4.1 Strategy component -topics and subject areas

Basics

Definition strategy component topics and content

The strategy component the subject areas and topics that we want to use as part of our social media offering, i.e. describes the scope of our social media strategy.

Position of the strategy component in the strategy development

The strategy component Topics and Content follows the definition of the core content of our social media strategy.

Description and task of the strategy component Topics and contents

• The strategy component describes which fields the company addresses with its social media strategy. We have already defined and prioritized the possible fields of the strategy in the identification of options for action. In the strategy definition, we have determined which topics and contents we are working on with our strategy. The strategy component Themes and Content thus captures the themes of our social media strategy.
• The strategy component Themes and Content sets out the competitive goals that we want to realize within the themes / topic areas.
• The strategy component Topics and Content is the starting point for content of other strategy components.

Sources of the topics and contents of our strategy component

We take the topics and subject areas from the content of our strategy or our strategy version. We defined the themes and topic areas of our strategy in a narrower sense at the beginning of the strategy definition process, when we determined the scope of our strategy via the themes. We derived the topics (and thus their content) from the modules of the business model and the corporate goals.

Content and topics as a strategy component

Topic areas and themes represent a central core of social media activities, define the success possible in social media and are an integral part of everyday social media.

In order to anchor a social media strategy sufficiently in the day-to-day work, a clearly defined strategy component (also referred to as content strategy) is a prerequisite.

Significance of the strategy component

strategic importance of the strategy component

We use themes to tap into markets and target groups. With the selection of the topics and their weighting, we therefore determine which markets and target groups we work with which focal points.

The quality of our topics – defined by their relevance to markets/target groups – determines success with social media in the selected target groups/markets.

We address markets and target groups via topics. If we forego relevant topics, we forego addressing markets and target groups.

• A corresponding decision should be made very consciously and coordinated with those responsible for the market.
• Incorrect selection, such as forgetting relevant topics for a market, leads to competitive disadvantages in market development.

The topic areas represent the fields in which we have to assert ourselves in competition with our strategy. The attractiveness and competitiveness of our social media offering is based on the content of our strategy components, in particular usage formats, user benefits, motivation, participation, and the social media channels used.

If we use topics without considering or correctly assessing their priorities, part of the effect of our strategy – probably the vast majority – will be lost.

Explanation:

• If we focus a strategy on topics with low social media affinity, this strategy can only be effective to a limited extent, because we act with issues that are not very relevant in social media.
• If we focus our strategy on low priority topics, we have the problem that success in these does not contribute as much to the company’s success / success of the business model as is the case with high priority topics.

The breakdown by theme provides a more precise knowledge of the situation and enables a more precise strategy that is better suited to the situation, thus allowing us to deploy our resources more effectively and achieve a better impact in the market and competition. In this way, we create a prerequisite for the design of social media strategies that can become a competitive advantage for the company as a whole.

Practical importance of the strategy component for the Audience

The strategy component Content and Topics also provides the basis for developing a content strategy. It includes the range and focus of topics we want to use as part of our social media strategy, providing guidance for day-to-day business around content use.

practical significance of the strategy component for the Network usage format

The topics of the strategy component Network result in private networks from the relationships of the users and their contents and in professional networks from the topics of the professions.

practical significance of the strategy component for the community usage format

The strategy component Topics and Subject Areas defines which topics the community covers in terms of content when using the Community usage format.

Contents of the strategy component

The strategy component contents and topics should describe at least the following contents

• Topics to be addressed – including the importance of each topic or its priority and source.
• Goals to be achieved with the respective topics – in addition to the social media goals, also the company benefits to be achieved with the respective goal.
• Measures required for the use of the subjects. Here we record the contents of the strategy components with which we intend to realize the goals of the respective topics / subject areas. These are, in particular, the contents of the strategy components UserBenefit, Usage Formats, Participation, Motivation and Social Media Channels.
• critical or mandatory interactions with other strategy components.
• Assumptions on which the contents of the strategy element are based. Here we mainly hold assumptions that describe the behavior of the competition in the respective topics / subject areas.
• Risks: identifiable risks to the goals of the individual topics from the behavior of the competition that could lead to our not being able to achieve our competitive goals.

