Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Content Strategy

“Everything you always wanted to know about content strategy*

*But were afraid to ask”

“Are content strategists glori!ed peeping toms?”

•  A clinical approach to content

•  Understand the desires of users

•  Understand the desires of the brand

•  Understand the desires of experience designers, creatives, and developers

Masters of Content

•  Organization •  Empathy •  Rhetoric

Masters of Content e art and science of

•  Contextual inquiry (social listening & search behavior)

•  Conceptual models (dashboards, in!nite feeds, dynamic tiles, immersive worlds, wizards) •  Personas •  User testing •  User journeys •  Competitive analysis •  Perceived affordances

A discipline within User Experience Masters of Content

Content Audit

Gap Analysis

Workflow snapshot

User research

Project brief

Kickoff meeting

Workflow recommendations

User proxies

Editorial calendar

Delivery channel strategy

Content style guide

Community and social guidelines

Communication plan

Feature design recommendations

Content templates

Voice and tone guidelines

EVALUATE

DESIGN

ANALYTICAL

CREATIVE

BUSINESS  NEED  

ALIGN  ON  REVIEW  STANDARDS  

INVENTORY  SITE  

CONDUCT  AUDIT  

SYNTHESIZE  &  VISUALIZE  

SUMMARIZE  KEY  RECOMMENDATIONS  

Masters of Content: e Dreaded Audit

Masters of Content: Review Standards

•  Voice and style •  Useful, relevant, clear, persuasive •  Findable, shareable •  Readability, accessibility

GUIDELINES   TARGET   CONSIDERATIONS  

Voice and tone   Brand   Does the content consistently re$ect the brand voice and attributes? Does the content reinforce the brand positioning?

Useful, relevant, clear, persuasive  

Customers   Is the content timely and up-to-date? Is the content consistent throughout the experience? Does the content improve user understanding of product or brand?  

Usable, !ndable, shareable, optimized  

Customers & Robots  

Can customers !nd the content when searching using relevant keywords? Is the content easy to navigate to and through?  

Readability, accessibility  

Customers & Compliance  

Is the content written at the appropriate grade level? Is the content accessible by those with visual or auditory impairments?

“Will you whisper sweet nothings into my ear?”

Masters of Content: Content Narrative Translate brand meaning into content

•  Pillars/themes •  Channels •  Roadmap

Masters of Content: Content Narrative Translate brand meaning into content

“Does size matter to a content strategist?”

Size Matters

•  Less is best •  Too much unkempt

content hurts usability

•  More to manage, more resources, higher costs

•  Focus on what matters

“e food here is terrible, and

the portions are too small.”

lesscontentmorestrategy.com

“How would a sadomasochist interpret

content strategy?”

Less Content, Better Results

•  Identify top tasks •  Prioritize content •  Remove long-tail content •  Reduce cognitive overload •  Write shorter, more succinct copy •  Improve usability

•  22% decrease in online complaints •  48% increase in inbound links •  80% increase in visitors •  70% increase in new registrations

Focus on Results Business-critical content solves business-critical goals

Customer Satisfaction = Better ROI

Customer Experience = Better ROI

Customer Experience = Better ROI

Customer Satisfaction = Better ROI

“Should content strategists and designers ‘go native’?”

BUSINESS STRATEGY

BRAND STRATEGY

CONTENT STRATEGY(owned)

SOCIAL STRATEGY

MEDIA STRATEGY(paid)

CONTENT MARKETING

SEARCH STRATEGY

And now a sponsored post from e School for Digital

Crasmanship

http://www.admci.org

“Are content strategists monogamous?”

Should content strategists by monogamous?

CS XD/UX Creative Dev

CONFORMINFORM DESIGN

MessagingVoice & ToneContent ModelsNavigationMetadataContent Matrix

GovernanceNew ContentUpdatesArchival

Wireframe  AnnotaAons  Template  Type  DefiniAons  Page  Element  DefiniAons  Content  InteracAvity  

“Design thinking is the search for the magical balance between business and art, structure and chaos, intuition and logic, concept and execution...”

