<p>Several years ago, Shelly Bowen, Chief Content Strategist at <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/pybop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">Pybop<\/a>, articulated the definition of good content strategy to me as \u201ca solid foundation that gives you room to move.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is sound thinking to help you be more agile in your content marketing practice. However, agile doesn\u2019t mean \u201cwing it,\u201d just like doing foundational work and articulating a visual content strategy doesn\u2019t mean \u201cset everything in stone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We need to marry the two modes of thinking to create the right visual content strategy (aka structure) to guide intelligent experiments. For many, this is difficult.<\/p>\n<p>In his book, <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jascha-Kaykas-Wolff\/e\/B00MUAB6ZG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\"><i>Growing Up Fast: How New Agile Practices Can Move Marketing and Innovation Past the Old Business Stalemates<\/i><\/a>, Jascha Kaykas-Wolff identifies the \u201cpush and pull\u201d between the desire for stability vs. the need for change as the core challenge of not only content marketing but our entire universe.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146235\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152617\/how-to-craft-an-effective-visual-content-strategy-in-7-steps-2-1024x439.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"439\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jascha-Kaykas-Wolff\/e\/B00MUAB6ZG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The real key to creating a good visual content strategy is balancing complementary opposites. It\u2019s<em> not<\/em> about planning every action for the rest of your existence but rather putting in place a stronger decision-making framework to make choices for smarter experiments. Doing this well requires some thinking\u2014which we\u2019re here to help with.<\/p>\n<h4>THERE IS AN EASIER, LESS PAINFUL WAY TO APPROACH VISUAL CONTENT STRATEGY\u2014WITH THE RIGHT LENS.<\/h4>\n<p>After working on thousands of visual content projects with our team at Column Five and <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/visage.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">Visage<\/a> over most of the past decade, we\u2019ve identified the essential ingredients of a useful strategy.<\/p>\n<p>The framework outlined here is the result of a lot of complaining, giving up, trying again, questioning our team, then arriving back to square one with a refreshing but bewildering focus, yet again, on what is most essential. (In content and life, we are so often just beginning again.)<\/p>\n<p>This straightforward, step-by-step approach guides you through 7 sprints, which build on each other to form your visual content strategy foundation. Once completed, you can feel confident your content marketing will be on the right track. Ready?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146238\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152648\/visual-content-strategy-1-1024x404.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The first step in building your visual content strategy is understanding who you really are and what you\u2019re after\u2014your brand\u2019s true purpose. It sounds intense, but this is crucial.<\/p>\n<p>Repeat after me: \u201cMy purpose is not my measurable objective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of your organization is not just to double your business or increase leads by 10%. (We\u2019ll get to that.)<\/p>\n<p>Whether you are the CEO or starting out as a social media intern, your purpose lies in the answer to one very important question:\u00a0<strong>Why does your business exist?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If your organization vanished, what would be lost in the world? If your group achieves what you are building together, how will the world be different?<\/p>\n<h4><b>YES, IDENTIFYING\u00a0YOUR PURPOSE IS HARD WORK.<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>The reason it\u2019s hard is because of a little thing called financial reality, which beckons all of us to go back to doing \u201creal\u201d work. (Debbie, don\u2019t spend time on that vision board again, you quack! You need to be doing something real, like increasing landing page conversions by 6.3%.)<\/p>\n<p>We often resist the hard work of defining and strengthening our belief in the \u201c<a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">why?<\/a>\u201d of our organization because it feels like fake work; it doesn\u2019t have a concrete sense of being complete like other work tasks.<\/p>\n<p>But this exercise is important because your purpose works as a generator of creative electricity. It informs your culture, which powers your content creation efforts in other areas. (Download our e-books to learn more about how <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/visage.co\/content\/culture-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">culture marketing<\/a> can affect <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/visage.co\/culture-checkup-focus-content-creation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">content<\/a> and <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/contentmarketinginstitute.com\/2015\/07\/shape-your-brand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">how you shape your brand<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>In addition to helping you form a visual content strategy, taking the time to do the ethereal work that you and your colleagues at times might find worthless or ill-guided offers a major reward: You get to wake up in 5 years and reflect on your career without saying, \u201cWell, what the $*#&amp; was the point of all of that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once you start to assess what your purpose is and how it resonates with your team, you will fall into one of three categories:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Your purpose is well-defined and exciting.