Easily check, score and improve your content
Help others improve their content by sharing the link to this webpage with them.
How can content marketing, marketing and PR succeed in creating content that exactly meets the needs of your target groups – permanently and in each individual case? How effectively do you contribute to the strategic and communication objectives of your company? How can you reliably check existing content?
In everyday work-life, it is often difficult to adhere to the quality standards that have been set once and to implement them. This is why I developed the content traffic light. Here I present you this valuable tool free of charge – with instructions and detailed questions about all seven criteria.
The content traffic light helps you and your team to quickly assess and improve your content in the main aspects that are crucial for your success – and thus also learn how to produce better content in the future.
A large number of people in companies and organizations, but also individual authors, have tested this easy-to-use score card and use it daily.
I hope it helps you, too.
Kerstin Hoffmann
Download starts immediately; no registration required (PNG, ca. 1 MB).
The Content Traffic Light is under published Creative Commons license. This means that you are allowed to pass them on and embed them unchanged.
A commercial disclosure, for example in consultation and training, is expressly excluded. Modification and exploitation, for example in other tools, as well as translations into other languages are not permitted.
– Promotion –
„Lively, captivating, humorous and extremely substanciated“, that’s what professionals say about Kerstin Hoffmann. Your audience will love her talks and will learn a lot.
All talks are available in English and will be adapted to the special needs and requirements of your audience.
Your products and services are outstanding, because you have invested a lot. Your customers are highly satisfied or even give enthusiastic feedback. That’s why you love what you are doing. But what about your community? What do you know about them? Do you use the same networks and platforms they do? And: Do you have a strategy, or are you still trying? Let’s figure this out together!
Help others improve their content by sharing the link to this webpage with them.
The Content Traffic Light is a tactical tool. It complements the content strategy, but does not replace the strategic development. On the contrary: the better your strategy, the more effective your work with the content traffic lights can be.
In particular, you should ask the following questions before you start scoring your content:
self-referential: We mainly talk about ourselves/our company. This content is essential for noone but ourselves.
„nice to have“:content is entertaining and / or interesting for the target group, but rather optional.
essential: target group representative has the impression that without this content he really misses something very important.
„Nice to have content“ plays an important part within a comprehensive content (marketing) strategy. Not everything can be of the highest relevance. However, please avoid mostly self-referential messages, or use them only very sparingly and after careful consideration!
Random: We do not know the time when the target group really needs our content or we ignore it.
Fitting: The content ist not time critical but can always be of use.
Crucial: Right now target group representatives need this content for their own success.
Most content marketing strategies recommend a balanced mix of evergreen content and content that is critical to success at a given time. It is crucial to determine the needs of your own target groups and to stay in touch.
neutral: Factual or even boring; generates no personal involvement.
appealing: The tonality of the content appeals to the recipient and at the same time is authentical for your own brand.
moving: This content uses symbols and images which appeal to emotions and feelings.
Content can cause very different emotions, from benevolence to resistance. Even purely factual content can, depending on the choice of words, be more or less appealing. Therefore, it is crucial to work specifically on the tonality.
none: The reader / viewer / listener leaves the encounter with our content without any connection to us / the brand.
temporary: While reading, watching, listening people feel connected.
lasting: This content is not a one hit wonder. It creates a relationship with your brand and motivates to visit again.
Content (marketing) strategies should not only be designed for short-term success, but also create long-term relationships and brand engagement. This is achieved particularly well by visible persons as brand ambassadors.
unclear: internal logic and clear structure: no indication.
conclusive: The content has a starting point and a goal as well as a clear plot.
thrilling: The recipient cannot stop reading/watching/listening.
Any good story follows an inner logic. This is true not only for tales and narratives, but also for any short, factual piece.
questionable: Our recipient may get a lot of information, but this does not help him with a specific problem.
likely: We provide valuable information, but leave it (in part) to the recipient to recognize and to apply it to their situation or problem.
definite: The attention our recipient has invested is worthwhile.
„Benefit“ does not always mean material benefits or overwhelming revelations. Content can also entertain. It is crucial that the recipient gets the impression of time and attention well invested.
none: Not even an implicit call to action. Your recipient feels no need to react in any way. Der Empfänger hat keinen Impuls für eine Anschlusshandlung.
obvious: The content is valuable enough to trigger the reaction you intend.
compelling: Your target audience cannot help but carry out the intended follow-up action.
Diffrent types of content may achieve different goals. They can induce social sharing or start a discussion – or both. Others may lead directly into a buying process, others build and support a brand image. Not every content should or may contain an explicit call to action. It is crucial that you clearly define the desired action or impression you want to create.
Kerstin Hoffmann is one of Germany’s top experts, bloggers and book authors in public relations and digital communications. Kerstin holds a PhD in Philosophy and has also taught at Heinrich Heine University (Düsseldorf).
Her blog „PR-Doktor“ is one of the most read and leading blogs about PR and communications.
She has published several bestselling books.
Help others improve their content by sharing the link to this webpage with them.
