to create a mission statement for content marketing

A business mission statement is something you’re familiar with. But have you ever heard of a content marketing statement?

This text is an essential part of your content strategy.

Your content marketing mission statement will help you focus your efforts. This will help you to move in a direction that is consistent with your goals and creates the desired impact.

It is important to understand how to write this mission statement. It should be the first thing you do when creating a content strategy.

Let’s get into the details.

What is a mission statement for content marketing?

A content marketing mission statement describes the overarching purpose for your content marketing activities and efforts.

This statement answers the question: What is your overall goal for content marketing?

• What content format + topics will you be known for?
• Why would you create this content?
• What will your audience benefit from it?

Your content marketing mission statement is a banner or guideline that your team uses to make sure every action in the name content you take stays true to your brand values, and the audience.

If you are unsure about the differences between your business mission and your content marketing goal statement, here’s a way to help:

Your business mission statement describes why your brand exists. Your content marketing mission statement describes why you are doing content marketing.

Why is it important to create a mission statement for content marketing?

A content strategy must include a mission statement for content marketing. Without a content strategy, content marketing efforts will be much less successful.

According to a Semrush survey, 78% marketers reported that their marketing was very effective and also reported that they had a documented content strategy.

This distinction is crucial. It’s easy to talk about strategy all you want, but recording it makes it tangible and present.

You have a document to refer to and follow. This is in contrast with the idea of that strategy, which has no form or function.

Your content marketing mission statement is the ultimate goal of your content marketing. Without this purpose, your strategy is useless. It can guide:

• What types of content do you create?
• You can tell many stories.
• Your content marketing goals

Once you have written your mission statement, it becomes a shared, agreed-upon guideline that the entire team can follow.

Three steps to create a content marketing mission statement

A content marketing mission statement must include three components: the target audience, topic area, and benefits.

1. Know your target audience

Who is your content creator? This information is essential before you can craft your content marketing mission statement.

These are the people who will benefit the most from your content.

These people are not necessarily people who have a pressing need or know about your product. Your content audience is made up of people who have information requirements that you can meet. These are the people your brand can help by sharing their expert knowledge.

Some of these people might become your customers if they have enough positive experiences and nurturing with your content. This is what content marketing does, but that’s not the purpose of your content marketing mission.

Think about your audience. Keep it focused on the people who need your content and those who are missing your unique expertise.

2. Focus on your topics and choose the content format that best suits you.

Next, decide what information you will share with your content.

This is where the magic happens:

• What are you selling? What do you sell? What are your unique skills and knowledge about the product you sell? What are the topics that relate to your products? These topics align with your brand’s values and are most important to you.
• What your audience needs: What do you audience want to learn about your topic(s)? What are their concerns? What are their needs to achieve their goals? What knowledge gaps are they missing?

Once you have narrowed down your topic areas you can outline the main content formats that you will be focusing on. This will help you to deliver the information that your audience needs.

Blog posting are a given. But what format will they take? Advice and tips? Guides that are helpful Step-by-step tutorials? Inspiration and ideas? Stories?

Other formats are also possible, including blogs. Videos. Podcasts. Original research. Interviews with experts

My brand, for example, delivers value through blog posts weekly, bi-weekly podcast episodes and bi-weekly videos.

3. Describe how content can help you reach your audience

Combine items 1 and 2 to create your content marketing mission statement.

What can you do to help your audience? What are the benefits your potential readers will get from the information that you provide?

Describe the greatest benefit(s) in your content as clearly as you can. Think about what makes your content unique from the rest and how it will deliver value.

Here is a formula to help you define your content marketing mission.

• 
  We assist [audience] with [type of content to help them achieve/benefit from their goal].
  

We help small business owners by offering financial advice and tips to help them manage their companies better and achieve their career goals.

You want to see real-life examples of other brands’ content mission statements? Here are seven examples.

Canva

• Canva’s extensive articles and resources will help you achieve your design goals.

The Kitchn

• “Inspiring cooks to nourish their homes through daily tips, cooking ideas, kitchen design and shopping guides.”

OpenForum

• “Insights and inspiration to help you grow your business”

Harvard Business Review

• “Find classic advice and new ideas on strategy, innovation, and leadership for global leaders, from the best business and management professionals around the globe.”

WordStream

• WordStream is the best place to find digital marketing strategies and tips that will help you grow, learn, and succeed.

NerdWallet

• “Millions of people trust the Nerds to help them find the best credit cards, improve their credit scores, get the perfect mortgage, and much more.”

Apartment Therapy

• “Lifestyle and Interior Design Community Sharing Design Lessons, DIY How-Tos, Shopping Guides and Expert Advice for Creating a Happy, Beautiful Home.”

With confidence, write your content marketing mission statement

Your content marketing mission statement should be a guideline that gives your content marketing efforts a deeper purpose.

This is not content that you create to get more traffic or leads. You are creating content to help someone achieve a specific goal using your unique knowledge and expertise.

You can also write your content mission and share it to your team. This will make everything more meaningful.

Allies around your content mission. Rely on it when you are creating your content strategy. Then, return to it when you create content or execute your plan. It will guide you to the results you desire.

Search Engine Land first published the post How do you write a content marketing mission? statement.