<\/li>\n<li>It doesn\u2019t exist (or it does and isn\u2019t exciting), but you can get everyone on board with defining or redefining it.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s not exciting, and you can\u2019t get stakeholder attention on this\u2014for now.\u00a0(If you\u2019ve struggled with aligning your content efforts, congratulations, this may be the root of the problem.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If your team is excited about the core purpose, you\u2019re ready to roll into sprint #2.<\/p>\n<p>If you feel it needs some work, it\u2019s time to have discussions about your core purpose.<\/p>\n<p>If you can\u2019t wrangle executive leadership to make this a priority, or they are happy with it and not changing the articulation anytime soon, you\u2019ll have to work with it in its current state. If this is the case, it helps to ask someone to unpack the original meaning behind the purpose statement so you can find more connection to it.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you are in a position to work with executive leadership, make sure to dedicate enough time to this sprint. This ensures that your purpose is a powerful source to guide your visual content strategy.<\/p>\n<p>To work through this exercise with structure, consider bringing in an outside expert to facilitate the process. (We first worked with <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/brands-that-matter\/testimony-meet-common-s-ceo-mark-eckhardt-def195a1515d#.10sjyrv0v\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">Mark Eckhardt of Common<\/a> a few years ago. It can be easier for an outsider to question the ideas your group considers to be absolute truth.)<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, from a content marketing perspective, once you know why your business exists, you\u2019re in a position to answer the next question as it relates to your content: <strong>What is the most important story for our brand to tell?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, your purpose is about something more than just money. Hopefully, you also care about the people in the market you\u2019re serving. Once you know your \u201cwhy\u201d and feel good about it as a potent source for what you\u2019re creating, you can move on to your next sprint.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146239\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152701\/visual-content-strategy-2-1024x404.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After articulating your purpose in sprint #1, you can save a lot of headaches by taking the time to get on the same page about what your words mean. (Hopefully, you\u2019re not working with a bunch of postmodern armchair linguists, but if you are, just tell them this is arbitrary and meaningless but you might as well agree on the same imaginary stuff because unity is fun.)<\/p>\n<p>There are conflicting definitions of common terms used in strategic discussions, and this causes confusion in daily communication throughout the team.<\/p>\n<p>So, as a focus of this sprint, which can be a quick one, build a brief glossary of important terms\u00a0that will be used often in your strategic planning so you are all speaking the same language. (While you\u2019re at it,\u00a0<a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/mannerofspeaking.org\/2015\/12\/17\/acronyms-can-seriously-suck\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">abolish obnoxious acronyms<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>For example, what does \u201cwe need to be more strategic\u201d really mean to your team? Or, if you are setting goals and breaking them into measurable milestones, are you now <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/20140616055721-142774715-business-goals-vs-objectives-vs-strategies-vs-tactics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">talking about objectives<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>Creative debate is most effective when people share the same understanding of what important and common words mean. Agree on where this key information will live and treat the glossary as a living document.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of this sprint, you\u2019ll have made some choices at home base. Now it\u2019s time to go outside of your own walls again.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146240\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152712\/visual-content-strategy-3-1024x404.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you are building a business and creating content that is all about you, it won\u2019t resonate with your audience. You have a new ping-pong table in the office? That\u2019s great! No one else cares (even though your college buddy Ronald pretends he wants to have a beer pong tourney at your office someday).<\/p>\n<p>Who are you creating visual content to please and impress? Your coworkers and friends, or your potential customers? To score more than a few ego-boosting points and move toward driving actual revenue from your visual content, focus on defining the latter.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say you are growing a company and have a huge overall market for your offering. That\u2019s great, right? Well, yes and no.<\/p>\n<p>If you are defining your market as all people who like to eat food, you are trying to be too many things to too many people.<\/p>\n<h4><b>ORGANIZE YOUR AUDIENCE INTO SMALLER SEGMENTS.<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>For example, instead of deciding your audience is everyone who likes food, you could start with a focus on people in a specific geographic region who are interested in making a change to their health routine but are too busy to cook.