For Colleen Jones, her career in content strategy is both a surprise and a natural progression. “I didn’t start out my career thinking, ‘Gosh, I want to be a content marketer!’ ” she says, laughing, via phone from her Atlanta home. Jones is the founder of Content Science, a content strategy and intelligence firm whose services have helped companies like ATT and the American Cancer Society grow their brands. In 2018, she made her wealth of knowledge accessible to a wider audience in The Content Advantage (Clout 2.0): The Science of Succeeding at Digital Business Through Effective Content (Voices That Matter).

After earning her master’s degree in technical communication from Virginia’s James Madison University and working at the Mountaineer, a small newspaper in Haywood County, North Carolina, Jones saw potential in what was then known as the World Wide Web—as well as potential for a lot of confusion. “As I gained experience in disciplines like user…design, I really saw companies and organizations struggle with [online] content.”

Jones’ expertise comes from years of prestigious positions and accolades. She’s the former head of content for the email marketing service MailChimp and an instructor of multiple LinkedIn Learning courses. A member of Mensa, Jones was named one of the “Top 50 Most Influential Women in Content Marketing” by a TopRank study and a Content Change Agent by the Society for Technical Communication’s Intercom magazine. She’s also a Star Wars fan and wrote The Content Advantage based on her experience training organizations “to become Jedi masters of digital content.”

For the as-yet-uninitiated Jedi, Jones defines content marketing as “planning and creating the content, whether it’s text, audio, video, or white paper—anything that you know your customer or user needs to make a decision or take an action,” then “making that [information] as…useful…as possible.” When asked to define content marketing, she replies that it’s “getting the right content to the right customers, at the right time in their relationship with you.”

Digital no longer means offering a website or a mobile application to complement offline operations. It means fundamentally changing the way companies do business, such as facing new competitors and responding to the wide-ranging impact of artificial intelligence and other technological advances, just to survive, much less thrive.

Since Jones began her career in 2010, she’s seen significant developments in the field, such as the necessity of content to every business and organization. “Content marketing and related disciplines, like strategy and design, have really come into their own as just about every company and organization realizes that they need to have a really darn good presence digitally,” she says.

1Content is a game, Jones says, because “over time you will win more than you lose and consequently, make your content an advantage.” Specifically, as she outlines in her book, making content decisions is more comparable to a poker bet than a chess formula. “Even with the most robust content decisions,” she writes, “you will never have all the information about your customers, context, or even your business (if it’s large) available.” She elaborates that just as poker moves come down to whether the player bets and how much, content decisions come down to three types: “optimize or scale, fix a problem, or innovate or address a new opportunity.”

Throughout the book, Jones uses a friendly, accessible voice to guide readers through developing a specific content vision, analyzing a customer base, making content as effective and influential as possible, and much more. She hopes newbies and experienced professionals alike will benefit from it. Kirkus agrees in its review, calling The Content Advantage “an accessible, remarkably comprehensive resource for those looking to master the terrain of digital content.” And according to Jones, companies like ATT, The Vanguard Group, and Intuit have also given her positive feedback.

Jones walks readers step by step through the concepts of creating substantive and unique material. She delves into basic tenets that are still necessary: search engine optimization, establishing a clear voice for the business or brand, and making sure content represents that voice in the best way possible. Jones then expands into specifics consistent with today’s technology, including what she calls “more sophistication around [content] personalization.” “As people interact…with your content, you can learn more about their preferences and what they’re trying to accomplish,” she says. “You can [then] make more pertinent suggestions for related content, as well as for products and services.”

Jones cites examples of brands with innovative and personalized content, including the energy drink Red Bull, whose digital TV channel broadcasts what she calls “adrenaline-inducing sports coverage,” and Peloton, an exercise bicycle company that offers live online classes that foster “an ongoing connection with people in the brand.” Her own former employer, MailChimp, has launched a series of documentaries and podcasts, which they promote on their website.

Of course, too much content is possible: The book instructs businesses how to prioritize quality over quantity for maximum results. “I’ve found that time and time again, 20 percent of the content has 80 percent of the impact,” Jones says. “Companies and organizations should spend more time thinking about, planning, and creating content that meets the needs of the customer and entertains, helps, or guides them, as opposed to hiring freelancers to pump out a bunch of articles.”

Jones hopes that readers will see her book as a comprehensive yet down-to-earth guide for everyone, from working content professionals to leadership executives to those who see content marketing as the next step in their career. “It’s something that’s absolutely critical to thriving as a business, and it’s worth getting serious about.”

Lauren Emily Whalen lives in Chicago and is the author of two young adult novels.