Do you have content strategy case studies?

If you're involved with the practice of content strategy -- whether you hire to have it done or do it yourself -- you know that the return on this investment of budget and time is simply priceless. But that doesn't stop you from wanting and needing hard numbers to back up your case. The problem is, nobody wants to share before/after case studies of their own brand. It's like ... showing detailed, up-close, personal photos of your house before it's company-worthy clean.

The Case for Sharing Content Strategy Successes

Still, it wouldn't be embarrassing the say the house was oh, 20% cleaner or 35% more enjoyable to visit, right? 50% more people hung out in your kitchen and laughed. 100 more 30-somethings relaxed on your sofa and looked at family movies. 28% fewer disagreements or misunderstandings happened while cooking. You get the idea. I took a look at 7 of my recent clients and considered their individual content strategy objectives and whether we could, hypothetically, measure ROI in percentages:

1. Educate community about benefits of a service people don't want to think about through ongoing email series
2. Optimize branding and personality while decreasing misunderstandings about company service
3. Showcase new informational products online, without cannibalizing current products
4. Create a plan for engaging interactive health content to align with a TV show launch
5. Reduce customer questions and increase speed to purchase
6. Strengthen authenticity and brand story in a highly emotional and high purchase price product market
7. Educate about disaster preparedness while showcasing products and not seeming to take advantage of misfortune

Successful? Yes. Some were giddily successful because the strategy was essential to the project. In other words, they would fail to start -- or finish -- without a plan for integrity and quality and ongoing management. Others were successful because their sales increased and questions or concerns about their products decreased. ROI is rolling in.

How Is Content Strategy Worth Every Penny to You?

As far as I'm concerned, this is brag-worthy stuff. And I want to give everyone -- colleagues, clients, readers -- a chance to brag. So I'm starting to ask, right here, right now: how is content strategy worth every penny to you and your company or your clients' companies? Share your success story here! Meanwhile, I'm going to go call those 7 clients and see if I can get some numbers. Wish me luck!