<\/p>\n<p>Narrowing your focus need not be equated with thinking smaller. In the agile mentality, you are thinking about the work that will make the biggest impact right now, while keeping your larger purpose in mind.<\/p>\n<p>Identifying an immediately addressable market segment lets you run the right experiments to give you the info you need to help expand in the future.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146236\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152627\/how-to-craft-an-effective-visual-content-strategy-in-7-steps-3-1024x439.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"439\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/firstround.com\/review\/the-price-is-right-essential-tips-for-nailing-your-pricing-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When you know who you\u2019re specifically going after, you can create content that speaks directly to them. Getting a core audience of people who love what you do will help you grow and be able to choose other customer segments in the future.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146241\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152722\/visual-content-strategy-4-1024x404.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As marketers, we sometimes make the mistake of spending too much time in our own echo chambers, speculating about what people might want. Now that you know who your specific audience segment is, you should be talking to them to find out what they want.<\/p>\n<p>The goal of this sprint is to answer the question:\u00a0<b>\u201cWhat are my customers\u2019 <\/b><b>jobs to be d<\/b><b>o<\/b><b>ne<\/b><b>?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Specifically, you\u2019re looking to identify the things your customer needs to do but cannot accomplish.<\/p>\n<p>At this stage, talk to your audience more than your coworkers!\u00a0Set up calls or in-person meetings to get this info. Think of them as interviews. Build a list of questions that will help you get inside their minds.<\/p>\n<p>You want to elicit this person\u2019s frustrations, pain points, and other issues your product or service may be able to solve for.\u00a0(Spoiler: Your content is how you will communicate your solutions.)<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you\u2019re a B2B marketer and you have a new lead who is willing to take some time to answer a few questions, you might ask:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What would it take for you to get promoted at work?<\/li>\n<li>What is the thing that bothers you the most on the commute home at the end of the day?<\/li>\n<li>What needs to change to get you to stay at your company?<\/li>\n<li>What have you tried that hasn\u2019t worked?<\/li>\n<li>What are you doing that is working really well? Why does it work so well?<\/li>\n<li>What do you hope to accomplish in the next year?<\/li>\n<li>What is creatively fulfilling to you?<\/li>\n<li>What jobs do you fulfill on a daily\/weekly\/monthly basis?<\/li>\n<li>What thing is missing on your team that would make life easier?<\/li>\n<li>What fundamentals are not being handled by your group?<\/li>\n<li>How does your organization relate to experimenting and trying new things?<\/li>\n<li>What is the most promising opportunity you\u2019re excited about in the next few months?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These important questions help you understand your individual customers and overall market, allowing you to pinpoint where and how you can provide them support.\u00a0This <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/9-genius-examples-empathetic-content-marketing-action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">empathy<\/a> with your market is the key to creating a legitimate, true brand.\u00a0When you produce this type of content, you become viewed as a trusted and helpful resource that people will want to do business with.<\/p>\n<p>As you summarize and share your learnings with your team to generate content topics, communicate the audience feedback (challenges) as user stories. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>As a social media marketer, <\/b>I need to create visual content that is tailored to each of our priority channels, multiple times per day. Our internal design team is tied up on other initiatives most of the time, so I make my own graphics but don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing.<\/li>\n<li><b>As an online Spanish teacher, <\/b>I find it difficult to connect with my students because the video chat connection is always breaking up.<\/li>\n<li><b>As a freelance writer,<\/b> I wish I could get into a more steady rhythm with my clients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The work you do here and in sprint #3 (Identify Your Audience) helps you build detailed customer personas, wherein you distil\u00a0all the information to create a representative \u201ccustomer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Writing out who they are (including info like age, demographic, and even the types of movies they watch), as well as their pain points, brings these customers to life and informs all your content efforts. To\u00a0create your personas quickly and easily, check out our guide to building <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/how-to-create-marketing-personas-in-under-60-minutes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">marketing personas in under 60 minutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146242\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152733\/visual-content-strategy-5-1024x404.