Why I Use Mind Maps for Content Marketing Projects

I'm often asked how I manage all the details of complex content marketing projects. My favorite tool for this is Mind Maps. Specifically, I use MindJet.

I whipped up a simple example to show you:

If I was doing this for real, I'd have the persona where it says Content Map Example.

I build my content flows based on questions the buyer persona asks at each stage of the buying process.

Next to each of them I input topics for content development and any links to documents or notes to provide the overall reasoning behind the question and answers (that's the content). Additionallly I can link to any resources I want to keep track of that may inform the content development. This keeps things tidy and condensed in one spot where it's relevant to me, as well as to others working on the project.

From there, I note which types of content I'm going to develop for each topic. I can link to the working drafts of the content as well as link to the final published content, once it's live.

What I like most about Mind Maps is that I can open up as many layers as I want at one time to get the big picture view of the flow, or condense it down to just focus on one area.

When I work with project teams, we'll often use Mindjet Catalyst - the online version - to work on drafts together and for meetings. It's much simpler than shuffling versions of documents back and forth via email.

When managing content marketing programs, finding tools that work for you is half the battle. I highly recommend that you try out Mind Maps and see if they'll help you turn some of the content marketing chaos into a calm and orderly process.