We do not record resources in the strategy component themes and topic areas because the resources result from the measures of the strategy components with which we work on the themes / topic areas of the strategy.

Priority of the strategy component

The strategy component Themes and Theme Areas has a prominent position within the strategy components because it defines, via the themes, the areas of the business model (customer segments, value propositions, customer relationships and channels) and the corporate objectives that are addressed by the strategy. The strategy component determines the playing field within which the other strategy components operate, i.e. it provides a framework for their content.

This framework, in turn, defines the scope of success possible in social media. The level of success within this framework depends in turn on the success of the other strategy components. This results in a determining importance of the themes and topic areas for the strategy as a whole as well as for the other strategy components. Below are some explanations of the framework conditions that result from the strategy component Themes for these other strategy components:

• Topics and subject areas with usage formats: we check which usage formats are suitable for which subject areas and how well. This results in the defining position of the topics and subject areas and the requirement to define the contents and subject areas before the usage formats. Or to put it another way: it is not so relevant which usage formats are fundamentally suitable, but what counts is which usage formats we can be most successful with within our subject areas.
• Topics and subject areas with user benefits: we check which user benefits we can create or use in our topics and subject areas. This results in the leading position of the topics and topic areas compared to the UserBenefits as well as the requirement to define the topic areas before the UserBenefit(s). In other words: we are looking for the best user benefit, with which we can realize the highest impact (with users and in competition) within our topics.
• Topics and subject areas with target groups: via the topics and subject areas, we define both the markets we want to address and the target groups we are addressing with this strategy. This results in the task of examining the interests of the target groups and our topics and subject areas. If our subject areas do not correspond to the target group interests, we will have a hard time reaching these target groups. This may be the case, for example, if our services and the needs on which we have based our services are not among the most important interests of our target groups. In this case, it is advisable to at least also focus on the interests of the target groups such as the subject areas that define the markets. Here, we make sure to focus primarily on the topics and not on the target groups. The topics are the actual markets, target groups are a construction to find and address possible customers for these markets in conventional media platforms. It would therefore also not be advisable to place target groups instead of topics at the center of strategy development.
• Topics and subject areas with reach: We build reach for defined subject areas. That is, the topic areas define the reach, and the reach is based on the topic areas. High reach with low topic relevance is not useful high reach. Reach outside our topics is of little relevance.
• Topics and thematic areas with competition: we define and work markets via topics and thematic areas. Thus, our competition also takes place in these subject areas. We orient ourselves – in the information about the competition as well as in the design of the competition – to thematic areas. This means that we also take the competitive situation into account when defining our basic options for action in social media and, accordingly, in the main topics of strategies or strategy versions.
• Topics and thematic areas with participation: The participation offerings should be aligned with the topics and thematic areas of the strategy in order to support the success of the company in the respective topics and thematic areas with their effect. Participation takes place within the framework of themes. Participation offerings that are not relevant to these topics are more or less foreign bodies with less chance of user engagement.
• Topics and subject areas with motivation: for the same reasons, motivation should be focused on the topics and subject areas wherever possible.
• Themes and thematic areas with social media channels: the priority of thematic areas over social media channels stems from the need to realize the impact of social media in thematic areas. The role of social media channels is to reach users with interests in these subject areas. That is, we look for the social media channels that are relevant / essential to our topics, or create social media channels based on our topics.

Application of the strategy component Themes

As a reminder, let’s review these critical principles for application:

• Strategic importance: Based on the subject areas, we define the playing field of the strategy. This helps us determine which parts of the business model and corporate goals (as well as the markets addressed therein) we will address with our social media strategy.
• Priority of topic areas: All important topic areas should be recognizable as such by their priority so that we can focus our daily social media work on the crucial topic areas.
• Social media affinity of the subject areas: we record the social media affinity of the respective subject areas. From this, we can see which subject areas have a particular affinity for social media, i.e., where social media can have the best impact. This makes it easier to ensure the effectiveness of our strategy in our day-to-day work.

