Marketers, we are in the midst of the biggest crisis the world has faced in decades and you need to be prepared. If your target audience is the C-suite, the content you had planned may no longer be fit for purpose, as these execs focus on their new strategies and responses to the ongoing situation for the next few quarters. To make sure your message cuts through the noise and reaches these business leaders, you must be addressing the specific issues they are now faced with.

So, how can this be achieved? First, you must consider how you can adapt your content to make it relevant to your audience in these times. The campaigns you had prepared previously might not be as effective at capturing the attention of the CEO when they are wrangling with issues which will determine the future of their business. Your team needs to adopt a publishing mindset and approach - so you can put out time-specific, relevant and genuinely useful content.

How can business leaders know when, whether and how to pivot their business models?

At Raconteur, we have spent 12 years talking to the C-suite about the issues that matter to them. We harness the expertise and creativity of our in-house teams, and commission tier-one journalists to turn our ideas into stories that are engaging, pertinent and practical. We also use a range of search engine optimisation and social listening tools to further understand audience needs. Now, we would like to use this expertise to help you.

In this guide you will find all you need to create content designed to make CEOs sit up and listen. We will share the techniques, tips and tools we use, including a step-by-step guide to running your own commissioning meeting, as well as briefs for ready-made content ideas. All you will need to do is...write them up.

International supply chains have been rocked to their core by demand shocks, supply shortages and plummeting consumer spending, so how should CEOs be responding?  How can business leaders know when, whether and how to pivot their business models? And should CEOs be succession planning in case they contract the virus and leave no one at the helm? These are just some of the things keeping CEOs awake at night, and answering these questions could be your way to get a foot in the door. 

Great ideas are like gold dust, and at Raconteur we've spent years mastering our content alchemy. While there is no easy fix, we have developed a methodology for coming up with great content ideas at speed and scale. Here's our five-step process that, when followed correctly, will dramatically increase your chances of striking gold.

1 Do your research

The very first step in creating great content ideas should always be to find out what your audience wants. You might think that you already have a good understanding of this, but with the amount of change that industries are experiencing at the moment it's safe to assume that the priorities of your audience have changed too. Therefore, it might be necessary to re-profile your audience to understand their new challenges and what they really need insight on.

To do this, we recommend doing some form of market research, for example a quantitative survey or conducting qualitative interviews with your current customers. Not everyone will have the time or the budget to commission a huge piece of research, but even a short survey or conversation with members of your target audience will provide you with so much insight to fuel your content ideas.

Once you have this, you should look at what is being written about right now and what 'whitespace' your brand's content could potentially fill. At Raconteur, we have an in-house editorial team who collaborate with our network of tier-one journalists regularly to analyse the content landscape and come up with unique ideas... but we understand not everyone is quite so lucky.

However, there are a number of tools and techniques anyone can use to aid your content ideation process. We use a combination of SEO tool SEMRush (though Ahrefs would work just as well), social listening tool Pulsar and search query aggregator Answer the Public, to get the best insights into what the online reader is looking for. You can also examine what relevant publications are writing about and look for new, unique angles to take. 

2 Get the right people in the room

The secret to creating great content is diversity of thought, so make sure you have a range of people in your commissioning meeting. Identify the creatives in your organisation and get hold of those who actually speak to your target audience, such as salespeople or account managers. Make sure each member fulfils a particular “role”. Ideally you’ll need someone with a commercial hat on thinking about articles from those angles; you’ll need at least one Devil’s advocate ensuring ideas stand up to scrutiny; and you’ll need a managing editor to oversee. Finally, if you can get hold of someone in the job role you’re targeting – bingo! Going after CFOs? Ask your head of finance to attend. Setting your sights on CEOs? Try your managing director or equivalent. The insights they provide will be invaluable.

3 Discuss everything

Commissioning meetings are built on dialogue and collaboration, so make sure you create an open forum where everyone feels comfortable speaking. There is no such thing as a “bad” idea – with enough discussion you can find new angles which will transform even the most unpromising concepts. Remember, “good” ideas can become great ideas with a little brainstorming; no idea should arrive on the table fully formed. The real key to achieving great ideas is asking the right questions. What information gap is this filling? What should my target reader take away from this article? Is this really something that they are worried about or interested in? Never be afraid to question generally held assumptions.

4 Play with formats

Anyone can publish a series of articles, but you are vying for very limited attention, so you have to be creative. Switch in listicles (‘top fives’, for example), for-and-against features and roundtable discussions to keep your readers engaged. If you have the in-house abilities, make the most of your design or creative team and break pieces up with lovely illustrations and high-quality, highly relevant photographs, rather than relying on stock imagery. Support each article with additional datasets or pull-stats to help hammer your point home.

