CONTENT STRATEGY
The Association of Project Management
SETTING THE SCENE
From our years of experience working with membership organisations, we know that strong and relevant content is key to competitive positioning, measurable value and sustained engagement with members, customers and key stakeholders. The ability to convey current and practical information to the right audiences, at the right time, in the right format is often a tricky balance, given the complexities and breadth of content which professional bodies share with their community.
b2b responded to the Association of Project Management’s (APM) tender for support to devise a new content strategy and was selected to deliver this project for the Association.
SCOPE OF WORK
APM’s challenge stemmed from the breadth of content produced to support its members and ultimately achieve its organisational objectives. This included valuable, high-quality content that wasn’t being fully utilised to trigger the type of customer behaviours that APM were looking for.
APM’s objectives focused on boosting engagement, cementing voice, increasing the diversity and global reach of its customers and APM understood that the key to doing this was via content. APM’s aims covered three key areas:
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To attract new customers
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To maximise value for existing customers
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To open APM to new audiences
WHAT WE DELIVERED
b2b worked with APM’s core teams to devise a content strategy against the brief which met APM’s wider business objectives. We looked at the drivers and purpose behind APM’s content and why the right approach to content would:
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support APM’s business priorities
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strengthen its membership proposition
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reposition APM in the marketplace
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support the delivery of APM products and services
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boost APM’s external ‘voice’
We explored APM’s customer content needs and demands, including the types of content APM’s members often look for. We ran focus groups with engaged and non-engaged customers and undertook a qualitative research exercise to understand what information, guidance and content customers valued.
We also reviewed the approach to sourcing, curation, development and delivery of content by APM, including process, roles, responsibility, structure and success metrics. Taxonomy, and the way in which content was accessed, was also reviewed, to understand the journey and key touch points when members looked for specific content, information or guidance.
RESULTS & OUTCOMES
We created a strategy with practical application and recommendations that positioned APM as the ‘go-to’ leading provider of project management information, guidance and learning.
The strategy addressed APM’s market opportunity including how content could be leveraged to aid member recruitment, retention and engagement of a broader ‘non-member’ community.
We highlighted dependencies and considerations for the adoption, development and implementation of content, drawing attention to the level of business transformation required. We included a content sign-off process, taxonomy approach, distribution options and recommended a phased implementation plan.
Our recommendations outlined a future-proof approach to the sourcing, curation, development and delivery of content, with a focus on internal processes, roles, responsibilities, structure, content management and metrics.
ABOUT
APM is the only chartered body for the project profession, with over 30,000 individual members and more than 500 organisations participating in their Corporate Partnership Programme.
As an educational charity, APM are committed to developing and promoting the value of project management in order to deliver improved project outcomes for the benefit of society.
In 2017, APM was awarded a Royal Charter to raise awareness and standards in the profession. The receipt of a Royal Charter marks a significant achievement in the evolution of project management and those who make, and seek to make, a career in this field.