There’s no one-size-fits-all content strategy, but there are fundamental frameworks that you can adapt and leverage to have a consistent output of content that educates, boosts brand awareness, entertains, and proves y’all know what you’re doing. 

The golden example is the Hero - Hub - Help content framework - while it was initially designed for video content, it’s just as useful for writing. 

Let’s say you’re a launchpad specialized in raising community capital and hosting IDOs. Let’s describe the Hero - Hub - Help framework and create a starter content strategy. 

This framework involves three distinct types of content - Hero, Hub, and Help (or Hygiene) - each serving a unique purpose and catering to different audience needs. Adapting this framework to written content involves understanding and applying the principles of each content type to create a cohesive and effective content marketing strategy.

Hero Content

Purpose: Hero content is designed to grab attention and raise brand awareness. It's usually big, tent-pole content created to appeal to a broad audience and provide a significant boost to audience growth. Hero content in written form might include major product launches, in-depth feature articles, or comprehensive industry reports.

Characteristics: This type of content often requires more resources and creativity. It's less frequent but high in production value and storytelling, aiming to make a strong impression on a wide section of prospects​.

Examples: 

• The State of Launchpads: A 3-5K words, heavily-researched piece, that discusses the inception of launchpads, statistics (how much capital was raised through launchpads, how many projects are still around, average ROIs, average number of tokens that you need to hold for $100-worth of allocation, the total market cap of launchpad-launched tokens, how many active launchpads there are, their growth over the last bull market, the state of launchpads today), the most popular features that launchpads have, why some launchpads perform and others don’t, the expected return that a user has when buying a token via a launchpad versus buying it on secondary markets once listed, what can be done to improve the launchpad scene, how founders are supported, why communities are both happy and unhappy, quotes from leaders of other launchpads and from projects that have launched via this method, launchpads compared tables, details on other token launch methods (like Bonding Curves), due diligence processes, KYC, and more.  

Hub Content

Purpose: Hub content focuses on engaging and retaining your core audience. It is consistent, theme-based, and designed to keep the audience coming back. Hub content can include regular blog posts, series of articles, webinars, or behind-the-scenes insights that reveal your brand’s personality and values.

Characteristics: This content should be pushed out on a regular schedule to become part of your audience's routine, fostering a stronger, ongoing relationship with your community.

Examples: 

• How We Conduct Due Diligence: an insightful piece on what launchpad listing managers look for in a project before agreeing to list them - for instance: previous experience in Web3, community statistics, existing partners, KYC, product MVPs, tokenomics, the existing cap table, and more. 
• How a Launchpad Benefits You: a ‘sales’ piece on why founders should choose to work with your launchpad, giving case study-based insight into community growth numbers, the importance of distributing tokens to retail investors, marketing support that is expected (co-announcements, AMAs, influencer network), product feedback & a community for beta testing, support in attracting other investors or securing exchange listings, and more. 

Help (or Hygiene) Content

Purpose: Help content, sometimes referred to as Hygiene content, is aimed at solving specific problems or answering questions your audience may have. This type of content draws in potential customers who are searching for solutions or information.

Characteristics: It includes short blogs, how-to guides, FAQs, and other educational materials. This content is usually the easiest to produce and is great for keyword marketing, addressing immediate needs or questions of your audience​.

Examples: 

• How to KYC with Our Launchpad: Information on why you should KYC, the benefits that you get, data privacy/storage/security, requested information, blacklisted countries/users/addresses, and more. 
• How to Participate in X’s IDO: A piece with clear steps on participating in a specific IDO that’s hosted on your platform. While there may be a general how-to guide, pushing project-specific content is always great, as it enhances your marketing support, brand awareness for projects you’re listing, and your own pedigree as you work with hyped projects, driving more users onto your launchpad. 

Implementing the Strategy

Balance and Optimization: It’s crucial to maintain a balance in your content mix, focusing more on Hub and Help content and less on high-impact Hero content. Each content type requires a unique approach: high-quality production for Hero content, consistency and engaging storytelling for Hub content, and relevance and usefulness for Help content​.

Aligning with Brand Values: Ensure all content aligns with your brand’s values and messaging for a consistent brand image and stronger audience connection​

Content Planning: Determine your goals for the marketing funnel and the problems your product or service can solve. Then, decide how each piece of content fits into your overall strategy. You might start with foundational Help content and build up, or begin with Hero content and break it down into smaller Hub and Help pieces. Ideally, your strategy should include a mix of all three types of content, with a recommended ratio of one Hero, three Hub, and a series of 12 or more Help pieces​ per month.

Sounds like a lot? Here's a new perspective for you - an article can offer 10 core ideas, or 1 core idea. 1 core idea can be divided into 10 sub-ideas. Each idea, no matter how small, can yield a piece of content - a tweet, a blog posts, a forum post, an infographic, an image. Divide and conquer.

Is It Really This Boring?

Yes - as long as you forget the golden rule about golden rules - rules are meant to be bent and broken. The 3 H framework is a good starter plan, but it doesn’t have to encapsulate your entire content strategy for years to come. 

As you begin developing your content strategy, getting a steady flow, and most importantly, becoming more confident in your brand and your ability to execute, you can start bending rules. There’ll be a point when it’ll feel right to break a rule and go all out on something. When it feels like it, don’t second think it. The world’s largest innovations come from intuition. 

Need help with your content strategy? Drop us a dm at @gmfactory on TG. Toodeloo! 

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