Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Content Strategy, But Afraid to Ask

“Everything you always wanted to know about content strategy*

*But were afraid to ask”

“Are content strategists glorified

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 ContentThe art and science of

• Contextual inquiry (social listening & search behavior)

• Conceptual models (dashboards, infinite feeds, dynamic tiles,

immersive worlds, wizards)

• Personas• User testing• User journeys• Competitive analysis• Perceived affordances

A discipline within User ExperienceMasters of Content

BUSINESS NEED

ALIGN ON REVIEW STANDARDS

INVENTORY SITE

CONDUCT AUDIT

SYNTHESIZE & VISUALIZE

SUMMARIZE KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Masters of Content: The 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 reflect 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, findable, shareable, optimized

Customers & Robots

Can customers find 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 NarrativeTranslate brand meaning into content• Pillars/themes• Channels• Roadmap

Masters of Content: Content NarrativeTranslate 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

“The 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 ResultsBusiness-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’?”

And now a sponsored post from The School for Digital

Craftsmanship

http://www.admci.org

“Are content strategists

monogamous?”

Should content strategists by monogamous?

CSXD/UXCreativ

eDev

Wireframe AnnotationsTemplate Type DefinitionsPage Element DefinitionsContent Interactivity

“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?”

300,000 sites since 2012

The 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 Thoughts 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.

• Thin or play to win with your content

• A.B.E. – Always Be Evolving

“Thanks! Any

questions?”

“Are content strategists into cross-

dressing?”

Information Architect

SEO

Brand

Editor

Copywriter Database modeler

Business

Analyst

Front-end Developer

Salesma

n

Technology & Content

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

• Use natural language• Think 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?”

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PRODUCT INFORMATION, PRICING, CONTRACT INFORMATION, DISCLAIMER, LEGALESE

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