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Now that you know who you are reaching and empathizing with them (you do care, right?), it\u2019s time to find out where they are when they aren\u2019t <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hugeinc.com\/ideas\/perspective\/what-a-pokemon-go-experiment-taught-us-about-ar-marketing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">chasing Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>. This means identifying which\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/determine-best-distribution-channels-content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">distribution channels<\/a>\u00a0will help you reach your audience (and, accordingly, where you should invest your time and money).<\/p>\n<p>Work on a long-term approach to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/7-ways-create-content-marketing-that-provides-true-value\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">creating value<\/a> and building trust with your audience through distribution. Here are some key questions to get your discussions rolling:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Where are you publishing content? <\/strong>Download <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/free-e-book-download-the-ultimate-guide-to-content-distribution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">The Ultimate Guide to Content Distribution<\/a><\/em> e-book to learn more about the benefits of each channel.<\/li>\n<li><strong>How are you promoting content? <\/strong>Make sure you follow <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/checklist-how-to-optimize-infographic-sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">best practices<\/a> to get the most eyes on your content.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What do you hope someone will do next after viewing visual content?\u00a0<\/strong>Focus on crafting a buyer\u2019s journey to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/how-to-deliver-true-value-with-account-based-marketing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">turn your content marketing into sales<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What publishing partnerships have been most fruitful, and what new ones would make a big impact?<\/strong>\u00a0Everyone wants to be on TechCrunch and thinks they <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/how-to-promote-content-like-a-content-marketing-agency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">have a story worth publishing<\/a> there. If you do, great! But you should also look for other strategic ways. What would happen if you instead tripled down on that one content partnership you started last year?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Which of your existing channels work best for reaching your specific audience?<\/strong> This infographic can help you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/determine-best-distribution-channels-content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">figure out the best channels<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are important things to keep in mind from the beginning of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/work-items\/presentation-design-10-tips-for-a-successful-group-brainstorm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">content ideation<\/a>. Every component (subject, format, distribution channel) contributes to your overall success.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146243\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152744\/visual-content-strategy-6-1024x404.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I once asked a brand manager of a Fortune 100 company why brand consistency matters. He said it was simple: to create trust. As such, your content should reflect who you are at the core.<\/p>\n<p>As you dive into designing content down the road, are you going to strictly follow <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/visage.co\/modern-brand-style-guide-elements-of-visual-language\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">brand guidelines<\/a>, or is the team free to experiment and push the boundaries of the existing visual <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/how-to-create-a-brand-identity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">identity<\/a>? Do you know where the brand guidelines are located, including source files and high-res versions of all elements?<\/p>\n<p>There may be cases where you want to take an opportunity to get wild and weird and break the mold. This might be in the context of partnering with another brand to create a visual content experience where you don\u2019t want either brand identity to dominate, such as <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/nativeadscience.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">this collaboration<\/a> between Column Five and Sharethrough.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the approach, it is important to identify how your visual language will be reflected in your visual content strategy. Column Five\u2019s Creative Director, Nate Butler, suggests including these elements:<\/p>\n<p><b>Voice<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clear, well-defined messages in every piece of content<\/li>\n<li>A defined, distinct brand voice<\/li>\n<li>Consistent overarching messaging<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Visual Language<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A cohesive brand identity (logo, color, iconography, fonts, imagery, etc.)<\/li>\n<li><b>A flexible, thoughtful, and scalable design system<\/b><\/li>\n<li>Clear visual hierarchy (balance and visual harmony, including grid use and whitespace)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The right answer and approach is subjective for each brand, but there is one rule that is sure to save time and money: Communicate the approach you\u2019re going to take upfront.<\/p>\n<p>This will save back and forth with designers and agency partners down the road. Make sure to get the perspective of all key stakeholders on this topic, so you don\u2019t have someone ambush a project with a ton of edits right before publishing.