As I gear up for Content Marketing World 2017, my fifth CMW in a row, I’m reflecting on my most valuable insights gleaned by attending. I’m not going to bore you with a list, but I kind of created one anyway. I really just want to share with you the most important one — creating a content mission statement.

For Tell Your Story, the development of a content mission statement as part of our strategic planning process has been critical to our ongoing work in developing content and being entrusted as social media community managers for our clients.

Here’s a link to what the Content Marketing Institute said about content mission statements in 2015. Some good stuff in the article, but here’s our take.

1. If your overall marketing, communications and sales efforts are driven by purpose — why you do what you do — your content mission statement and subsequent content becomes much more powerful.
2. Don’t underestimate the value you get by including all disciplines — marketing, sales, strategy, HR, communications — into your content brainstorming.
3. Develop an editorial calendar for discipline, but you still need to have a nimble mindset to leverage what’s going on in your industry on a day-to-day basis.
4. The mission statement for content should focus on “why you create, procure and share content.” It should always bring value to your audience. If it doesn’t, don’t write it, don’t share it.
5. Amplify. If you have an intimate understanding of your customer, a great purpose, a deep content mission statement and editorial calendar, you are ready to create, share and amplify. Amplification means being consistent and sharing your content far and wide using the tools that make sense. For us, targeted social advertising is a must. Our mantra is “people need to know.”

If you want more insight into our thinking and how attending CMW has helped us over the years, follow us at @tellyourstorybc or Facebook or LinkedIn. You can even check out our website or follow me at @grafeedie. I may have some live updates to share, if the mood strikes me while at CMW this week.