Clients

“Are there any deviant content strategy practices I

should know about?”

Content for

Website

TYPICAL HUB MODEL for CONTENT STRATEGY

Content for

Website

NEW MODEL for CONTENT STRATEGY?

300,000  sites  since  2012  

e Robots Are Now Your Writers

Wear My Content

Wear My Content

Brand Newsrooms, Brand Content, RTM

Licensed per term

Outsource & owned

Exploit the death spiral

Big Data, Binge Viewing & Cadence

Big Data & Binge Viewing

Final oughts for CS Success

•  Adopt the same curious approach to content as you had to sex as a teenager

•  Bring a clinician’s mindset to your work with content

•  Use the UX toolbox to help inform your content strategy, which in turn can be used to inform design strategy

•  Don’t hate, collaborate – a brand’s content strategy is bigger than me or you. Guide the ship when you need to.

•  in or play to win with your content

•  A.B.E. – Always Be Evolving

“anks!

Any questions?”

“Are content strategists into cross-dressing?”

Information Architect SEO

Brand Editor

Copywriter Database modeler

Business Analyst

Front-end Developer

Salesman

Technology & Content

Central Governed

XML Content Repository

SOCIAL

TRAINING

WEB

PRINT

UNIFIED ENTERPRISE CONTENT STRATEGY

MOBILE INTRANET

Home Page

home 0.0.0.0

Business Platforms

landing 1.0.0.0

Innovation

landing 2.0.0.0

Investors

landing 3.0.0.0

Careers

landing 4.0.0.0

Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

News

landing 5.0.0.0

Search

Select Language

Site Map

Process Management

category 1.1.0.0

Industrial Automation

category 1.2.0.0

Climate Technologies

category 1.3.0.0

Network Power

category 1.4.0.0

Commercial & Residential

category 1.5.0.0

By Brand (Faceted Search)

category 1.6.0.0

Featured Innovations

category 2.1.0.0

It's Never Been Done

Before

category 2.2.0.0

Apps & Tools

category 2.3.0.0

Video Gallery

category 2.4.0.0

Community Exchange

(Social Innovation)

category 2.5.0.0

Annual Reports

category 3.1.0.0

Investor Relations

category 3.2.0.0

Corporate Governance

category 3.3.0.0

Career Search

category 4.1.0.0

MBA Graduates

category 4.2.0.0

Discover Emerson

category 4.3.0.0

Culture & Diversity

category 4.4.0.0

Meet Our People

category 4.5.0.0

Corporate News

category 5.1.0.0

Business News

category 5.2.0.0

Financial News

category 5.3.0.0

Events

category 5.4.0.0

Media Kit

category 5.5.0.0

Utility

Footer

About Us

Business Platforms

Contact Us

New Page

category 0.0.0.0

Existing Page

category 0.0.0.0

Key

Multiple links

Proposed Website Sitemap

“Is it OK to learn ‘content strategies’ from older

women?”

•  Use natural language •  ink of your site as a conversation with

your customer •  Exhibit domain mastery •  Stay “on theme” in your headlines and copy •  Use semantic linking •  Maintain strong information scent

Redish ahead of her time

“Does food act as an aphrodisiac for content

strategists?”

GREAT  ADS,  CAMPAIGNS,  CONTENT  MARKETING,  DESTINATION  MICROSITES,  BRANDED  UTILITY  APPS,  SOCIAL  ENGAGEMENT  

PRODUCT  INFORMATION,  PRICING,  CONTRACT  INFORMATION,  DISCLAIMER,  LEGALESE  

NEWSLETTERS,  HOW-­‐TO’s,  TIPS  and  TRICKS,  PERSONALIZATION,  SOCIAL  ENGAGEMENT,  SWEEPSTAKES