brand-driven content strategy: developing a message architecture workshop at confab intensive 2016

1 #ConfabINT | @mbloomstein

BRAND-DRIVEN CONTENT STRATEGY:

DEVELOPING A MESSAGE ARCHITECTURE

Confab Intensive

September 19, 2016

#ConfabINT

Margot Bloomstein

@mbloomstein


The key to saying more is saying no.


Good communication is the product of tradeoffs and opportunity costs.



Content demands attention


Because we all want the same thing,

but content keeps getting in the way.

(CC) http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking

Content requires time


Content dredges up politics

©Margot Bloomstein


Good communication is the product of tradeoffs and opportunity costs.



Tradeoffs pay off.

©Margot Bloomstein


Content and design— and processes to create them— complement each other in content strategy.


Content and design— and processes to create them— complement each other in content strategy. But first: a foundation.


What is content strategy?

Planning for the creation, aggregation, and

governance of content that’s useful, usable,

and appropriate in an experience.


Message architecture

Content audit

Content types

Content model

Editorial style guidelines and calendar


Deliverables are merely punctuation

in the conversation.

They can’t replace the conversation—

and too often, we’re afraid to talk.


Why? Politics—and participation

©Margot Bloomstein


Why? Politics—and participation*

©Margot Bloomstein

*until the blog launches,

readers require engagement,

FAQs demand integration…

Beat ’em to

the punch

“More like Apple”


More like Apple’s message architecture

Confident but approachable; accessible

Simple

• Minimal detail

• Streamlined and anticipatory

Inviting, friendly

• Supportive but not fawning



Cheeky

• Witty and fun

• Young without being childish

Customer oriented and responsive

• Approachable, friendly, and empowering

Helpful

• Accessible


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Cheeky

• Witty and fun

• Young without being childish

Customer-oriented, responsive

• Approachable and friendly

• Empowering

Helpful

• Accessible

Message architecture vs. brand values Design

Innovation

Community

Excellence


What’s a message architecture?

A hierarchy of communication goals

that reflects a common vocabulary




that reflects a common vocabulary—

versus brand values, which are the

ethics a company espouses


First things first.

Why add video testimonials, maintain

a blog, conduct an audit, or launch a

new Facebook campaign…

if you don’t know what’s most

important to communicate?

If you don’t know

what to communicate,

how will you know if

you succeed?

what to communicate

when

where


Serious, technical, and rigorous? • Annual reports

• Articles on your site

• Articles on other sites

• Blogs

• Books

• Branded tools

• Case studies

• Digital magazines

• eBooks

• Email newsletters

• Facebook posts

• Games

• In-person events

• Infographics

• Licensed/syndicated

content

• LinkedIn posts

• Microsites

• Mobile apps

• Online presentations

• Podcasts

• Print magazines

• Print newsletters

• Research reports

• Twitter

• Videos

• Virtual conferences

• Webinars/webcasts

• Whitepapers

Excerpted from Content Marketing Institute & MarketingProfs Content Marketing Survey

Not all channels fit all goals.


Engaged, fun, and relevant? • Annual reports

• Articles on your site

• Articles on other sites

• Blogs

• Books

• Branded tools

• Case studies

• Digital magazines

• eBooks

• Email newsletters

• Facebook posts

• Games

• In-person events

• Infographics

• Licensed/syndicated

content

• LinkedIn posts

• Microsites

• Mobile apps

• Online presentations

• Podcasts

• Print magazines

• Print newsletters

• Research reports

• Twitter

• Videos

• Virtual conferences

• Webinars/webcasts

• Whitepapers

Excerpted from Content Marketing Institute & MarketingProfs Content Marketing Survey

Not all channels fit all goals.

How could we prove this is a car not

like anything else out there? It’s a small

car, but it’s premium. You get a Porsche

911 ride for a fifth of the cost. It’s got

history… but in Europe.

You need to give people content to give

them history.”


A little thing with big impact.



Premium technology

• Assertive; ready to perform as a driver’s car

• Proactive and supportive of spontaneity

Classic design

• Experienced and savvy

Cheekiness

• Smart, “punny,” hip

• Fun, gleeful


If these emails are boring you

and you don’t mind missing out

on all the lip-smackin’ stuff

we’ll be sending in the future,

simply send a message to owner-

[email protected]

and include “Unsubscribe” and

your favorite fruit in the

subject field.


Message architecture drives content

Nomenclature

Calls to action

Content types

Sentence structure

Diction


Message architecture drives design

Photographic angles

Background colors

Headline typography

Density of information

Content strategy

can create harmony

from cross-channel cacophony.

Your turn:

Encourage tradeoffs that pay off

• Engage in a tangible way

• Encourage conversation

“What do you mean?

“Are these concepts synonymous?”

• Identify pain points and debate:

“How can we be innovative and traditional?”

• Force prioritization

• Encourage ownership

• Prevent seagulling




that reflects a common vocabulary




that reflects a common vocabulary—

concrete, shared terminology,

not abstract concepts

“welcoming but elite”

“traditional but edgy”

Words are valuable,

but meaningless

without context and priority.


• Who we are

• Who we’re not

• Who we’d like to be

Go with your gut!

Step 1: categorize


Who we are Who we’d like to be

Be aspirational. What needs to change?

Step 2: filter


• Form groups: what goes together?

• Prioritize the goals or groups

• Tell the story of those aspirations

Step 3: group and prioritize


• Follow up on hesitation, smirks, and grimaces

• Push back on participants to resolve their questions

• Expose nuances in meaning and connotation

“You put ‘traditional’ but not ‘conservative’—why?

“You hesitated as you put ‘cool’ here. How come?”

“Are ‘strategic’ and ‘tactical’ on a continuum?”

Dig in to ensure clarity

• Choose content types to manifest the

message architecture

• Gain standards for a qualitative audit

• Prioritize CMS changes and metadata to

support content types

• Reallocate budget and resources across

channels


Premium

• Lindt embodies quality, in product, marketing, & company interactions

• Approachable: Quality indulgences are more accessible

• Trusted in brand and quality

Empowering

• Entrepreneurial: Innovating, championing individuals and successes

• Market driving: strategic and proactive

• Professional and consistent through experience and being responsive

Community-minded

• Engaged with the Lindt family

• Customer-oriented

• Socially conscious



Elegant layout and typography

• Spread-to-spread sightlines and flow

• Wider borders

• Layered background images

• Italic titles with initial drop caps


Imagery of individual impact

• People engaged with product and service—

not just product or just results of service

• Diversity of role, gender, ethnicity, and age


Accessible, informative copy

• First-person plural

• Frequent rhetorical asides

• Shorter sentences

• Clear, concrete explanations


Editorial calendar “schedules”

the message architecture



Content audit

Content types

Content model

Editorial style guidelines and calendar


But first things first:

Understand what you need to

communicate—and why.


Thank you! Margot Bloomstein

@mbloomstein

[email protected]

Content Strategy at Work: http://amzn.to/CSatWork

BrandSort: http://cards.appropriateinc.com

Talks: http://slideshare.net/mbloomstein

All photography © Margot Bloomstein unless noted.

Screen grabs property of their respective owners.