content strategy battle school - istrategylabs
DESCRIPTION
As part of our eternal quest for knowledge and glory at ISL, we hold a regular internal series of staff-lead professional development classes known as Battle School. It's serious business.TRANSCRIPT
Content Strategy
Content Strategy
Battle School // ISL
Eric ShuttApr. 10, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
What is content?
Content is interconnected media. Yes, it’s text, images, videos, and audio. But it’s also the combination, context and connections between those elements that create meaningful exploration and experience for the viewer.
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
What’s a content strategy?
A content strategy plans for the creation, distribution, promotion, and maintenance of media, across all relevant channels and platforms.
Content strategy involves all of us - designers, developers, and strategists. We already know and factor into our work lots of aspects of content strategy.
What’s different is that a content strategy is systemic.
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Warning (!!): NO SHORTCUTSContent aggregation, user generated content, free content, paid content, or any create-content-quick scheme is no substitute for a content strategy.
image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JpSiphSKnXg/TbqyIgl9fiI/AAAAAAAAAss/-9JwbJQBmGs/s1600/no-shortcut.jpg
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Goals
In general, useful web content must do both:
1) Meet user expectations and task objectives. 2) Fulfill core business objectives.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/OsGgrZqWxiw/Ice+Hockey+Day+5/ZVETbCusKhf/Noora+Raty
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
So what’s good?
Good content is:
- User-centered: Fills user needs first. - Short & sweet: Concise. - Clear: Easy to understand. - Consistent: Facts, style, and tone. - Actionable: Leads to behavior that supports goals. - Supported: Will be maintained properly.
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Less, not More!
Why less is better:
- Easier to manage - More user-friendly - Less time to create and manage - Less expensive
Simplify content to solve capacity challenges around content creation, promotion, and maintenance.
http://floraballantynea2photography.blogspot.com/
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
“Our website is a content management system (CMS). It's designed to organize tons of content that is inserted in little chunks. Right now the website is a big blank slate. It is hard to create an organizational structure for a CMS with no content.
I would really like everyone to write a few paragraphs (300 words) about some aspect of [our organization]. Include an image or two. And add a caption, section headers or any kind of stand-out text. You can email me your content or call me and I will give you an account and teach you how to create a page.”
- Terrible advice.
Less, not More!
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
#Process
1) DISCOVER 2) CREATE 3) DELIVER 4) MAINTAIN
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
DISCOVER
Research: Content Audit & Inventory, Content Sources, User Research, Audience, Stakeholder Interviews, website analytics, keyword and sentiment analysis, content gaps, Current and expected technology and platforms, competitors.
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
CREATE
Define: Business goals, project objectives, content requirements, functional requirements, content migration, core messaging, style guidelines, content schedule, legal requirements, format requirements, content owners, workflows, approval.
Design: - Structure: Site maps, page types, wireframes,, mood boards. - Content: Message & visual hierarchy, workflow, page tables, copywriting, photo, video, roles.
Develop: Stack selection, CMS templates, devices, system integrations, Metadata, content inventory, Usability Testing, Q/A, SEO guidelines.
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Workflow & Management:- Why?: Ask yourself, why are we creating this, and what will it accomplish?- Creation: “It’s not copy. It’s content.”- Draft to Approval: Who’s responsible?- Timeline: Publishing schedule & calendar.- Promotion: How, where, why? - Maintenance: How will the content age?- Technology Platforms: What supports and deliver the content?
CREATE
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Boxes:Every piece of content is a box with an arrow in and an arrow out. The arrow in is user navigation to the page through promotion, search, in-bound links, or another source. The arrow out is the action the user takes on that page, and the landing page for that action.
CREATE
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Page Types:Think of pages more for their function and less for their topic or content style. Content can be many types of media - text, photo, video.
- Routers: Get people to other, specific content. - Attention getters: Shared on Social Media - Convincer / supporting page: Additional info to close the deal. - Action page: Where the magic happens.
CREATE
http://www.123rf.com/photo_13823239_grid-background-blue-red-on-black.html
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Page Guide SectionsPage- Page title- Business Goal- Page Goal
Priority
Visibility
Effort Level
Navigation
Message- Audience- Key messages- Priority 1- Priority 2- Source material
Action- Promotion- Navigation- Action
Results- Measurement- Maintenance
CREATE
http://www.123rf.com/photo_13823239_grid-background-blue-red-on-black.html
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
DELIVER
Deploy: Active promotion, calendar, schedule, link and search strategy.
http://iamwalkingbackwards.blogspot.com/2012/08/jesus-delivers.html
Thursday, April 11, 13
http://iamwalkingbackwards.blogspot.com/2012/08/jesus-delivers.html
Content Strategy
Promotion: - Channels - Navigation - Responsibility (who) - Timeline / schedule
DELIVER
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Schedule: - Editorial calendar. - Creation (drafting through approval). - Publishing.
DELIVER
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Channels: - Website - Email - Social media / networks - PR - Search engines - Inbound links - Advertising - Print - TV
DELIVER
Thursday, April 11, 13
http://www.abcsd.org/resource/public-works-resources?chapter=abcsd
Content Strategy
MAINTAIN
Maintain: Editorial maintenance, technology maintenance, analyze, refine and update content.
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Editorial & Formatting: - Information quality - Layout updates. - Image / frame sizing. - Responsive & mobile
MAINTAIN
http://www.choosemontgomerymd.com/business-community/industry-sectors/real-estate-construction
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Platforms: - Technology maintenance - Platform upgrades
MAINTAIN
http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/north-america-commercial-news/american-institute-of-architects-aia-nonresidential-construction-industry-consensus-construction-forecast-economic-improvement-kermit-baker-commercial-construction-report-6496.php
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
Measure + Refine - Measure and analyze data. - Use key findings to modify and improve content strategy.
MAINTAIN
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
ADDL RESOURCES
Content Strategy for the Web, by Kristina Halvorsonhttp://www.amazon.com/Content-Strategy-Web-Kristina-Halvorson/dp/0321808304
The Elements of Content Strategy, by Erin Kissanehttp://www.abookapart.com/products/the-elements-of-content-strategy
Kira Marchenese, Online Communications for Nonprofitshttp://kiramarch.com/
Thursday, April 11, 13
Content Strategy
END
That’s it!
Thursday, April 11, 13