Content: who's the owner?

Number 5 in the most asked questions about content is ‘We struggle with content ownership; who should own it?’

This question often originates from everyone wanting to take a piss on the content, frustration, and lack of decision-making.

• The result is a ‘vleesch noch visch’ piece of content. This means it’s stuck in the middle, not the one or the other. Not taking a stand and being something very polite and socially acceptable without ruffling anyone's feathers.
   
• Another consequence it takes forever; a very long time to market. You could produce and approve content in just a few days. Without a firm content owner, the default is 8+ weeks.

I guarantee you that without ownership, your content becomes invisible and is not going to make any impact. A waste of your and your agency’s time, effort, and budget.

Why it matters

Lack of content ownership is like the Black Swan without Captain Jack Sparrow. No direction, not going anywhere.

You need one captain. 

One owner to make the decisions and to make sure you are heading towards where you want to be.

A piece of advice

Back to the question, in which silo should content be embedded? The lack of ownership is not something to solve easily. My advice is based on my experiences and pitfalls.

1. The most important requirement for the content owner and captain is seniority

You need a senior to make the (unpopular) decisions, have political sensitivity, understand the reputation and issue management, and be excellent in stakeholder management to keep everyone on board. 

Please, don’t appoint a medior who doesn’t has the experience to confidentially and reasonedly stand their ground and push back.

2. Take content out of the marketing silo

If you have content in the marketing department, by design, content follows the marketing strategy, KPIs, and planning. And we all know content is more than marketing. It involves marketing, sales, corporate communications, public relations, customer care, and employer branding.

Give content its own silo and own strategy in line with the business objectives and overarching KPIs; read more in ‘Accountability of content.’

3. Keep your stakeholders involved

This is the job of the owner. And the stakeholders are the representatives of all the silos that need content, as mentioned above, marketing, sales, corporate communications, public relations, customer care, and employer branding. 

You keep them involved via an editorial board where you report on progress and chat about the strategy and panning; overarching, save the details for daily management.

4. The owner has a mandate

The owner can and must make her or his decisions without consulting everyone every time. The owner is aware of the sensitive topics, political correctness, and boldness needed to create content that makes an impact.

Final words

Sure, ‘get one owner’ is easier said than done. Everyone presumes to know something about content as they ‘are online’ and ‘are on social’. Next, not any CMO wants to give up content and hand it over to someone else.

Being a content owner is a tough job. Not for the light-hearted or mediors. You want someone who is a counterpart for the board and who can make unpopular decisions.

Do you want to know a bit more about what I’ve seen and experienced and learn from my mistakes? Let's rock; don’t hesitate to drop me a DM. We can always jump on a quick call for some details.

The 5 most asked questions about content

You ask me the same questions over and over again. My clients. During workshops, keynotes, and calls. 

So, why not write them down? Here's my ‘They ask, you answer’ series on content and strategy.  The questions are in the most asked order. 

1. I want more content for less budget; what are the tips? 
2. What do I need to measure? I struggle with accountability.
3. It takes forever; how can I speed up the process and shorten the time to market?
4. I don’t see the results; what can I do?
5. We struggle with ownership; where should content be? (this blog)

• Bonus: How to prepare for AI; We have no idea what’s its true power; 33% cuts in teams are expected

Click on the links to read more (duh…)