This is a diagnostic tool. The goal is to help you realize what of your current work might be “noise.” See it as the ultimate “Random Acts of Marketing” Audit Checklist.
Before you build new pillars, you have to clear the rubble. Go through your last 10 pieces of content and ask these 10 questions. If you can’t say ‘Yes’ to at least 7, it’s a random act of marketing.
- Direct Goal Tie-In: Does this asset explicitly support a current quarterly business goal (e.g., “Increase leads for Cloud Security”), or was it created just to “keep the blog active”?
- SME Originality: Does this contain a unique quote, data point, or perspective from one of our internal engineers/consultants, or is it a “Google rewrite”?
- Specific Intent: Does it answer one specific question a buyer actually asked sales this month?
- Distribution-First: Did we have a plan for how people would see this before we wrote it?
- Blueprint Alignment: Does this fit into one of our core content “pillars,” or is it an outlier?
- The “Next Step” Test: Is there a clear, relevant call-to-action that isn’t just “Contact Us”? (e.g., a calculator, a related case study).
- Persona Depth: Can I name the specific person (title/industry) this was written for, or is it for “Everyone in IT”?
- Freshness Check: Is the technical information in this piece still accurate for 2026?
- Shelf Life: Is this a “firework” (topical for 2 days) or an “evergreen” asset that builds value over time?
- The “So What?” Metric: Aside from “likes,” does this piece have a measurable impact on the sales pipeline (e.g., used in a sales deck, influenced a deal)?