content strategy ebook 050411

8/6/2019 Content Strategy eBook 050411

1/31

COPYRIGHT 2011 ICROSSING LTD, HEARST GROUP 1

HOW TO PLAN A CONTENT STRATEGY | A GUIDE FOR ONLINE MARKETERS

AN ICROSSING RESEARCH & INSIGHT WHITE PAPERV1.1

A GUIDE FOR ONLINE MARKETERS

How to plan acontent strategy


2/31




Contents

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS CONTENT?

CONTENT IN NETWORKS: WHATS DIFFERENT (AND WHATS THE SAME)

WHY DO YOU NEED A CONTENT STRATEGY?

IN SUMMARY: CONTENT STRATEGY IN QUESTIONS ANSWERED

THE PLANNING PROCESS

AUDITS AND RESEARCH

SOME LIKELY OUTPUTS FROM YOUR STRATEGY

FURTHER READING AND LINKS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT ICROSSING

3

4

5

9

13

16

20

24

28

29

30


3/31

3 COPYRIGHT 2010 ICROSSING LTD, HEARST GROUPAN ICROSSING RESEARCH & INSIGHT WHITE PAPER


V1.1


CORPORATE DIGITAL STRATEGY. HOW TO PLAN A CONTENT STRATEGY

We have written this as a practical guide to thinkingabout and planning content for brand marketers onthe web.

If you have downloaded this because you needurgent help writing a content plan or a brief to youragencies, turn immediately to page 13 onwards.

There we focus on the questions that a contentstrategy must help you answer. Otherwise, take alittle time to read the preceding sections, which giveour perspective on content.

To keep us from going off on a tangent alwaysa danger when writing about, thinking about or

working with the web the main thrust of this eBookis about the preparation you will need to do if youreplanning a content strategy for your brand.

Its based on our experience, as a team over the pastfour years, of planning and creating digital content from blog posts and Tweets to infographics and

videos, and everything in between.

Most of us are editors and journalists by experience,and so we approach online content with an editorial

mindset. However, we have been lucky enough to

work cheek by jowl with people journalists arentoften close to (although this is changing), including

data analysts, search engine experts and userexperience practitioners.

This odd setting for a team of hacks has given riseto a world view about how content works online,and how best to think about it, that we think is a bitdifferent.

You may be a marketing manager, a digitalspecialist, or working in a discipline such as SEO or

media buying and simply want to know a little moreabout this thing we call content strategy. Whoeveryou are, we hope you find it useful let us knowif you did... or what we can do to make the next

version more useful.

Thanks,The iCrossing UK Content Team

photo by Neal @ Flickr

Introduction

V1.1


4/31

4 COPYRIGHT 2010 ICROSSING LTD, HEARST GROUPAN ICROSSING RESEARCH & INSIGHT WHITE PAPER


V1.1



We would describe content as the fabric of the web.Wed go so far as to say that the internet is content.

For a brand on the web, content is everything that

they have to offer.

As marketers, when we talk about content, we

have mainly been concerned with the written word,images, audio and video. It helps now though tobroaden the definition to include apps, games, toolsand even raw data.

For the record, Wikipedias current definition ofcontent is:

In media production and publishing, content isinformation and experiences that may providevalue for an end-user/audience in specific contexts.

Content may be delivered via any medium such asthe internet, television, and audio CDs, as well as liveevents such as conferences and stage performances.

The word is used to identify and quantify variousformats and genres of information as manageablevalue-adding components of media.

If we were to think of the web as a great big game,

content is all the pieces you have or can create orco-opt to your cause. If we think of marketing online

as competing in a great big market for attention(and at iCrossing we definitely do) then content isone part of the currency you can use to win that

attention. If your content is great, and truly useful, itwill buy you much more than attention.

Beyond your product and service to the customer,

then, content is everything when it comes tomarketing, especially brand marketing on the worldwide web.

