With spring (cleaning) in the air, it’s the perfect time to apply Marie Kondo’s legendary expertise to your marketing mess strategy. Kondo’s “what sparks joy” mindset and tidying techniques can help you clean up your content marketing act.
Create a pile
Make a detailed list of everything that’s part of your content strategy — from blogs and newsletters to Linkedin ads. Take a full inventory of everything and how it shapes your overall strategy. This will give you a comprehensive view and the basis of your big clean-up.
Determine what sparks joy
Do your blog analytics give you a warm, fuzzy feeling? Or, do underwhelming stats have you second-guessing your strategy? Determine which goals to focus on (improving page views, reducing bounce rates, generating more referrals, etc.) and focus on making tweaks to reach your desired numbers. With changes in place, continue to analyze closely to watch for improvement.
Scrub your data clean
Sounds pretty basic, but it’s crazy how much dust your data can collect over time. Data hygiene is a critical step in ensuring that you’re working with the most accurate and up-to-date information, so you know what to keep and what to toss going forward. Consider how dirty data can insert the wrong name in a personalized email or send out the wrong product offer. Neither are a boost to your credibility.
Assess your tools
Your data is only as good as the technology on which it’s stored. So if you can’t seamlessly access, update, share and export your marketing data, it might be time to let go of old solutions and upgrade to new ones.
Organize your creative assets
Marketing content assets come in all shapes and sizes — from corporate logos to video files. And the more assets you manage, the more potential for confusion. Implement protocols to ensure the right assets are being used. While you’re at it, devise a plan to phase out assets that have passed their prime. Remember, when things lack organization, they are all too easily overlooked.
Streamline your processes
If you’re using spreadsheets and analytics tools that only serve a single purpose, you’re wasting your time and resources. In her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Kondo says, “Repetition and wasted effort can kill motivation, and therefore must be avoided.” By integrating tools for a birds-eye view, you can instantly boost your effectiveness as well as your productivity.
Stay on it
Make Marie Kondo part of your content maintenance routine. Cleaning becomes easier when you have less clutter. Add regular content clean-up days to your calendar so you don’t fall behind.
By putting in the time and effort to clean up your act — with a little help from the queen of clean herself — your spotless digital marketing strategies can help achieve you the results you’ve been working toward.