content strategy past, present, future
TRANSCRIPT
Content Strategy Past, Present, and Future
STC Chicago Annual Awards Banquet, March 19, 2015
The past….
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Then came the web
S7ll live at h;p://www.dpgraph.com/
S7ll live (for posterity’s sake) at h;p://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm
MTV’s home page in 1996
R.R. Donnelley corporate intranet, 1998 – the globe was really spinning!
Then came IA
• User-‐centered design (what a concept!) • Organized content into buckets • Considered how people would travel through an online experience to accomplish their goals
• Created and tested experiences
• How does content get to the site? • How long should content stay live? • How can we make sure that people create content so it can be found and used?
• How much content is there in each secQon and how oRen it gets added to?
• How can we bring together similar content from different parts of an organizaQon?
What about the content?
• How good is the content that currently exists – how relevant is it to the audience, does it help the organizaQon meet its goals?
• What’s missing? • Who is posQng the content, vs who’s creaQng it? • Is the system working to help make publishing and finding content easier, or is it making things more difficult?
What about the content?
• How can we make sure people can get what they’re looking for on any device?
• How can we proacQvely share informaQon with our audience most effecQvely through ever-‐increasing digital channels?
• How does web content stay in synch with the organizaQon’s other channels – print, phone, in-‐person, etc.?
What about the content?
Enter content strategy
DefiniQon
• Who, what, when, where, why, and how of publishing content online
• A strategic statement tying content to business goals • The people, processes, and power to execute that
statement
DefiniQon
What is content?
Many types of content • Policies • Session descripQons • Product details • Course catalog lisQngs • ExecuQve biographies • Press releases • Newsle]ers • Magazine or journal arQcles • Program informaQon • Etc., etc., etc.
Content takes different forms
• Web pages • Blog posts • Infographics • Images • PDFs • Video • Audio
The present….
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Old thinking
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h]p://www.amazon.com/Have-‐Always-‐Done-‐That-‐Way/dp/184728857X/
OrganizaQon: Programs, offerings
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Audience Audience Audience
New thinking
Content
strategist as
orchestra
conductor
Content strategy is change management
We are not there yet
h]p://www.simoncamilleri.com/the_truth_of_the_elephant/
The future….
Not one size fits all
• Voice and tone • Goals • ConnecQons
h]p://www.alwaysdolledup.com/2011_04_01_archive.html
Not one size fits all
• Structure/reuse • “Intelligence” • Repurposing
Make connecQons with the content
• Cross-‐linking • Tagging
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h]p://www.slideshare.net/est3ban/empathybased-‐personas-‐gaining-‐a-‐deeper-‐understanding-‐of-‐your-‐audience-‐presen
Make connec7ons with the people
Shared focus on the audience
Shared understanding of the audience
Policies and guidelines +
Audience understanding +
Business knowledge =
Working together for customer saQsfacQon
The dream • True organizaQonal change
• Show the connecQons between all work and content
• GeneraQonal shiR?
Content strategists are leading the charge • Small community (2,000 pracQQoners)
• New discipline
• We speak, write, consult, advise, mentor, teach
• Help organizaQons make sense of what they have and how they deliver informaQon: cut through the clu]er and reach audiences effecQvely
