Trying to copy ESRI’s content strategy? Here’s why that’s probably a bad idea….
Many geospatial brands find that โcontent doesnโt workโ for them, which can come down to several reasons. Most notably, lack of strategy, unclear target audience, and lack of consistency.
While we extensively address the latter two issues in other posts, let’s focus on the former here: Lack of strategy. More specifically, pursuing a strategy that is unsuitable for your current growth phase.
This often comes from emulating other brands’ strategies, which appear to be working. But it’s not as simple as that. Instead, you need to tailor your content strategy to your company’s growth stage and move from experimentation to full scale execution as you mature.
Here’s what that looks like:
The best content strategy for geospatial startups and scale ups
๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐ โก ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐
Try lots of things, fail fast, learn fast, adapt fast, and keep moving forward.
Your focus at this stage should be on experimentation, speed, and quick feedback loops so you can learn what your audience cares about, how they respond to certain messaging, and what to double down on.
Thatโs the key ๐ to nailing your message-market fit, which will be the foundation for your longer term strategy.
The best content strategy for established geospatial organisations
๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐ โก ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐
Only once youโre super duper clear on your messaging, positioning, ICP, and customer journey, does it make sense to build out a full scale content strategy.
The idea at this stage is to create strategic content that supports every step of the customer journey, but you need to know exactly who your customers are and how that journey unfolds before you can do this effectively.
Given the above, Iโve noticed 3 main mistakes geospatial companies make:
1๏ธโฃ Attempting to execute a full scale strategy without nailing the foundations
2๏ธโฃ Getting stuck in experimentation mode and not progressing to a strategy
3๏ธโฃ Posting random content – or none at all – regardless of growth stage
In all of these cases, your content wonโt perform as well as it could (should), and youโll probably end up spinning your wheels.
Need help creating a highly effective content strategy for your exact stage and needs? Check out our brand messaging workshop, where we work with you to create a clear, actionable strategy that meets your exact needs.