Explanation: via the topic areas, the cover both the markets and the requirements of our business model and the competition and summarize them at the same time. We also get a finer and more precise picture of the situation and can thus develop strategy proposals that are more precise and better suited to the situation.

The more precise knowledge of the situation and a more precise strategy that better suits the situation allows us to use our resources more effectively and achieve a better impact in the market and competition. In this way, we create a prerequisite for the design of social media strategies that can become a competitive advantage for the company as a whole.

Content of the strategy component

The strategy component should describe at least the following contents

• Topics to be addressed, their assignment (business model, corporate goals) and its priority,
• The main content we want to work on within each topic, as well as its scope, intensity, and benefits/user benefits.
• the usage formats used within the themes,
• the (competitive) goals to be achieved,
• UserBenefit (Assignment)
• CompanyBenefit (Assignment / Reference)
• Participation (Assignment / Referral)
• the channels used.
• The assumptions / prerequisites on which the decision was based,
• the risks from the strategy component themes and topic areas.
• the resources we consider necessary to address the issues as described.

In the (competitive) goals, we record which competitive position we want to achieve in the respective field.

Assignment: we refer to the content of the core strategy components (usage formats, user benefits, participation, motivation and social media channels) for individual topics / topic areas if there are differences in the content of the topics in the core strategy components. If we use the same content for all topics / subject areas, we can do without this assignment.

Result: Overview of the topics and themes that are relevant for the social media strategy and the competitive situation for usage formats, user benefits, motivation, and participation, as well as the priority for the company.

Responsibility: Social Media Management

Usage: Content Strategy component and basis for deriving strategies.

Benefits for strategy development

• We use the topic areas to define the areas / markets to which our social media strategy is geared in terms of content.
• At the same time, we also use the topic areas to define our competitive design.
• The selected/prioritized topic areas and the competition we find in these topic areas result in concrete requirements for the content of other strategy components, especially usage formats, user benefits, motivation, participation, channels.

Measures Strategy component Topics and subject areas

We list the measures that we consider necessary to achieve the respective goals. These measures are also reflected in the respective strategy components according to their nature. The usage format we chose is explicitly explained in its requirements in the strategy component Usage Format. The same applies to the strategy components user benefits, motivation, participation and social media channels. The purpose and benefit of this listing is to get an overview of the goals and to contrast these goals with the implementation / measures. In addition, we use this inventory to define the expected resource requirements for these measures.

Topics and content via Audience

A well-structured content strategy is fundamental to the deployment of content through an audience. Anything else leads to a less goal-oriented behavior, in which the risk is high that effort and effect are not in an acceptable ratio. The web provides us with a wealth of excellent information on content strategies. That’s why I’m focusing here on the most essential structural requirements that a content strategy n. m. Assessment should meet.

We should define the following components:

• Themes: we use themes as an alternative for markets as part of our social media strategy, thereby aligning the orientation of market development with content to our markets. The strategy component Contents and Topics is the bridge from strategy to day-to-day work.
• Target groups and interests: we align our content with the interests of the target groups we want to address. If our content does not meet these interests, we do not reach the target groups – and the markets behind them – sufficiently or at all. That’s why it makes sense to remember which interests the content needs to meet when working with content on a daily basis.
• Topics: We work with themes as an overarching concept to better organize the variety of possible content, but most importantly to better prioritize. We recognize how well and comprehensively we are working on the respective topic by assigning content to topics.
• Priorities: By prioritizing, we invest in those topics that are particularly important to us and work on them more intensively in the long term.
• Source: the assignment of content and topics to sources has structural, fundamental significance. We use it to determine the sources from which we draw the content This is especially important when we work with a mix of our own content and user generated content.
• Objectives: Aligning content with a specific benefit should be a given. We ensure compliance with this self-evident principle by contrasting every piece of content with the benefit it is intended to create. In doing so, we make sure to think of both user benefits and company benefits. Content that is only useful for the company achieves less acceptance and impact than content that is associated with a convincing user benefit.
• Channels: assigning content to the channels in which it is to be distributed helps significantly in organizing the day-to-day work and can provide further assurance that we only ever use content in appropriate channels.
• Motivation: we make sure that for each content we include a possible motivation for a desired behavior. This enables us, for example, to significantly accelerate the dissemination of content. If we do not see any motivation for a desired behavior in content, this may be due to the fact that this content is not aligned with a corresponding goal, or the topic of motivation has been forgotten. Neither is helpful for success in social media and the corporate success we seek through it.
• Timing: we connect the content with the timing for its use in the channels chosen for it. This allows us to plan the deployment for the day’s work and, at the same time, to see what content users can expect to see from us, to what extent, and at what times. This shows us what image we project about our content to our target groups.

