Content Production Process

An Overview of the Content Production Process

Consider the following 11 steps towards developing a holistic content plan for Wavumbuzi, considering multiple phases and marketing channels.

1. Phase Analysis

Within the context of the 6 lifecycle phases of Wavumbuzi, it’s important to bear in mind that content shared within a particular phase should drive the ideal conversion point of that specific phase. For example, within an awareness phase, the content mix will be more promotional, than in the registration phase, which should be positioned stronger towards driving new registrations.

Content Pillars - this document outlines the different high-level content focus areas we identified for different audiences across different phases of the Rwanda Ed 1 user journey.

2. Outcome Planning

What are the specific outcomes we’d like to achieve during each phase? For example, during the awareness phase, our ideal outcome should be to target teachers and students to visit the website and find out more about Wavumbuzi. I.e. KPI will be website traffic & target audience penetration. During the onboarding phase, content should be driving teachers & students to reach PROFILE COMPLETE, which implies that the messaging and content during this phase will focus on audience groups who started the process, but didn’t finish.

For more information on the key conversions at different phases of a given campaign, visit the User Journey page of this playbook.

3. Content Bucket Development

These are content themes we use to ensure that content remains relevant, exciting and doesn’t fall into the trap of user fatigue. A list of these content themes can be found above on the Contents Mix page of this playbook. These are reviewed & amended for each new challenge, depending on the performance of these content buckets during previous challenges.

4. Channel Consideration

Once content buckets have been established, it’s helpful to consider which marketing channel is most appropriate to deliver these content items. For example, user-generated content is best suited for social media channels like Facebook or YouTube. Success stories & testimonials are more suited for PR related channels, such as radio or print.

More information on the channel strategy we have adopted can be found on the Channel Strategy page of this playbook.

5. Content Writing & Design

To maintain a centralized location where all content is drafted, reviewed & approved, we make use of an Asana Communications Plan for each new Wavumbuzi Challenge. This allows the marketing team to draft the content, based on the content bucket mix, and best-suited channel, upload the design assets associated with the content element and notify the Senior Marketing Manager for review & approval.

For details on the communications planning process, visit the Planning and Distribution page of this playbook.

6. Content Calendar Planning

Asana allows content to be planned for specific days in the week, depending on important events/announcements planned during the week. Each content item can be scheduled on a specific day, providing a calendar view once completed consisting of the following:

• Content item (Social Post, Blog post, Winner Announcement etc)

• Message (What we’re saying)

• Channel (Where are we saying it)

• Visual Element (Does it have or need a visual graphic?)

• Budget (If it’s a promoted piece of content, the budget allocation can be added)

• Who’s responsible for delivery (Who needs to approve & deliver the content)

7. Content Approval

Once the Asana Communications Plan has been fully drafted with all communication elements, the Senior Marketing Manager can review all content items, recommend edits, comment on the status of each element, and approve the content piece before it is distributed.

8. Distribution

Once approved, the Junior Marketing Assistant can distribute the content piece to the correct channel. For example, if it’s a social media post, the Marketing Assistant can view the Asana Calendar, copy the approved content and graphic and upload it to social media on the scheduled day. If it’s a WhatsApp message that needs to be sent, this can be copied and shared by the Marketing team, knowing that it’s already been approved.

9. A/B Testing

A culture of A/B testing content pieces is strongly encouraged. We know that teachers and students constantly change and adapt. What may have worked with the previous challenge, needs to be tweaked to work again. Test different calls to action, different graphics (i.e does a gameworld image deliver better performance than a student image), and different times of the day. Test long vs. short messages; test adding or removing emojis. Test everything!

10. Optimization

There’s always room for improvement. If A/B testing is a regular activity, it’ll undoubtedly create a path to optimize content delivery. Check-in on the performance of content daily. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to remember what optimizations were done during challenge seasons, rather check daily, write down any new changes, and check in on these the next day. Make optimization a daily practice, not just something to include in a post-campaign report.

11. Learning & Review

Each new learning ultimately leads to better (or more effective) performance. Interrogate everything by digging through opinion and statistics. Real learning happens when you strip away any bias and preconceived reasonings.

For more information on how to use data to optimise the content production process, visit the Tracking and Analytics page of this playbook.