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-146244\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/visualnews-wp-media-prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/15152759\/visual-content-strategy-7-1024x404.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Over the course of the last six sprints, your team has put a strong foundation in place that gives you both flexibility and focus for starting your visual content experiments. Now it\u2019s time to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/10-tips-for-a-successful-brainstorm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">brainstorm<\/a> and start your first content sprint.<\/p>\n<p>A warning when it comes to ideation: Steer clear of \u201cit would be cool if\u2026\u201d type ideas.<\/p>\n<p>When you meet for ideas, everyone should bring real-world, plain language context and application of the idea in the form of user stories. They should also be prepared to tie them to your customer personas (including identifying the pain point the idea addresses).<\/p>\n<p>According to Kaykas-Wolff, a good story (aka piece of content) in the context of agile marketing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Is told from a true user\u2019s perspective or experience:<\/strong> addresses a relevant issue for them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Explains how value can be created for the customer: <\/strong>positions brand as an expert resource or help.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Has business impact:<\/strong> helps further your brand goals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Is as specific as possible:<\/strong> speaks to the target audience specifically in their language.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Is scaled for the smallest chunk of<\/strong><strong>value:<\/strong> provides some sort of value, no matter form.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you have your ideas, designate an owner (or <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/visage.co\/scrum-youll-love\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">Scrum<\/a> Master) for the ongoing content sprints the same way an agile software product team has a Product Owner. This is key to bringing agile methodology into your visual content marketing; it also brings clarity to who is responsible for preparing for and leading the planning meetings.<\/p>\n<p>As Kaykas-Wolff explains, \u201cDuring the Sprint itself, individual as well as organizational goals are agreed on, and are followed using the agile methods that enable listening and acting fast. <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.docurated.com\/all-things-productivity\/5-steps-agile-marketing-processes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">Agile marketing processes<\/a> include daily scrums, sprint planning, a task board, a plan of workflow, retrospective analysis, and improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In short: Plan, complete, measure, tweak. Rinse and repeat. That\u2019s how you tackle <a href=\"http:\/\/www.columnfivemedia.com\/ultimate-guide-to-visual-content-marketing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">visual content <\/a>marketing.<\/p>\n<h4><b>LOOKING AHEAD<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>Now that you\u2019ve decided why you\u2019re going to start this journey into creating high-quality visual content, all of your problems are over\u2014except for the fact that you\u2019ll face new competitive threats, egos will flare, someone will hate this entire idea, and another person will only come to half the meetings and sabotage the whole effort. (The modern workplace is fun, isn\u2019t it?)<\/p>\n<p>Remember at all times: This is possible but not easy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to provide your team the right support structure to design experiments with testable hypotheses, not to pressure yourselves to come up with the perfect, permanent plan.<\/p>\n<p>On that note, learning how to work with these <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visualnews.com\/2016\/06\/06\/best-work-4-creative-types\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">4 types of creative thinkers<\/a> will help you get the most from your team. In addition to understanding each person\u2019s strengths in creative processing, you must also establish the time horizon for consideration and the desired level of detail for the plan.<\/p>\n<p>When things get murky, go back to sprint #1 and see how things are going, in order, in each area. This will help you make sure you\u2019re staying the course.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Want to learn more? Find out <\/i><\/b><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/visage.co\/visual-media-effective-way-communicate-brands-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\"><b><i>why visual content helps your brand<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i> and how embracing <\/i><\/b><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/visage.co\/design-gives-competitive-edge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\"><b><i>good design <\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i>can give your company a competitive edge. <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Source: Visual News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article originally appeared on\u00a0Column Five. \u201cWe need to be more strategic.\u201d These might as well be trigger words. What does&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":1274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-1273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-careering"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/107\/2017\/05\/visual-content-strategy-8-1024x853.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paqOTj-kx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}