building your content strategy roadmap
TRANSCRIPT
C a r r i e H a n e D e n n i s o n D i n a L e w i s , C A E H i l a r y M a r s h M a g g i e S w e a r i n g e n
Building Your Own Content Strategy Roadmap December 17, 2014 #tech14LD3
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Content Strategy Roadmap 1. Discove ry 2. Con ten t aud i t and assessmen t 3. Compara t i ve con ten t ana l ys i s * 4. Empa thy -based aud ience pe rsonas * 5. Con ten t c rea t i on and pub l i sh i ng gu ide l i nes 6. Ro les , l i f e cyc les , wo rk f l ow, gove rnance 7. Taxonomy 8. Con ten t t r ans fo rma t i on and m ig ra t i on 9. Con ten t ma rke t i ng and p romo t i ons 10. Hando f f , nex t s t eps
* Sometimes considered optional
Hi lary Marsh
Introduction to Content Strategy
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• 290-page PDF • Updated every
year
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Where i s the member handbook?
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• Findabi l i ty • Voice • Ownership • Pol ic ies • Pract ices
Content Strategy Challenges
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• Language/ jargon • Prior i t ized promot ion • Content hoarding • Bad edi tor ia l processes • New content miss ing • Different content on d i f ferent
channels
Challenges
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Business Consequences
© Don Graham, 1998, Flickr
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Department
Message
Audience
Department
Message
Audience
Department
Message
Audience
Department
Message
Audience
Old Thinking
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• Communicat ion • Collaborat ion • Awareness of the audience • Common brand
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The Web Drives Organizational Change
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Organiza@on: Programs, offerings
Audience
Messages
Audience Audience Audience
New Thinking
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Definition
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• Who, what , when, where, why, and how of publ ish ing content onl ine
• A strategic s tatement ty ing content to business goals
• The people, processes, and power to execute that s tatement
Definition
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Policies and guidelines +
Audience understanding +
Business knowledge =
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Content Strategy Vision
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What is “content”? • Pol i c ies • Sess ion descr ip t ions • Produc t de ta i l s • Course ca ta log l i s t i ngs • Execu t i ve b iograph ies • Press re leases • News le t te rs • Ar t i c les
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Web pages B log pos ts In fograph ics Images PDFs Video Aud io
Many formats
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Edi to r ia l S t ra tegy Marke t ing Governance Techno logy
What do content strategists do?
Carr ie Hane Dennison
Discovery
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How do I do content strategy?
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Where do I start?
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hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/emmm_weee/15048086753
hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/emmm_weee/15048086753
hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/emmm_weee/15048086753
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• hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/studiocurve/13080208/
• hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/moohcowh/2596366618
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hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/bunny/1985272127
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Where you’re going Goals & measures of success
Content Strategy Roadmap
1! 4 2 5 3
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How you’ll get there Which channels will help you achieve
success?
1 4 2 5 3
Content Strategy Roadmap
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How long and how much Deadline, budget, resources
(staff, skills, priorities)
1 4 2 5 3!
Content Strategy Roadmap
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Who’s going with you Who is your audience? !
What do they want?!
1 4 2 5 3
Content Strategy Roadmap
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What you’ll take What content do you have? What needs to be created?
1 4 2 5!3
Content Strategy Roadmap
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• hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/cognizant-‐worldwide/15808428981
• hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/pennstatelive/5415994846
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Strategy Statement
hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/xoques/3758640007
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The <Organization>’s social intranet will: ! Collect and surface/curate critical, relevant editorial content
created by appropriate <organization> corporate departments, divisions and employees.
! Enable and motivate employees to connect, interact and collaborate via social features.
! Foster a culture of innovation.
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We will develop and maintain content that helps people practice and enjoy the arts.
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Exercise #1: Create a strategy statement
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< O r g a n i z a t i o n > o f f e r s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , _ _ _ _ _ _ _ c o n t e n t t h a t h e l p s t h e m _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a n d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ b y m a k i n g _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ f e e l _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , a n d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , a n d c o n v i n c i n g t h e m t o _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a n d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
Create a strategy statement
adjec@ve adjec@ve
accomplish goal accomplish goal audience
adjec@ve adjec@ve adjec@ve
take desired ac@on
VillageReach offers educa/onal but warm, human content that helps them increase dona/ons and raise awareness by making ins/tu/onal donors feel commi7ed, capable, and needed, and convincing them to give annually and show public support.
