Unified communications (UC) technology integrates voice, email, and instant messaging services, along with video conferencing desktop sharing. When Plantronics decided to enter the fast-growing unified communications (UC) market, it had two main marketing objectives:

1. Reposition the company as more than just a headset maker
2. Introduce the headset as a critical piece of an overall UC strategy

Plantronics asked for Tendo’s advice from a content perspective. The company had already created a new look and feel for its brand, signaling a new direction for the company. With that in mind, we recommended developing a cohesive content strategy that communicated the wider brand story to business and technical decision makers interested in UC. To succeed, the content strategy needed to be smart, efficient, and sustainable.

Understand where you’re at, where you’re going, and what’s in between

Designing and implementing an effective content strategy requires three simple but important things:

1. Knowing where you are

What does your existing portfolio of content look like? Is it advancing your business goals? What’s missing?

To understand where Plantronics was on its content journey, we started by auditing 1,000 pieces of existing content. Immersing ourselves in the company’s content enabled us to determine which content could help Plantronics enter the UC market, which content was outdated, and where gaps existed that might require new content.

2. Determining where you want to go

From a content perspective, what does your desired end state look like? To determine where Plantronics wanted to go, we developed audience storylines—persona-based narratives that reflected the needs and challenges of Plantronics’ business and technology buyers.

We then created content journeys based on the storylines, which led Plantronics prospects through the awareness, consideration, and purchase phases of the buyer’s journey.

3. Figuring out how to get there

What tools, resources, capabilities, and processes will you need to reach your end state?

For the content journeys, we adapted existing assets and created new content, incorporating different content types and platforms, from infographics to SlideShare to web copy. We also created a new content type, a one-page scannable “Brief,” which examined pressing UC and call center challenges and offered advice on how to solve them.

Tools for sustained content creation

To make sure Plantronics could sustain this new content model, we provided the tools they would need for ongoing content creation. We developed a voice and tone guide, a variety of editorial support materials, and frameworks to understand when and why to create certain types of content, whether it was a white paper or an ebook.

The result? Plantronics ended up with a cohesive content model that maps to the buyer’s journey and helps communicate the value of its UC products. And most importantly, Plantronics has the “weapons” in its arsenal to continue producing engaging content for the UC market.