The Importance of Budget, Buy-In, and Preparing for Success

In the first three chapters of The Content Strategy Toolkit: Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right, author, Meghan Casey outlines the foundations for success in a content strategy project. After identifying the problems your organization’s web content may have, Casey encourages readers to turn those “depressing” roadblocks into more “fun” objectives to then move forward with a method to analyze and carry your project forward.

There are two key factors in ensuring a project’s traction, and those are: Budget and stakeholder buy-in. Each of these components require care and attention in order to reach a desirable outcome.

The Budget:

Meghan Casey advises that content strategists think like business people, prioritizing return-on-investment (ROI) as well as risk and reward. Essentially, make it clear that your project:

• Increases efficiency

• Eliminates costs

• Boosts sales

The project has to sound like a firm business decision, because that’s exactly what it is. People need to know that this will be worth their investments of not only money, but time and efforts.

A good way to explain your project’s benefits is through “Quantifying Missed Opportunities.” If you can calculate how the company is misdirecting or losing funds, and then combine that with the (likely lower) risk calculation of your own project, it will be easier for decision-makers to give the “go-ahed” on your project.

It is best to have a clear argument for your project, to drive your points home. Casey suggests the “Toulmin’s Model of Argumentation.”

Purdue Owl provides a great visualization of this model.

Source: Purdue Owl

Along with these six elements, Casey includes one more: The Ask. Get specific about what you need to complete this project. You need to be fully transparent with your own needs as much the company does.

Stakeholder Buy-In

Meghan Casey writes,

“For content strategy projects—well, most projects—I’ve learned that the No. 1 indicator of success is getting the right stakeholders involved.”

This is difficult because of the diversity in stakeholders’ drives and/or needs. Casey identifies the different stakeholders in Chapter 3 of this project, first going through “Roles:”

Project Owner – The person driving the content strategy project. Responsible for its success & failure.

Decision Makers – The people who have/need their problem(s) solved, has a lot of influence, can veto or approve.

Champions – The people who know & drive the importance of the project’s ideas.

Influencers – People with respected thoughts & opinions, but have no real say in things.

Derailers – These are people who don’t always have veto power, but can bring a project’s progress to a halt. Often includes: people down the employee chain who were not originally considered, those resistant to change/the project, those who have separate priorities.

Meghan Casey then identifies the different “Types:”

Strategic – eHas a specific vision/goal for the business.

Expert – Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) who have in-depth knowledge about the organization and what it has to offer.

Implementer – The people putting the new strategy into place.

Each role and type deserve equal weight and consideration, as they all ultimately decide on the success of the project. Casey describe the relationship between the content strategist and the stakeholders to be one of empathy, understanding, and teamwork. Making stakeholders feel like they’re an active part of the process is key.

Meghan Casey isn’t the only person who thinks this. Kristi Hedges writes in an article for Forbes, titled “How To Get Real Buy-In For Your Idea,”

Real buy-in involves at least some element of co-creation. It invites discussion, debate, and allows everyone to feel even more vested in the outcome.

Starting a new process is often daunting. Instead of being given directives, making stakeholders feel like they have a say in the project can make all the difference.

Resources

Casey, Meghan. The Content Strategy Toolkit: Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right. New Riders, 2015.

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Toulmin argument // Purdue Writing lab. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/historical_perspectives_on_argumentation/toulmin_argument.html

Hedges, K. (2015, March 16). How to get real buy-in for your idea. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2015/03/16/how-to-get-real-buy-in-for-your-idea/?sh=738f69774044