revenue content strategy 101: unifying content and revenue strategyu
TRANSCRIPT
@WebWorksChris #LavaCon
Revenue Content Strategy 101: Unifying Content and Revenue Strategy
Christopher Ward
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Purpose of this workshop j
To expand the conversation beyond cost cutting to revenue generation.
Profit = Revenue - Cost
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Purpose of this workshop c
How do we change the conversation –
Develop a business case using terminology that CEOs understand.
The information is probably already there, we have to define it to align with the strategy of the origination.
To sell your business case to get the proper buy in.How to get what you want, when you need it – the art of positioning
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Why listen to us?
Christopher Ward
– Director of Sales for WebWorks
– 4 years as Military Intelligence with the U.S. Army
– Industry leader over Revenue Documentation “Establishing a business-oriented documentation workflow” - tcworld
August 2015 issue
“A Printer, A Desktop, and a Tablet Walk into a Bar: Creating TechComm Nirvana” – intercom June 2015 issue
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Why are you here?
What are you looking to get out of this workshop
What does success look like for you at work
If you could only change one thing about your current work situation, what would it be?
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Why we created this workshop c “The Evolution of Online Help” – white paper on help systems and
how they are evolving to meet the need of the end user.
Short follow up survey asking technical communicators what the primary objectives of their technical writing roles were:
– 95% believed that technical communication is in need of evolution
– 89% have seen change in technical communication throughout their career
– Top objective as a technical communicator: 49% weighed more heavily on being user friendly
35% said to provide accurate information
13% put importance on strategic business goals – of the 13% almost all were tenured technical writers of more than 10 years, with only two falling in the 6 to 10 years of experience range
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Why we created this workshop c
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Why we created this workshop
Two dynamics that are not making sense
The Value of Content is Increasing
TechComm Budgets are Shrinking
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Tech comm budgets are shrinking
Budgets are shrinking
So our ability to deliver is becoming limited
So our ability to invest in efficiencies and bigger impact is decreasing
So our impact is decreasing
SO we get less money…repeat
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Factors increasing the value of content
Advancements in Technology
Consumer Behavior
Big Data
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Consumer behavior
• The Informed Consumer • Eric K. Clemons –
• How Information Changes Consumer Behavior and How Consumer Behavior Determines Corporate Strategy
• Internet Use• According to Pew Research, 87% of American
Adults use the Internet. Number one reason – product research
• People are creating content to read and share as a trusted source of material
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Advances in technology
Broadband
– As speed increased so did adoption from users
Mobile Technology
– 91% of all Americans own a cell phone
– 63% of cell phone owners use it to go online
Social Apps
– Changed the way people think about other, and businesses
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Big data
Volume, Variety, Velocity –
– 30B pieces of content shared on Facebook every month
– 400M Tweets are sent every day
– 4B hours of YouTube video are watched each month
– 150 exabytes of US health care data in 2011 (worth $300B)
80% of data is content
And we know more than ever, in real time, about how that “data” is being used
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
How did you make your last purchase?
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Consumer decision-making process Needs Analysis
Research
Evaluation of Solutions
Purchase and Consumption
Post-Purchase Phase
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Sales funnel
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
What is a revenue strategy?
Companies are in the business to generate revenue, not in the business of cutting cost
If you understand consumer behavior, you can create a strategy that generates revenue
Once you understand your company’s strategy, you can create a content strategy that generates revenue
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
What is a content strategy?
A business strategy for content
A strategy for how to use content to achieve business goals
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Our definitions (group exercise)
Documentation can shape the customer experience, creating loyalty and generating revenue
– Writer's responsibility
– Content Quality
– Content Value
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 20
Why does the customer experience matter?
Documentation can shape the customer experience, creating loyalty and adding value back to the company.
