How to Future-Proof Your Content to Future Proof Your Conten… · Any recorded information. - Kevin Nichols Human-consumable, contextualized data—aka the stuff between the tags.

How to Future-Proof Your Content Marlowe Sarah Beckley Southern California Content Strategy Meetup April 2015

INTRODUCTION

3 How to Future-Proof Your Content 2015

Marlowe Sarah Beckley

Manager, Content Strategy at SapientNitro

9 years in Content Strategy

5 years tech/web/print publishing

Specialize in hospitality, financial services, online applications, content matrix development

Previous clients include Fortune 50 financial services firms and some of the world’s largest companies.

@marlowebeckley

4 How to Future-Proof Your Content 2015

SapientNitro

PASSIONATE

PEOPLE

12,000 OFFICES

GLOBALLY CONNECTED

30+ YEARS OF

CUSTOMER INNOVATION

25 COMPANY

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2014 AGENCY REPORT:

Top 20 Agencies OMNA Agency of the Year

LEADER:

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global Digital Marketing Agencies

Forrester Wave™: Global Commerce Service Providers US Digital Agencies – Mobile Marketing

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY

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HOW TO FUTURE PROOF YOUR CONTENT

Strategy Standards Structure/Schema Reuse Re-size Socialize

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TODAY

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PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

The 19th century was defined by the novel. The 20th by the cinema. The 21st will be defined by the interface. - Lev Manovich

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BOOKS ARE DEAD

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NOVEL = VLOG + TWITTER + TUMBLR = NOVEL

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HOME PAGES ARE DEAD

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SCROLLING IS BACK IN

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CURATION IS “STEALING” YOUR CONTENT

Flipboard Instapaper Readability Pocket Pinterest

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INTERFACES ARE DIVERSIFIED

• 50 million people own tablets in the US. • Mobile use will exceed desktop use next year. • 133.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (57%

mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in February 2013, up 8 percent since November.

• Sources: comScore MobiLens & TabLens, U.S., 2003-2012, shapshop.com/2012-mobile-marketing-statistics, ComScore

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THE UI IS SHRINKING

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CONTENT BOTS

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www.narrativescience.com

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TODAY SUMMARY

The old models are gone Anyone can publish almost anything Content is deconstructed Interfaces will continue to change

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TOMORROW

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THE FUTURE IS CHANGE

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the exiting model obsolete. - Richard Buckminster Fuller

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WHAT IS FUTURE-PROOF CONTENT?

Adaptive Accessible Agile Findable Nimble Agnostic Semantically linked

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THE KEYS TO FUTURE-PROOF CONTENT

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THE NEW MODEL FOR CONTENT

Any recorded information. - Kevin Nichols

Human-consumable, contextualized data—aka the stuff

between the tags. - Rahel Bailie Not limited to one purpose, technology or output.

Intelligent content is structurally rich and semantically aware, and is therefore discoverable, reusable, reconfigurable and adaptable. - Ann Rockley All content is marketing content. - Bailie and Urbina

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CONTENT REQUIREMENTS

Strategy Standards Structure/Schema Reuse Re-size Socialize

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STRATEGY

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STRATEGY

Content Strategy is the systematic, thoughtful approach to surfacing the most relevant content at the most opportune time, to the appropriate user, for the purpose of achieving a company’s strategic business objectives.

- Kevin Nichols and Anne Casson

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PRETTY IS NOT A STRATEGY

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http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

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A VISION IS THE ESSENSE OF STRATEGY

27 Sources: Olympics: User Experience and Design and Sports Refresh: Dynamic Semantic Publishing, bbc.co.uk./blog

STRATEGY SUMMARY Don’t confuse tactics with strategy Start with a vision Tie tactics to the vision Plan for the entire ecosystem—on and off platform

STANDARDS

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STANDARDS: ACCESSIBILITY

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STANDARDS: GOVERNANCE MODELS

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STANDARDS SUMMARY Bake Accessibility Standards into the content Identify and merge any house style guidelines Enforce governance (depersonalize it if necessary)

STRUCTURE/SCHEMA

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SCHEMAS MAP THE FUTURE

Content models Content ecosystems Metadata schema Tagging strategy Assign content type behaviors Map content elements

between content types

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SEMANTIC SCHEMA ARE WAITING FOR YOU

XML-Extensible Markup Language DITA-Darwin Information Type Architecture Microformats-Open data based on HTML5 OWL-Web Ontology Language HTML5-Hypertext Markup language RDF-Resource Description Framework JSON-JavaScript Object Notation

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POWERS FUTURE CONTENT

NPR famous for their content API They are the ones to “beat” Anil Dash and MindTouch both recommend building an

API first, UI second

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METADATA RESOURCES

Organization’s own content Controlled vocabulary Open vocabulary Industry standards Schema.org Dublin Core FOAF- Friend of a Friend (describes people and their

connections) SIOC- Semantically-linked Online Communities

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STRUCTURE/SCHEMA SUMMARY Map your whole content ecosystem Agree on a content model that aligns with the CMS Determine a framework, if necessary Use a controlled vocabulary Leverage existing metadata schema

REUSE

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REUSE: CONTENT IS PRECIOUS

“You can’t afford to create a piece of content for any one platform. Instead of crafting a website, you have to put more effort into crafting the different bits of an asset, so they can be reused more effectively, so they can deliver more value.”

- Nic Newman, BBC (via Karen McGrane)

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BUILD CONTENT WITH GEMS

Cross-platform efficiency Create content once Reuse everywhere

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Hubert Duprat, artist, interviewed by ecouterre.com

REUSE SUMMARY Write for all ecosystem channels/platforms at the

same time if possible Create as few variations as possible Have “one true source”

RESIZE

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RESIZE: SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE

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RESPONSIVE OR ADAPTIVE

Omnichannel: plan for where the content will be shared Responsive: content moves to fit the device parameters;

client-side adjusts pages as a whole. Adaptive: content-centric experience; server-side pushes

appropriate content elements based on device type and features.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/garrett-goodman/adaptive-design_b_2344569.html

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MICROFORMATS AND CHUNKING

RE-SIZE SUMMARY Define the smallest realistic size Align content chunks to strategy, standards,

and schema. Consider the interface when creating sizes

SOCIALIZE

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SOCIALIZE: DRIVE THE BUS

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OLD-FASHIONED TALKING PAVES THE WAY

Change management best practices Marketing to the marketers User testing/focus groups Town halls Communication plans

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SOCIALIZE SUMMARY Identify a C-level sponsor/Project Champion Get hallway buy-in for big ideas first Involve stakeholders early and often Create and implement a communication plan

WRAP UP

FUTURE-PROOFING SUMMARY Create a Strategy: Start with a vision Enact Standards: Choose appropriately Enforce Structure: Governance with teeth Build a Schema: The devil’s in the details Reuse Content: Everything is better when you share it Right size Content: Snack-size is popular Socialize Everything: Value social capital

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RECOMMENDED READING

Managing Enterprise Content by Ann Rockley and Charles Cooper

“Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guide” by Kevin Nichols

“Nimble” by Razorfish/Rachel Lovinger

“Contents May have Shifted” by Erin Kissane (Contents magazine)

“Mobile Content Strategy and Why Should I Care?” Karolina Szczur

Content Strategy for Mobile by Karen McGrane

Content Everywhere by Sara Wachter-Boettcher

Content Strategy: Connecting the dots between business, brand, and benefits by Rahel Anne Bailie and Noz Urbina

Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski

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THANK YOU