5 Briefing is everything

Whether you’re writing the piece yourself or are commissioning an external journalist, having a brief to follow will ensure that the output matches expectations. Make sure to outline the key questions you want the article to answer, have an idea of the ‘tone of voice’ you wish to achieve and, if commissioning externally, include links to inspiration articles or background research you might have done. The clearer and more comprehensive your brief, the better your finished piece will be. 

With some help from our managing director, and applying the five steps to great content, we identified the following editorial ideas to grab the CEO’s attention. These are ‘oven-ready’ (to borrow from Boris) but we’d recommend that you spend some time to nuance them to reflect your own unique perspective. Any questions on the best way to do this, feel free to drop us a line.

Strategy

1. An event like we’ve never seen 

Suggested format: Feature/analysis

Recommended word count: 1,000

Key question: Why isn’t the financial crash comparable?

It’s undeniable that the economic and societal consequences of the coronavirus pandemic will be severe. But those who are repeatedly comparing the knock-on effects to the 2008-09 financial crisis are wrong. For one thing, no amount of central bank liquidity or government stimulus will be fully able to mitigate its impact. Using research and opinions from prominent economists and academics, this feature could explore why the two cannot be compared like for like, and why those leaders who are using the crash as a case study to prepare for the future are simply setting themselves up for failure.

2. What the pandemic has taught us about supply chain management 

Suggested format: Feature

Recommended word count: 800

Key question: Is true supply chain resilience even possible right now?

Demand shocks, supply shortages, plummeting consumer spending, stagnant distribution networks, currency fluctuations. These are just some of the issues facing both domestic and international supply chains right now as a result of the pandemic - issues that even the most seasoned business leaders have never before had to contend with. This article could cover the changing nature of supply chain resilience, and the lessons that can be learned from the initial wave of border closures and national lockdowns across the world. Is true ‘resilience’ even possible right now?

3. Continuity and contingency planning in a crisis 

Suggested format: Listicle

Recommended word count: 5 x 200

Key question: Which roles are most in demand during a crisis?

With most major consultancies seeing an increased demand for these services, it is time to question whether your continuity and contingency plans are still fit for purpose. What are the major things companies need to look at when planning for the future, and what does the perfect post-coronavirus crisis management team look like? What are the roles, capabilities and skills most in demand as business leaders assemble groups and committees responsible for mitigating the negative effects of the pandemic, such as brand and reputation, press relations and stakeholder management?

4. Stick or twist: when and how should a business pivot? 

Suggested format: Feature or mini case studies

Recommended word count: 1000

Key question: Is now the time to shift business models or ride out the storm?

The consumer landscape is already unrecognisable to 2019, with changing consumer behaviour, delivery channels and supply chains rendering many companies obsolete. The question is, should businesses bunker down to ride out current and near-term storms, or is now the time to innovate and shift business models? Drawing on practical advice from business leaders and consultants, this piece could look at the fundamental steps that need to inform the decision-making process in such a scenario. This could be written as an in-depth analysis or series of mini case studies of companies that have successfully mitigated the impact of coronavirus through “sticking or twisting” their business models and strategy.

5. Planning for a post-coronavirus world 

Suggested format: Feature

Recommended word count: 1000

Key question: What does business in a post-coronavirus world look like?

What does business in a post-coronavirus world look like? This piece could be an analysis of how businesses will be impacted by changing attitudes, geopolitics, globalisation, regulation and recession, and what plans should be put in place now to mitigate negative impacts and take advantage of a shifting landscape.

6. Consolidation and prudence, or aggression and expansion? 

Suggested format: For/against

Recommended word count: 2 x 400

Key question: Is now the time to expand or consolidate?

As every industry reacts and adapts to a changing environment, how will the pandemic affect corporate risk appetite? Is now a time to sit back and take stock, or push ahead, expand and hoover up the customers of your competitors that have failed? Despite its catastrophic economic consequences, does the coronavirus outbreak present a unique opportunity to steal a march on rivals? This for-and-against article should draw on the thoughts of leading multinational business leaders, M&A specialists and risk managers for varied insight on whether companies should expand or consolidate.

Leadership

1. Activist CEOs and crisis leadership 

Suggested format: For/against lists

Recommended word count: 2 x 500

Key question: What’s the right way to communicate in a crisis?

This feature could analyse the varying approaches to crisis management from prominent chief executives across the world. While it is important to take a proactive stance to address stakeholder and customer concerns, rushing to put out a hasty statement or making an ill-conceived grand gesture could have dire consequences. Comparing statements and actions around job losses, store closures or temporary changes to business models, how have stakeholders and customers responded, and what has been the knock-on effect on brand reputation? This feature could be split into two lists of good and bad responses, with lessons to learn from each, to make it easily digestible.

