Content leaders need stakeholder engagement plans

It’s easy for content leaders to think that the entire company sees their team’s work.

Website content. Yammer posts. Videos. Press releases. Emails. Events. All of it is available for everyone to see.

But you’re a busy leader, which means the leaders you need are also busy and may not catch every piece of content your team produces.

This is why content leaders need a stakeholder engagement plan.

A stakeholder engagement plan outlines the ways your strategic partners will stay informed of your team’s efforts. This is critical for a number of reasons:

• It allows leaders to digest your efforts at their pace

• It gives you the opportunity to provide context behind your efforts

• You have the attention of the people who can make or break your projects

Let’s break these three points down, shall we?

It allows leaders to digest your efforts at their pace

Allowing senior leaders the space to digest your team’s efforts at their pace is a form of respect they won’t forget. In the age of back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back meetings and emails that never end, there is a chance they may miss that impactful video or highly engaging social post. But your stakeholder engagement plan includes content tailored for them, so they’re able to recognize your team’s impact when they have a moment to breathe.

It gives you the opportunity to provide context behind your efforts

Most senior leaders are not going to deep dive social media metrics or understand the impact a particular video  on lead generation. A stakeholder engagement plan gives content leaders a platform to share how their work has impacted and grown the business. This is big when you want support on a large content project.

You have the attention of the people who can make or break your projects

Finding budget for a project can be more challenging than the project itself. When leadership sees that your efforts have impact, then they’re likely more willing to devote budget to your future efforts. Beyond money, you also want to control what leaders say and think of you when you’re not in the room. Showing results helps to control your career narrative.

Building your plan

Now that you understand the benefits of a stakeholder engagement plan, who should be your target audience?

It should be those who can influence your team’s existence. It could be executive sponsors, senior leaders, project leads, or leaders your team may regularly work with. Whoever this group is, I would suggest incorporating a mix of email (maybe a newsletter?) and in-person meeting to give your stakeholders a forum to react to your team’s efforts.

Your stakeholder engagement plan, to be honest, is not that much different than any other content strategy plan. You’re sharing information and key messaging with a specific audience in a way that you want to influence how they think of your team.

The last word

The last thing you want is for the fate of you and your team to be in the hands of leaders who don’t clearly understand your team’s value. Successfully executing your stakeholder engagement plan greatly helps to swing things in your favor. And when you execute this plan throughout the year, it makes it easier to request more budget for the next year.