12-Step Brand and Content Framework

A big gorgeous deck on how to develop content ideas

Jun 2

Hey friend. Every ~~Sunday~~ whenever!, this silly email helps you make better creative and strategic decisions. This week, I’m sharing a 12-Step Brand and Content Framework for making brand content that sucks less. Fun stuff. Absolutely delightful. Anyway, hello, it’s good to see you. -Steve

Oh hello.

How are you.

It’s me, peekin’ in your inbox like

Sorry to be a creep.

But, you will be happy to know I made a thing.

This thing will be helpful to you.

✨ Introducing the 12-step brand and content strategy framework ✨

This framework is a collaborative workshop that features 12 whiteboard exercises you can complete with your team.

These 12 exercises will help you—or help you help your client—accomplish three very powerful and fundamental things:

Establish who you are (brand)
Define who you’re talking to (audience), and why (goals)
Develop what you’re talking about (content topics and ideas).

I’ve used each of these 12 exercises throughout my career (air quotes) to develop editorial strategy, voice, and content for brands like Amazon and MetLife and Box and Adobe (and, also, one creative agency).

Now, I’ve collected them into a 12-step framework that you can work through with your team in an afternoon.

Or call me in. I’ll be your wingman anytime.

Here, take a gander:

This framework helps you develop unique content

Good content begins with good brand strategy.

This framework provides the exercises to bootstrap both those things.

It starts with clarifying your brand, it ends with clarifying your content ideas.

Why this format? Because over the years, I’ve noticed that clients want to jump into creating content without knowing what kind of content they need—or, without having done the brand work that informs the positioning of the content they want to create.

And so, this deck helps you develop a MVP brand strategy and content ideas to go along with it.

It’s basically an answer to the lament we need content but we don’t have time to clarify our brand.

Ya got time. This takes four hours.

You start with who you are:

Purpose, vision, values
Personality, voice, and principles

Then, you define who you’re talking to:

Audience
Competitors
Goals

And finally, you define what you’re talking about:

Topics
Altitude
Story Ideas

It’s a step-by-step guide with maximum practicality

All bangers no clangers.

It’s designed for content marketers, brand marketers, and chief content marketers who need to develop precisely positioned content, toot suite.

Which means:

It’s a great tool for startups who haven’t yet developed their brand
And it’s a great tool for legacy companies launching a new product or sub-brand that needs a unique position.

Tbc, this is not a “content strategy” deck.

It’s not about content audits.

It doesn't help you create a calendar.

It doesn’t care about your channel mix.

Those are all tactical content marketer tasks. They’re important. They organize and optimize your content.

But before you organize and optimize ideas, you need to develop good ideas in the first place.

So today, I’m publishing the first part

The deck is like 100+ slides long.

So let’s take it column by column.

Today’s entry will include exercises for:

Brand Purpose
Brand Vision
Brand Values

Download it!

Make a copy!

Share with your team!

There’s even a Miro board version.

The next entry we’ll do Personality, Voice, and Principles.

Then Audience, Competitors, Goals.

And finally, Topics, Altitude, and Story Ideas.

All of that in the next two weeks.

That’s it for today, stay pretty,

-s.

p.s. Yes, I absolutely provide workshops for this framework, either in person or over zoom. If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

More delightful resources

Product Content Strategy 101

The Essential Guide to Frameworks

The Essential Laws of Creativity

The Creative Problem Solving Reading List

You don’t get it, you’re not the point

Make relationships, not things

How can I help?

This is a 100% organic, free-range, desktop-to-inbox newsletter devoted to helping you navigate uncertainty, seek the most interesting challenges, and make better creative decisions in marketing and beyond. Delivery at 6pm ET most Sundays. Your host is Steve Bryant, who is for hire. He’d love to help you develop and deploy creative and bold ideas or staff your newsroom, content, or marketing project.

Get in touch

Thanks for reading. Be seeing you.

Delightful