2. Are you leading through a crisis, or just managing fall-out? 

Suggested format: Listicle

Recommended word count: 7 x 100 

Key question: How can CEOs adapt their leadership styles at times of stress?

While the coronavirus pandemic presents an unprecedented challenge for businesses the world over, what are some of the top leadership traps to avoid and successful traits to develop when managing people through a crisis? Speaking to HR experts, behavioural specialists and leadership coaches, this piece - written as a listicle to make it more digestible - will discuss varying styles of leadership in crisis, and why changing and adapting your style as the crisis unfolds may be the way to stay ahead.

Workforce

1. Succession planning in the time of Covid-19 

Suggested format: Feature

Recommended word count: 600

Key question: What happens if decision-makers are incapacitated?

Looking forward, chances are that most people will know - or know of - someone who will contract Covid-19 and is unable to work, and business leaders need to have contingency plans in place in case they or other senior decision-makers become incapacitated. For example, are your processes, technology and people fit for purpose in case your CFO goes off ill and can no longer make urgent financial decisions? This piece could look at the growing importance of succession planning within business, and explore whether tech and automation can reduce the reliance on one individual to ensure continuity. 

2. The inevitable recruitment crisis 

Suggested format: Feature

Recommended word count: 800 

Key question: How can you stop attrition post-coronavirus?

As employees nationwide take time to reflect on their careers, working lives and future opportunities, many will inevitably decide that they want to leave their companies and pursue their passions when this is all over. So what happens if your yearly average staff turnover happens in just one financial quarter? This article should draw on the thoughts of senior HR professionals and leaders to explore what employers can do now to enhance employee engagement and save their retention rates over the next 12 months.

3. Do your employees need to ‘prove’ they are working? 

Suggested format: Feature

Recommended word count: 900

Key question: Can you keep tabs on employees without being invasive?

Before government-mandated WFH became the norm, a company’s easiest indicator of productivity was seeing employees working in the office. So with everyone now working remotely, should we be checking in on employees to see how much they are working? If the focus should be on outputs, how can this be effectively measured without breaching employee trust? Can people data and analytics solve these problems?

4. Like it or loathe it, flexible working will become the norm 

Suggested format: First-person case studies

Recommended word count: 10 x 100

Key question: Will flexible working become the norm?

With the entire nation undergoing the largest work-from-home experiment ever seen, attitudes towards remote  and flexible working have changed permanently - for better or for worse. So when companies eventually return to offices and settle back into their normal workplaces, it is unrealistic to think that things will be the same. This piece could explore how both employee and employer views on flexible working have shifted, and why traditional leaders hoping for a return to old working patterns and rigid routines are in for a rude awakening.

5. Compassion: what employees need above all else right now 

Suggested format: Feature

Recommended word count: 600

Key question: How do leaders show compassion in times of crisis?

Coronavirus has brought with it increased tension, to the workplace and the home, and workers need employers who can listen and be flexible to their individual needs, showing humanity and support at a high-pressure time. This article, using insights from HR experts and leadership coaches, will explore how successful business leaders are currently supporting their employees through being compassionate, and why the current crisis could change how chief executives lead their teams in the years to come.

6. How to maintain a positive culture amid negative news 

Suggested format: Feature

Recommended word count: 800 

Key question: How can leaders build a positive culture?

While the corporate impact of the pandemic will vary greatly - from a few lost sales in one industry to whole departments being forced to take unpaid leave - chief executives will likely have to get used to giving negative updates as the situation continues to unfold. But how can they do this in an uplifting and positive way? How can leaders communicate with their employees and bring everyone together to maintain a positive corporate culture and reduce resentment among staff?

7. Answering the internet’s top HR questions 

Suggested format: Listicle

Recommended word count: 10 x 100

Key question: What are the most important people management issues right now?

From unpaid leave and furlough to redundancies and sick pay, business leaders have to contend with an enormous list of people management challenges as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds. Using research from search-engine insight databases, this listicle could explore some of the most searched-for questions surrounding human resources issues over the past month, drawing on expert insight from law firms and HR professionals to bust myths and educate chief executives on the most pertinent employee issues facing their companies today.

So there you go, content marketing success in a box. What are you waiting for? We wish it was that easy.

Whilst these tips, tricks and editorial ideas can deliver you some quick wins and some much-needed traction with your target audience, we recognise that marketing is not quite so simple. In the long term, sustained C-suite engagement requires a plan that aligns marketing activities with business goals, alongside the capability to create high-quality content at scale,  and the mechanisms to get it in front of the people that matter at speed. 

At Raconteur, we work with leading B2B brands to shape their marketing strategy and create, activate and optimise content to deliver results. Get in touch to see how we can help you turn great ideas into real customer action.

Find out more about Raconteur Agency:

raconteur.net/agency

agency@raconteur.net