Content strategy is not easy.  Actually, it's pretty difficult.

Here is a roadmap we follow to make sure we're on the right track.

Step 1: Define Your Marketing Goals

Here are some direct sales-related examples:

• More customers
• More sales from current customers
• Less customer turnover

There may be cost-saving goals:

• Spend less on customer service costs
• Spend less on traditional marketing to replace with more efficient content programs (to get similar results)
• Get customers to talk about you more (new kind of public relations)

Tangible organizational goals, like the ones listed above will be related to analytics goals (number of downloads, web traffic, mentions, etc.), to prove value.

Step 2: Determine Your Customers' Informational Needs

• Listen using free tools like Google Alerts or Twitter Search.
• Read blogs in your industry.  Choose the top 15-20 and make it a point to have someone own this task.
• Talk to your customer service and sales personnel.
• Call your customers.
• Send out email surveys.

Step 3: What Do You Want Your Customer or Prospect To Do?

• Share something with others
• Download something
• Call someone
• Go somewhere
• Buy something
• Refer you to someone else

Step 4: Determine the Ultimate Product and Content Mix