Finding the conversation is the first step of your content strategy for one simple reason - people are already talking about the problems that your products or services can solve. The quickest path to revenue is getting into that conversation.
The best way to find the conversation is to ask your customers where to look. Make appointments with a few, and ask them which information sources they use to help them solve the most important problems in their job. Their list may include traditional media, blogs, forums, industry associations, company websites, newsletters, and yes, even books. After talking to, say, 5 customers, you'll see some patterns, and start to get a sense of where the conversations are happening.
Warning: you may not like what you hear! Customers may frequent information sources that you don't agree with, and you may also find your competitors' websites to be great sources of information. So put your pride on the shelf and listen to what is really resonating for them.
Next, you want to spend some time reading through these information sources. You'll find some of the discussions totally irrelevant, and some quite close to the problems you can solve. Learn about how people frame the problems that your company is able to solve, and the language people use to describe them.
Once you're starting to get a sense of the conversation, you can start to research the web for additional venues. Using keywords gleaned through your early research, search through Twitter, Squidoo, Technorati, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, as well as the major trade publications in your field. If there are free newsletters out there, subscribe to them. By reading up on a regular basis, you'll start to get a strong idea about the conversations your customers have before they seek out products such as yours. The very conversations you want to be part of.
Next up: Finding your Voice
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