Taxonomy, Economy. Who Cares?
CMOs looking to re-energize and even restart successful campaigns after the COVID-19 pandemic should be paying attention to taxonomy. Scientists’ definition of the word relates to the systematic categorization of plants and animals, based on their natural relationship with one another. In taxonomy, lions, tigers, leopards and even house cats would all be classified together.
In a mature and well-oiled company, it should be no different when it comes to marketing. But a survey of 398 content marketers and strategists by content strategy firm upland Kapost revealed some surprising results, in that 23% confessed they didn’t know what taxonomy was.
Of those polled, another 13% said they employ taxonomies independently within the company, while 17% reported taxonomy collaboration across departments, but with no mutual definition or comprehension of it. Only 39% said they understood taxonomy and agreed to have it throughout the company.
Getting Aboard
Companies seeking to introduce and employ taxonomy into their marketing plan need to strategize their content plans around the brand’s objectives and then prioritize them by identifying and filling or eliminating any strategic cracks they discover. Only 11% of respondents to the survey said they were doing this.
Priorities sometimes change and because ideas and requests from other departments often flow into marketing, ensure that there’s a formal process in place to acknowledge and respond to them. One in ten people reported handling requests when they had time and another 30% said they do it as the requests arrive.
Ensure that not just marketing, but every department that works with it, is aware of and understands how their efforts are linked to the brand’s goals. More than a third (37%) said they had no idea what others they’re supposed to be collaborating with do and another 16% reported having no knowledge of how their efforts contributed to the brand’s goals.
With input from every department involved around the brand’s marketing, come up with a system in which product ideas are recorded, considered tracked, and reported. Only 6% of those surveyed had such a system in place.
Demonstrating return of investment to management has been a constant and common challenge of CFOs. Consider what only 8% of the respondents do, as they provide “live” dashboards which allow them, and other relevant departments and management, to track their progress, goal metrics and key attributes.
What has also been a common challenge among CMOs is keeping those who should be kept in the loop up to date with the progress of campaigns. Be sure to keep those stakeholders who don’t have access to any “live” dashboards constantly apprised of the situation.
When possible, keep workflows standardized, and utilize digital asset management (DAM) as another valuable vehicle to distribute content and keep others like sales and customer service personnel abreast of the situation. Having a single source of information is particularly important for teams and departments that deal with consumers regularly. Of those polled, 61% said they are often confused because they must seek out several different sources for information.
Keep striving to personalize consumer experiences. This was important before, and will be paramount going forward. Consider several systems to accomplish this. Only 9% of respondents currently have more than one. And when connecting with consumers, ensure consistency in the messaging. Just 20% of respondents believed they did so.
Monitor and update content. Nothing destroys confidence in a brand like sharing out-of-date information. Yet, 46% of respondents admitted to not having a system to monitor and correct this. Another 40% said they audit the situation manually if and when they have the time and 34% confessed to correcting it when they stumble upon it.
Last, but not least, organize a team to oversee content strategy. Members should be cross-functional and committed to ensuring that everyone is aligned with the plan.
