Lacee and Abbie are two interns with Cinnabon for the summer. They are asked to come up with a content marketing strategy for the brand. Before deciding on what they need to create, what is the first step Lace and Abbie need to take?

• A. They should start creating content immediately.
• B. They need to conduct a content audit to determine which assets have worked before.
• C. They should hire an agency
• D. They should perform user research interviews

Answer: (B)

The first step is to audit existing content. This means taking stock of what has already been created, where it lives, and how it has performed across channels. By analyzing metrics like views, engagement, shares, and conversions, you can see which formats, topics, and messages resonated with the audience, and which didn’t. The audit also helps identify gaps in coverage, opportunities to repurpose successful assets, and where brand voice or messaging might be inconsistent.

Starting from this data-driven baseline guides everything that follows—setting realistic objectives, choosing content formats that have proven appeal, and prioritizing topics and channels that actually move the needle. It also reduces wasted effort by showing what to build on rather than guessing what will work.

Diving straight into creating content or pulling in an agency or doing interviews without this context risks chasing trends that aren’t effective, duplicating underperforming work, or missing clear opportunities to leverage what already exists. After the audit, you can determine the most relevant research to fill remaining gaps and craft a strategy that aligns with real performance and audience needs.