take desired ac@on
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hKps://www.flickr.com/photos/xoques/3758640007
Content Audits and Assessments
Carr ie Hane Dennison
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Step 1: Content inventory
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N a m e o f c o n t e n t p i e c e U R L C o n t e n t t y p e P e r s o n r e s p o n s i b l e N o t e s
Things to track
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A v e r a g e m o n t h l y v i s i t s L a s t r e v i e w d a t e C M S c o n t e n t t y p e T r a n s l a t i o n s
Also track
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crazy person
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C o n t e n t m a t r i x F i n d i n g s a n d r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s r e p o r t
Outcomes
Comparative Content Analysis
Carrie Hane Dennison
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A s s o c i a t i o n s C o m p a n i e s S o c i a l n e t w o r k s
Identify your competitors
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S e a r c h r e s u l t s U s a b i l i t y Vo c a b u l a r y C o n t e n t
Compare
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C o m p a r a t i v e a u d i t f i n d i n g s r e p o r t
! F o r m a l r e p o r t !! P r e s e n t a t i o n !! S p r e a d s h e e t !! S W O T a n a l y s i s !
Outcomes
Hi lary Marsh
Empathy-Based Audience Personas
@techconf #tech14!hKp://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
Shared focus on the audience
@techconf #tech14!hKp://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
Shared understanding of the audience
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hKp://www.slideshare.net/est3ban/empathybased-‐personas-‐gaining-‐a-‐deeper-‐understanding-‐of-‐your-‐audience-‐presen
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Anthony Susan Allen Maggie
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Content Creation and Publishing Guidelines Hi lary Marsh
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• Sounds l i ke the o rgan iza t ion • Has a goa l • Uses the ac t i ve vo ice • Helps the reader do a task • I s spec i f i c • I s focused on the reader, NOT on your
o rgan iza t ion
Effective content
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• Uses subheads and bu l le ts • I s no t in PDF fo rmat • Uses fewer words bu t inc ludes the te rms
readers a re look ing fo r
Scannable content
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hKp://www.useit.com/eyetracking/
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• What do I hope to ach ieve f rom th is con ten t?
• Who am I ta l k ing to? • What b r ings those peop le to my s i te
o r app? What a re the i r top tasks? Top ques t ions? Conversa t ions they wan t to s ta r t?
Make sure your goa ls a re spec i f i c , measurab le , and focused on what you wan t s i te v i s i to rs to do .
Content is Conversation
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NO - We want to te l l people how great our serv ices are. YES - We want people to choose our serv ices.
True goal
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Hierarchy of content needs
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Content Is…
• Event • Product • Class • Program • Research
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Content Strategy Is…
• Event Strategy • Product Strategy • Class Strategy • Program Strategy • Research Strategy
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Content Is
Political
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Content Is…
• Event • Product • Class • Program • Research
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Content Is…
• My Event • My Product • My Class • My Program • My Research
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“Every pixel has an owner.”
– Paul Ford, former web editor at Harper’s magazine Confab 2013
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“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
– Upton Sinclair
75
hKp://www.amazon.com/Have-‐Always-‐Done-‐That-‐Way/dp/184728857X/
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• Ar t i cu la te your b rand iden t i t y and persona l i t y
• Crea te a common unders tand ing o f who your o rgan iza t ion i s
• In fo rms dec is ions abou t wha t con ten t to pub l i sh , wha t fo rmats , wha t channe ls
Message architecture
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Exercise #2: Create a message architecture
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As a g roup , rev iew the deck o f ca rds . Th ink ing abou t your g roup ’s “adop ted” assoc ia t ion… . 1. Sor t the a t t r i bu tes in to two p i les :
- Who we are today or want to be in the future - Who we are not!
2. Set as ide the “who we a re no t ” p i l e 3. I f you f ind synonyms among the te rms in
p i le 1 , se lec t the one you p re fe r and se t as ide the o ther one .
4. Pr io r i t i ze : choose the top 5 te rms .
Roles, Workflow, Lifecycle, Governance
Hi lary Marsh
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• Conten t s t ra teg is t • Pro jec t manager • Visua l des igner • User exper ience a rch i tec t • Soc ia l med ia manager • Di rec to r
Roles on a digital team
@techconf #tech14! 81 hKp://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/four_models_for_organizing_digital_work_part_two http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/four_models_for_organizing_digital_work_part_two
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Where most orgs start
82
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What often seems most logical
83
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What some orgs are trying
84
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Where most orgs land
85
Maggie Swear ingen
Taxonomy
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• Why is taxonomy impor tan t • How a recent site that was built completely using taxonomy ...