Topics and content via community

Assuming the suitability a community, we define the content and topics of the community according to the suitability, the possible user benefits and the resulting functions and tasks of the community.

In order for our community to be sufficiently successful and beneficial to users, we define the methods and systems of motivation to support desired user activity, as well as the opportunities for users to actively participate in the community (beyond traditional usage), which promotes coverage of topics and content by the community – e.g., by taking over functions for specific topics.

Work steps:

• Definition of the appropriate topics for building a community
• Define community goals.
• Definition of the user benefit
• Definition of motivation and participation
• Definition of functions for user benefit, motivation and participation
• Definition of the requirements for the social media channels (for building a community)
• Assumptions and requirements for building the community
• Assess resource needs.

Goals of the strategy component

The goals for the subject areas and their individual topics are basically derived from the company’s goals and the competitive situation and define what position the company wants to achieve in the respective subject area.

Furthermore, the goal of our strategy component is to map the topics and content as well as their contribution to the company’s success and social media success. We use the strategy component to create the basis for the company’s content strategy (Audience) or define content priorities for community management (Community).

Targets for subject areas and topics include

• as Audience: for example, to become or remain the leading source of information overall – for one or more subject areas. The goal is defined and measured by metrics such as active users, views content, interaction / recommendation content for the topic(s).
• as a network: for professionally based networks, the goals of the topics result from the importance of the network in these topics (for the users professionally involved in these topics).
• as a community: The objective for the community usage format would be to become the leading community for one or more topics. This goal can be measured by the number of active users in the community of the topic area or in the community area for this topic area.

We use the topics to define the requirements for the content and its contribution to social media and corporate success, as well as the practicality of the content.

We have defined their desired competitive position in our strategy for the topics. This sets the goals. I. e. we have topics / subject areas in which we

• want to achieve theleading position in the competition.
• want to achieve a position equivalent to that of the competition.
• accept a weaker position compared with the competition.

Explanation: This competition-related objective has the advantage of being dynamic rather than static. Social media is, by its nature, a dynamic environment. Static objectives are correspondingly less suited to this environment. If the competitive situation changes, we do not have to think about adjusting the targets but can focus directly on adjusting the measures.

We derive other target variables from the goals, such as.

• Desired and achieved range
• desired and achieved user behavior
• Measured variables for the goals of corporate benefit and user benefit

Targets and reality

As easy as it seems to derive targets according to quantitative ideas, it is difficult to realize or even measure these targets precisely in the market. Digital nature makes a great deal measurable, but at the same time we are faced with the peculiarity of digital competitive situations that can be described by “the winner takes it all”. Ultimately, this leads to the not always comfortable situation that we almost only have to play to win and not to place if we want to maintain our position in the competition.

Resource requirements

Resource requirements for actions in the themes are noted in the strategy components of the measures.

Assumptions in the strategy component

In the assumptions, we note all assumptions related to the topics and themes. Assumptions in this strategy component are, for example, not supported by facts but assumed preferences of users / target groups for certain topics. If, for example, we cannot recognize that subjects are social media-savvy on the basis of their use of social media, but assume that this is the case on the basis of our own experience, we note and justify this assumption in the strategy component.

Assumptions also include presumed competitive behavior. That is, if we assume a certain competitive behavior for the future, we should record this assumption accordingly. In this case, not only in the assumptions but also in the risks.

