You may have been there: had a boss who told you to “throw together” a document, a newsletter, a slide deck—or some designs, perhaps. Or, just as likely, to start a blog, Facebook group, or Twitter account—without guidance on what the new channel is meant to accomplish, or who will tend it day-to-day.

A recent blog post from Georgy Cohen suggested that creating content without a strategy is the equivalent of the emperor asking for new clothes, but refusing to acknowledge that the clothes don’t exist—i.e., that the content doesn’t have a strategy. As professionals, we can all quickly create something that’s passable—for now. But if we don't understand the larger purpose of what we're trying to do (that pesky human problem), we can’t create content that will help us get closer to our goals. As a result, our website (or emperor) will have no clothes—whether we admit it or not.

Kristina Halvorson, a content strategist, helps organizations think about what their content is doing for them—and how they can make it do that work even better. Dozens of content and design professionals gathered to speak with the Brain Traffic CEO at a Content Strategy New England meetup last week. All clearly saw a need to better clothe their emperors and strategize for their sites. The "aha" moments in the room piled up faster than stale content on a website as Halvorson clearly and calmly explained what should be obvious but sadly isn't: we all need to know why we do what we do, not only so that our efforts can contribute to a larger success, but also so our websites won’t be functionally naked.

As Brain Traffic defines it, "Content strategy plans for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content." It's pretty simple, clearly necessary, and echoes some of the content governance principles we’ve explored previously. But amid day-to-day distractions, many important components of content strategy seem to fall by the wayside, creating problems that affect everyone but that no one knows how to solve. So how do you make the step back from creating content to strategizing about it?

One of Halvorson's top tips was to simply ask why. Why am I changing this headline to say "integrate" rather than "join"? Perhaps "integrate" was identified as a keyword in the SEO strategy. Why am I making a video explaining how to use a product that no one buys? Maybe the video is key to promoting adoption. Why am I writing an article about traveling to Mexico for the website of an insurance company? Perhaps traveler's insurance is the company's current focus. Whatever the reason, know what it is. And if the reason doesn't make sense, say so.

One of my favorite event wrap-ups came from Cohen, whose summary inspired me to think in the familiar fable terms that have guided this post. She said, “Amid all the talk about content as king, here—finally—is the sewing circle working feverishly to make sure that the emperor has clothes.” I like this sartorial metaphor for the way it evokes careful planning and detailed work—not to mention ongoing tailoring and repairs.

Ultimately, the best thing any content creator can do is ask why—and refuse to perpetuate the emperor illusion if there is no good answer.