• In t rane t vs . pub l i c s i te taxonomy • How to extract your taxonomy • Starter intranet taxonomy • Using the content audit -- put the emphasis on the content owners • Buying a taxonomy • Use the open Calasis tool -- demo tool
• Lessons lea rned abou t taxonomy • Synonyms • It IS system dependent
Taxonomy (in 20 minutes!)
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Sample in t ranet taxonomy: h t tp : / /1drv.ms/1wxvmPQ
Intranet vs. Public Taxonomy
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The Benefits of Tagging • Improves search results
– Tags can be used to increase relevance of items in search results
– Tags can be used to ‘facet’ search results
• Can drive personalization and aggregation
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Content Planning • How would someone want to search it? • How would I want to categorize it? • Who is it for? • Should it be categorized by year or date? • What makes my content special?
– Videos – Webinars – Press Releases – White Papers – Products
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Build Your Taxonomy • Intranet Standard Taxonomy • Search • Existing Content • Industry Terminology
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• Use the con ten t aud i t sp readshee ts and have con ten t owners tag the i r con ten t
• Take a l l the tags • De-dupe , c lean , s tandard ize • Categor i ze
‘Outsourcing’ Taxonomy Planning
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• WAND • Concep t Search ing • AI IM Taxonomy Tra in ing and Cer t i f i ca t ion
p rograms
Buying a Taxonomy Tool (or Even a Whole Taxonomy!)
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• Open Ca la is Demo
Other Software to Ease Your Pain
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• There i s a taxonomy matu r i t y mode l • Taxonomy i s p la t fo rm dependent –
S i teCore vs . SharePo in t vs . Wordpress vs . Drupa l – oh my !
• Synonyms a re impor tan t • I t ’s ex t reme ly hard work
Lessons Learned
Dina Lewis, CAE
Content Transformation and Migration
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Content Inventory
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Content Audit & Assessment
Audit spreadsheet: hKp://goo.gl/G1DNx6
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Transforming Your Content
Image: wikipedia
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Transforming Your Content
“In a sense, content models are perhaps the truest form of bottom-up information architecture: by determining what types of chunks are important and how to link them, we make the answers embedded in our content ‘rise to the surface.’”
—Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
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Transforming Your Content
• Structure—how content items will assemble – e.g., news, author, location, price
• Type—how is it being used? – e.g., press release for press room, author database
for journal articles
• Attributes—published & metadata – e.g., title, abstract, taxonomy tag
http://alistapart.com/article/content-modelling-a-master-skill
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Transforming Your Content
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Transforming Your Content
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Exercise #3: Transform Your Content
• Structure—e.g., news, author, location, price
• Type—e.g., press release for press room, author database for journal articles
• Attributes—e.g., title, abstract, taxonomy tag
Content Marketing and Promotions
D i n a L e w i s
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Content Marketing
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Content Marketing
www.bobangus.com
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hKp://www.kaushik.net/avinash/smart-‐analy@cs-‐dashboard-‐modules-‐insigh`ul-‐dimensions-‐best-‐metrics/ hKp://www.kaushik.net/avinash/digital-‐dashboards-‐strategic-‐tac@cal-‐best-‐prac@ces-‐@ps-‐examples/
Content Marketing
Handoff and Plan Next Steps
C a r r i e H a n e D e n n i s o n
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#winning
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Patient but persistent repetition of a message
Strategic nagging
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Have a plan
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Don’t wait for a content strategy to do content strategy
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Hi lary Marsh P r e s i d e n t & C h i e f S t r a t e g i s t , C o n t e n t C o m p a n y, I n c . h i l a r y @ h i l a r y m a r s h . c o m @ h i l a r y m a r s h
Maggie Swear ingen S e n i o r M a n a g e r & E x p e r i e n c e A r c h i t e c t P r o t i v i t i m a g g i e . s w e a r i n g e n @ p r o t i v i t i . c o m @ m s w e a r i n g e n
Contact Us Carr ie Hane Dennison D i r e c t o r , W e b O p e r a t i o n s & S t r a t e g y A m e r i c a n S o c i e t y o f C i v i l E n g i n e e r s C D e n n i s o n @ a s c e . o r g @ c a r r i e h d
Dina Lewis , CAE P r e s i d e n t D i s t i l l e d L o g i c , L L C d i n a @ d i s t i l l e d l o g i c . n e t @ d i n a l e w