Prerequisites in the strategy component

We understand preconditions as everything that must be given so that the contents of our strategy component can contribute to the success of the strategy. These could be, for example, themes and topics that are, by their nature, permanent. Or social media channels that make success-relevant services and functions permanently available.

Risks from the strategy component Themes and subject areas

Interests of the target groups: if the topics do not sufficiently correspond to the interests of the target groups that we want to address with our strategy, we do not reach these target groups. This may be the case if the topics on which our services are based, or the needs of the users we address, are not of high importance to these users. I have experienced this case in financial services for teenagers and young adults – and mastered it by focusing on the issues and needs that were more relevant to these target groups. For low-interest products or services, we are dealing with this problem. In social media, this has a correspondingly negative effect if the topics and subject areas that represent the market and our services are not a topic for social media users. For these areas, it then becomes more challenging to support their own corporate success through social media.

Problem solving: When checking the social media affinity of topics (market, business model), you have already identified whether these are low-interest or high-interest for the users. For your strategy, it is advisable not to stick to these in the case of decidedly low-interest topics, but to use more powerful for market development and securing, and to integrate the processes relevant to the company for marketing into the user benefit or into other measures.

Less powerful usage format: if we have chosen a less powerful usage format than possible, we constantly run the risk that the competition will build up structural competitive advantages – permanently or temporarily – by switching to this usage format.

Requirements for other strategy components

Based on the (competitive) goals we want to realize in our topics, we have decided on certain measures. These measures result in concrete requirements for the respective strategy components, which must also be performed in these strategy components. We describe these requirements in the outbound strategy component (topics in this example).

Interactions

Here you will find typical interactions between this strategy component and other strategy components described. The specific interactions in a strategy depend on the respective content of the strategy components. Even though only interactions between two strategy components are described here, interactions between several strategy components are certainly possible and also probable.

• Interactions with UserBenefit : The UserBenefit should be chosen very consistently from the environment of our content and topics. Our topics represent our markets and a UserBenefit that does not originate from the environment of these markets is certainly not quite as helpful in developing these markets as a UserBenefit that corresponds to the core of the topics of the market or markets. The content and topics therefore have a defining role vis-à-vis the user benefits. Content and topics define the range within which we place our user benefits.
• Interaction with corporate benefits: We can generate business value through content and topics, for example, by using them to develop markets, attract interested parties, or generate feedback and insights.
• Interactions with target groups: The content and topics as well as the user benefits must correspond to the interests and needs of our target groups. The defining strategy component in this relationship is therefore the target groups strategy component.
• Interactions with Reach: Content and topics, appropriately designed, have a significant impact on building reach and activating reach. This requires that the topics are focused on these tasks (structure, activity).
• Interactions with communication: Communication transports topics and content. That is, the content is crucial for communication. We need to make our communications compatible and appropriate for the content and topics we want to use for social media. This applies to both the formats of our communication (media formats) and the style of communication.
• Interactions with usage formats: From the strategy component topics and content, there are interactions via the source of the content. If user-generated content is to be possible or is the primary source of content, this has clear requirements for the usage formats. Otherwise, the essential source of content and topics is the company itself. Thus, usage formats affect the source of content and topics rather than the content and topics themselves.
• Interactions with competition: With our topics and content, we are in global competition for attention – i.e., also in competition with companies that do not offer services comparable to ours. At the same time, we are in a media competition. This type of competition is rather new to most companies because they have little or no experience as a media company. The quality of our content determines the competitive impact – in competition with performance competitors, on which we mostly focus, but also in competition with attention competitors. If we are competitive with our themes only against performance competitors, a significant part of the potential success with our themes is questionable. We must therefore be competitive with our topics at all levels of competition – also due to global competition. With the selection of topics, we therefore define competitive fields and requirements for the company. Competition in these fields defines the standards we have to meet in our topics and content in order to achieve a positive effect – e.g. in terms of opening up and developing markets, generating leads, etc.
• Interactions with participation: Topics and content offer opportunities for participation by social media users – both in the form of user-generated content but also in the sense of various forms of content curation, i.e. the selection and evaluation of content. Through this participation, we secure not only economic advantages in the production of content, but also a higher acceptance in the target groups, a higher relevance for the target groups and thus a higher quality and last but not least – with appropriate integration and connection to social network and community platforms – also a higher distribution.
• Interactions with motivation: Motivation is an approach focused on a behavior. We can link topics and content to appropriate motivation for a desired behavior – e.g., to share or engage in it. The better the topics and content match the interests of the recipients and the motivation is focused on a need that is of great importance to the recipients, the more effective the combination of topics and content with motivation will be. If we distribute relevant content and topics, we reach our target groups. If we combine these contents and topics with successful motivation, we achieve a much greater impact.
• Interactions with channels: Content and topics must be transported to their recipients. The channels used for this purpose can have an impact on the content itself and its success via their suitability. Suitability includes the technical-conceptual suitability – for example, the use of different media formats – and the suitability from the target group use of the channels. If a technically desired channel has only low usage by the target groups to be addressed, this significantly reduces the suitability of the channel.