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 21
Measures for a business plan
Quality
Pain
Delivery
Reuse
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 22
Measure pain
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 23
Measure the time it takes to do everything and categorize it to see where the most time is spent
Measure Pain
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 24
Measure the time it takes to do everything and categorize it to see where the most time is spent
Measure hard costs to see where you are spending the most money
Measure Pain
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 25
Measure delivery
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 26
Measure the number of projects produced and delivered against the goal
Measure Delivery
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 27
Measure the number of projects produced and delivered against the goal
Measure the number of projects delivered according to the schedule
Measure Delivery
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 28
Measure the number of projects produced and delivered against the goal
Measure the number of projects delivered according to the schedule
Measure the number of channels the projects were delivered to
Measure Delivery
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 29
Measure reuse
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 30
Measure Reuse
Measure similar content that may be inconsistent
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 31
Measure quality
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 32
Measure distribution and support call volume for printed manuals
Measure quality
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 33
Measure distribution and support call volume for printed manuals
Measure support call volume and statistics on audience and views for PDF manuals
Measure quality
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 34
Measure distribution and support call volume for printed manuals
Measure support call volume and statistics on audience and views for PDF manuals
Measure web analytics and feedback/ comments from the audience for responsive web output
Measure quality
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 35
Building a business planOnce you have defined and labeled your measures, now you can build your caseMeasures of Pain = Needs
These are you current deficiencies and what you want the company to invest dollars in to fixing.
Measures of Delivery = ProgressThese are the measures you are going to use to show the progress of your plan
Measures of Reuse = EfficiencyThese measures will show how efficient your process is and that you are maximizing the investment dollar
Measures of Quality = Return.These are the brass rings, this is the return or value the company gets by investing in to your plan
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 36
Building a business planOnce you have defined and labeled your measures, now you can build your caseMeasures of Quality = Return.
These are the brass rings, this is the return or value the company gets by investing in to your plan
Measures of Pain = Needs These are you current deficiencies and what you want the company to invest dollars in to fixing.
Measures of Delivery = ProgressThese are the measures you are going to use to show the progress of your plan
Measures of Reuse = EfficiencyThese measures will show how efficient your process is and that you are maximizing the investment dollar
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation 37
Positioning a business plan
Objections
DiscoveryPositioning
Close
Rapport
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Positioning your plan j
RapportMust come first
Has to be truthful
Do not need to “agree” with or be “similar to” for rapport to be built
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Positioning your plan c
Ask Why – 5 times
Listen, do not assume – I am wise because I understand I have no wisdom
Walk away
Discovery
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Positioning your plan j
Align your needs with the goals of the company – the answer to the whys
Don’t go in to the details – they don’t need to know how they just need to know what the result will be
Positioning
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Positioning your plan c
MUST BE DONE RIGHT AFTER POSITIONING
MUST BE A DIRECT QUESTION
Ask how what the process is and the next step
Close
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Positioning your plan c
MUST BE DONE RIGHT AFTER YOU GET A NO FROM CLOSING
DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE A LOSER OR WRONG, JUST MEANS YOU MISSED SOMETHING IN THE PROCESS
Go back to to figure out what you missed
Objections
Discovery
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
It’s your turn
VASONT SYSTEMS | @VasontSystems | www.vasont.com WEBWORKS | @webworks_com | www.webworks.com
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Back to the beginning…changing the end
Opportunity
The Value of Content is Increasing
Tech Comm Budgets can Increase
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Summary: What it’s going to take
Refine ourselves: Business 1st, content 2nd
Keep learning
– Business strategy
– Sales and negotiation techniques
Be bold
– Tough decisions
Make new friends
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
Finding us
Christopher Ward
– Wed 12:55: How To Get What You Want When You Want It
– Wed 1:30 How To Get What You Want When You Want It - Continued in break out session (Room?)
– WebWorks booth
– www.webworks.com
© 2014 – Quadralay Corporation
References
http://www.leadformix.com/blog/2011/05/changing-dynamics-%E2%80%93-the-rise-of-new-b2b-marketing-funnel/
http://stevepatrizi.com/2012/10/23/the-new-marketing-sales-funnel/
https://noppa.aalto.fi/noppa/kurssi/t-128.5540/luennot/T-128_5540_how_information_changes_consumer_behavior_and_how_consumer_behavior_determines_corporate_strategy.pdf
http://www.pewinternet.org/data-trend/internet-use/internet-use-over-time/