Where’s this story going?

mlns='> Don’t just plan your quarter. Decide on a season-long story. [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 9.30.22 Connect With CMI [Content at a Crossroad: Where Will Content Marketing Go Next?]( Once you nail down your content’s driving purpose, creative and tactical decision-making gets easier – and the results get better. This collection of winners and finalists from the 2022 Content Marketing Awards strategy categories proves it. [Read more]( By Jodi Harris More of the week's best stuff: - [CMI News | Hello DALL-E 2, Goodbye Content Careers?]( by Robert Rose - [How Pega Launched an Award-Winning Branded Journalism Magazine in 120 Days]( Ann Gynn - [How To Plan a Content 'Season' Like a Hollywood Showrunner [Rose-Colored Glasses]]( by Robert Rose - [More Helpful Content Dos and Don'ts for New Google Update]( by Jim Yu - [For Efficient Content Marketing, Stop Planning Content So Far Ahead]( by Alex Novkov  Where’s this story going? What should we talk about? This question plagues many content marketing teams. The brand message might be crystal clear. The products have clear value propositions and differentiators. The marketing team understands its paid media schedule, the agency is working out the creative elements, and the PR team is readying news around new hires, products, and partnerships. The content team, however, struggles with topics. Content marketers often try to solve this by getting a meeting together to brainstorm. Here’s how that usually goes: Someone from the demand generation team suggests creating a list of all the questions buyers might ask about the company’s particular approach. The product marketing manager likes that idea and says, “We could create articles answering those questions and then sprinkle in how we solve those challenges.” The brand marketing manager says, “Why don’t we write some posts about our new brand mission and how our products and services are helping solve climate change?” They punctuate their suggestion by throwing a copy of Simon Sinek’s Start With Why onto the table. The product marketing manager chimes in: “Yes, and we could sprinkle in a bit about how our product solves those challenges.” “I know,” says someone from PR, “let’s write posts that feature profiles of our executives and their thought leadership in the market.” The brand marketing manager nods in appreciation. “Yes, great idea. That’s storytelling. It’s got a hero.” The product marketing manager stands up and says, “I like it. And maybe the executives could talk a little about how our product solves difficult challenges.” Only the content marketing team sits silently, looking down at their notebooks. They’ve taken exactly zero notes. The pizza arrives, and the meeting ends. The brand marketing manager says, “I don’t know what you all were so worried about. We’ve got tons of things to talk about.” Finding the bigger story I work with content marketing teams for brands all over the world. I’ve noticed that when teams struggle to find a focused editorial direction for their content platform, it’s usually because they haven’t set the foundation for a bigger story. Without a focused story (or stories), any alternative feels valid. As a result, their blog feels like an ad hoc collection of answers to FAQs. The resource center is a random collection of promotional materials and case studies. Their webinar program is just a catch-all featuring anyone who is available to talk about how their product solves things. I’ve discussed the [importance of planning]( before. But within that planning process description lies the assumption that the relevant teams have met to decide on a bigger story to use as a foundation for planning. But what if that hasn’t happened yet? How do you find that bigger story that unites all your upcoming content? As it turns out, you can learn a lot from media operations. What TV showrunners know Television series are created by teams representing all aspects of producing great content. There are writers, directors, actors, editors, production specialists, and so on. Similarly, multiple teams come together when a brand’s content marketing team embarks on a thought leadership program or content marketing initiative. These teams also rely on diverse experts: writers, designers, subject matter experts, and others. Both teams face similar problems. This chaotic creative process requires participation from many different groups. How do you align all those disciplines and develop a cohesive story? The question in Hollywood: “What’s the story?” The question in content marketing: “What’s the story?” In [Rose-Colored Glasses]( this week, I explain how to plan your content as a TV showrunner would – and why you’d want to do this. I’d love to hear how you approach content planning – and how your foray into the content marketing equivalent of show-running goes. Send me [an email](mailto:cmi_info@informa.com?subject=Rose-Colored%20Glasses) or leave a comment on [the article page](. In the meantime, remember: It's your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Do you have colleagues or friends who would benefit from Robert's weekly updates? If so, please invite them to [subscribe]( here.   Sponsored Content  .Store tells the world you are #OpenForBusiness! Trusted by over 450 thousand online businesses and now by the marketing guru Seth Godin himself! 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[Sign Up to Attend](   CMWorld Book Club | The Content Puzzle…And the Missing Piece Have you ever thought of content marketing as a puzzle? Ever wondered about the missing piece that marketers may be overlooking? Andi Robinson, CMWorld 2021 Community Champion, explores these questions in her new book, The Content Puzzle…And the Missing Piece. Start reading now and mark your calendar for our book club discussion on Wednesday, October 26, in the CMWorld Slack group. [Learn More About the Book »]( [Join Us on Slack »](  [STRATEGY]( Events [Content Marketing World]( [ContentTECH Summit]( [Content Marketing Awards]( Resources [Research]( [White Paper/eBook Library]( [Content VIPs]( [CMI Business Directory]( Education [Content Marketing University]( [Chief Content Officer]( [Webinars]( [Job Listings]( Interested in advertising with CMI? [Learn more.]( To stop receiving future Content Marketing Institute update emails, please respond [here](. 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