How to scare your boss into supporting your content program

Joe Pulizzi at the Content Marketing Institute says: 

When all else fails, fear can work as well or better than a rational argument. For the “fear” plan to work, you have to do some research up front on your competition. Pick the leading content marketer in your field and determine:

• How many subscribers (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) do they have to their content versus yours?

• How do they rank in key search terms versus your rankings?

• A comparison of social sharing

• Positive, online word-of-mouth (check Twitter for this one)

• Recruitment activities (are they landing the best talent?)

These are just a few. The key here is to determine what’s of critical importance to the lead decision maker toward buy-in. Clearly show how the competitor is using certain content strategies that are leaving you (and your content) in the dust.