Work templates

With a working template to overview the topics and themes we get a general overview of the topics / themes of a social media strategy / strategy version. At the same time, we see from which sources of the business model / corporate goals the topics / subject areas originate and which priority and social media affinity the respective topics have. Working templates like these are also an initial basis from which we can make preliminary selections for reasonable strategy approaches based on priority and social media affinity. We could also add to the working template the business benefits we want to achieve with social media for each area of the business model/corporate goals.

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With a working template we present the topics / subject areas and the competitive positions desired and achievable therein, and briefly describe via the measures how we believe we can also achieve these competitive positions. This template can be used, for example, as a first approach to strategy version development once we have defined the “playing field” or framework of a strategy version.

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The example of a working template of a defined topic area, its competitive goals, and the content of the core strategy components we will use to achieve those goals. By color-coding the content fields of the core strategy components, we can visually highlight the competitive position we expect (for and through the content of the core strategy components). This makes differences between strategy versions more obvious, for example.

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In a working template, we define the assumptions and prerequisites underlying the selection of topic areas and their priorities and social media affinity. In doing so, we also record assumptions on which the assessment of the impact of the content of the core strategy components is based.

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The strategy component Topics also includes specific content to be addressed or used in the individual topics. These contents describe how we work on the topics in terms of content, i.e. where we want to set content priorities within topics, or which content priorities we want to set in individual topics.

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Above is an example of a working template on the requirements from the strategy component Topics to other strategy components. Due to its importance, the strategy component Themes is the defining part in strategy development to which the other strategy components are oriented.

There are interactions between strategy components, especially if they have a particular impact on each other in terms of content. These interactions must be taken into account in strategy development. In order for our strategy components to work together constructively – i.e., to support each other – it is important to identify potential problems from the content of each strategy and find solutions. Here, potential problems from the contents of the core strategy components are noted for the topics/topic areas and their goals, and their solutions are recorded.

Problems arise, for example, when the content of core strategy components is not certain to contribute to success, or is incompatible in content with the content of other strategy components. Examples of this are problems in the implementation of user benefits or usage formats in external social media channels.

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We determine the resources for strategy components based on the measures in the respective strategy component. Measures for topics / subject areas consist in all rules in the implementation of content. This means that the resource requirements in the strategy component Topics are likely to result predominantly from the implementation of content (content in Audiences, content areas in Communities). The resource requirements for the structure of the usage format are better recorded in the usage format, while the resource requirements for the content are better recorded in the topics and content, because they can be better assigned to the corporate benefit – which we are aiming for with the topics. We can then – where necessary – gain an overview of which resources we invest in which topics and more easily compare this investment with the benefits derived from it – via the topics and their support of the business model and corporate goals.

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A worksheet that compares the contents of one’s own strategy / strategy version and the competitive performance for one topic (or topic area). For particularly important topics / subject areas, it is very informative to gain this overview, not least to compare alternative approaches for individual topics. Analogously, this procedure can of course also be adapted for the comparison of strategy versions.