Jeffrey A. “jam” McGuire: The Value Map Content Framework – Episode 211

Content Strategy Insights

Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire Aligning and orchestrating product content for complex business use cases is much easier when you have a framework to structure and guide your efforts. Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire and his business partner developed the "value map" framework to structure and organize product marketing information. This helps them to align internal stakeholders on strategy and messaging and to efficiently deliver the right content to both business and technical users of the product. We talked about: his role as Partner at Open Strategy Partners, his consultancy based in Cologne, Germany, that focuses on marketing for B2B and open-source software companies the origins of his value map framework in the complex marketing services that he delivers in an early client's need for a CMS comparison an oral walk-through of his (very visual) value map diagram how clusters of features in his map provide technical answers to focused business questions his concept of a "value case," and its benefit-challenge-solution structure the role of structured content in the implementation of a value map how value cases serve as "a cheat code for storytelling" because it actually portrays a hero's journey the unique objectives of B2B marketing and the role social proof and face-to-face human interaction in his work a conceptual ascent of his framework pyramid: features and functionality at the base, position and USPs, and then up to guiding principles his methodology for aligning stakeholders around a product's messaging strategy jam's bio Jeffrey A. “jam” McGuire is a Partner at Open Strategy Partners, where he helps organizations communicate and grow, finding and telling the stories that connect their technologies with the value they deliver. He builds on nearly twenty years of experience in open source technology, at the intersection of software, business, and culture. His approach to technology marketing is centered on sharing the human context of complex technology solutions. As co-Founder of the German Drupal Association, community-building is close to Jeffrey’s heart. He enjoys celebrating creators’ expertise and combining storytelling and performance to convey information and motivate his audiences. An experienced public speaker, he has hosted numerous awards ceremonies and delivered dozens of keynotes, 150+ conference presentations, and 220+ podcast interviews in the last 15 years. He’s based in Cologne, Germany. Connect with jam online LinkedIn Open Strategy Partners Video Here’s the video version of our conversation: https://youtu.be/b5Fg26WuSZs Podcast intro transcript This is the Content Strategy Insights podcast, episode number 211. When you're taking on huge content challenges in complex business environments, it helps to have a good framework to guide your efforts. Jeffrey A. McGuire, known as "jam" in the content marketing and open-source software communities, has developed "value maps" to structure and organize product information. Content strategists and creators then simply follow the map to address the needs of both business and technical users of the product. Interview transcript Larry: Hi, everyone. Welcome to episode number 211 of the Content Strategy Insights podcast. I am really delighted today to welcome to the show Jeffrey A. McGuire. Jeffrey, he's known as Jam in the communities that I know him from, the open-source software and CMS communities. He's a partner at Open Strategy Partners, a consultancy that he runs. So welcome, Jam. Tell the folks a little bit more about what you're doing these days. jam: Hey, Larry. I'm really thrilled to be here talking with you, and I have no idea how we're going to cram... A half an hour is never going to be enough, I'm just saying that. And let's see, about me, I live in Cologne, Germany and I consider it my home. And at the time of recording, we've just finished Carnival for 2025.