Gradually, companies have built up functions side by side. Part of the problem is also the evaluation and motivation of employees within these functions. For example:

• Sales are measured by how much they sell.
• Customer service employees are measured by how satisfied the customer is with the answer to the problem.
• Marketing is measured by how much reach it generates
• and social media according to engagement figures.

Everyone wants to do their job well (or at least keep their job) and then fulfill the requirements. And that also applies to "content"! There are all kinds of different situations as to who initiates the topic of content marketing or content strategy, but in most cases it happens in a department in order to achieve its own (department-specific) goals. And everyone does their own thing.

What are we doing with "content marketing"? How do we categorize it?

This brings us to the topic of "change".

... Because a content strategy depends on employees getting involved!

It's nothing new: we are basically creatures of habit. Everything that is new scares us at first and when in doubt... "No go". That's not because the employees are lazy or don't want to do it in principle, but because it requires us to change our habits.

I think the Engage-Enable-Embed model developed by Carsten Rossi(Kammann Rossi), which serves as an aid to thinking, is great for orientation. I can confirm this approach after supervising various "content operations projects".

For the most part, employees don't care whether a content strategy is implemented or not.1 They may even care whether the company can implement more efficient processes and better strive for strategic goals... This think piece makes it clear that we should take this one step at a time...

1. Engage: What does each employee crave on a personal level. In other words, what would make their work more interesting / easier / more motivating? What have they wanted for a long time? This is about finding out what different interests there are and that we can later show each employee how and why they will benefit if we implement a content strategy.
2. Enable: Those involved must also realize (relatively) quickly that something is changing (for the better). Step by step, easily transformed work processes, new tools or new roles (if the skills are available) can be made tangible. Communication and feedback to employees is very important here!
3. Embed: In terms of change in a content strategy, I understand "embed" to mean that the meaning of what the content strategy aims to achieve becomes part of the corporate culture. A (lived) mission/story is important here. Every employee must have the feeling of being part of something that he/she identifies with...

Worth reading in this context: Content strategy - when employees are no longer on board (Kerstin Hoffmann)

... Because in the long term it will be a question of corporate culture

The wrong reason to do "content marketing" is because you want to do it. Content marketing is the answer to fundamental changes in the attention economy. It is therefore completely irrelevant whether it is later called content strategy, content marketing, attention marketing (yes, I made that up) or something else. As I already wrote on Medium:

The point is: in future, brands will have to define themselves less through forced attention and more through perceived usefulness and experience factors. If companies can no longer afford to be uninteresting, they must find a way to become more interesting and have integrity.

Fundamental restructuring is necessary. And this will not happen overnight, but must be introduced into the corporate culture step by step.

What specific difficulties and challenges do you see in the implementation of content strategies? How can they be overcome? What do you think of the "Engage, Enable, Embed" thinking aid?