At least thats how we see it.

Another eBook from iCrossing, Brands in Networks,

gives a lot more detail on our ideas about networks,complexity and attention but were here to talkabout content.

CONTENTWITHOUTPURPOSE ISNOT CONTENT ITS NOISE

CONTENTINI

THE SINGLE MOSTIMPORTANT THING MOSTWEBSITES CAN OFFER TOTHEIR USERS IS CONTENTTHAT THOSE USERS WILLFIND VALUABLETHE ELEMENTS OF USER

EXPERIENCE,JESSE JAMES GARRETT

photo by Victori @ Flickr

What is content?

V1.1


5/31




Content in networks



Whats different (and whats the same)about content on the web?

photo by seier+seier @ FlickrV1.1


6/31





Indulge us, with a quick reminisce about the last fouryears and what we have learned.

Most o us in the content team at iCrossing are editors orjournalists and have spent a great deal o our time in editorialroles. When the team was started in 2007, we ound ourselves ina very unusual place. We were an island o story-obsessed hacksin a sea o SEO (search engine optimisation) and data-ocussedperormance marketing experts.

The culture clash that ensued was enlightening or everyoneinvolved. We like to think that our SEO colleagues learned thatthere was more to content than keyword-loaded linkbait,that the search engines were better understood as a means to the

users end than a unnel to deliver sales.

In turn these technical wizards taught us about how searchengines and the things that people type into them can give usgenuinely useul insight. SEO analyses provide us with the harddata about the way that people use the web and the things thatthey are interested in.

And our colleagues in the social media team helped us topin down in ne detail what we already knew as editors andcommunity managers that the web (2.0 or otherwise) is asmuch about the conversations that individuals are having (with

and about brands) as about the things that brands want to talkabout (or sell).

photo by Philipp Klinger @ Flickr

Once you see the web as it actually works, the idea that websites

are like magazines, or TV stations, or brochures becomes rathermisleading. The web is all about networks, networks o people,talking and creating all sorts o new and wonderul things.All the measures o online success we had ever seen were aboutwhat happened on the website. As the social media team beganworking with the search team to build network maps showinghow content travels and where conversations happen online, werealised that success must be just as much about what happens tocontent away rom the originating website.

Websites, it became clear, were only hal the story. I that.

When content is successul online, websites cant hold it. It wontstay still it travels. And when its unsuccessul? Well, it just sitsthere unloved and unnoticed.

Content in networks

THE WEB ISALL ABOUTNETWORKS OFPEOPLE, TALKINGAND CREATINGWONDERFULTHINGS


7/31



AN ICROSSING RESEARCH & INSIGHT WHITE PAPERV1.1photo by Philipp Klinger @ Flickr

Content in networks

The early digital era saw the birth of the phrasecontent is king, but there was an older maxim thatmost of us had learned in editorial teams that also

holds true: the story is king.

Storytelling has been the currency o human culture since thoseNeolithic campres. There are any number o sociological,anthropological and communications theory books on how thisworks and why this is the case, but the common thread is thathumans are hard-wired or storytelling and listening to stories.

For us it was clear that stories were as important in content oronline marketing as they were in editorial content.

There were other eects we could see in how content workedin online networks that remained the same. For instance, badnews and gossip still travel at lightning speed perhaps onlyslightly aster than they travelled when our social networksdepended on in-person and telephone conversations rather thaninstant network-wide updates via Twitter and Facebook.

HUMANS AREHARD-WIRED FORSTORYTELLINGAND LISTENINGTO STORIES

Plus a change, and all that...


8/31




Content in networks

The way that a lot of content seemed to beconceived was within the media model ofadvertising or producing a short radio or TV series.

Things were commissioned, produced whole andcomplete and released into the wilds of the web.

Not much seemed to do very well. Not proportionate to thetime and money spent (oten lots) and the amount o attentionthat was out there among the people brands were interested inspeaking to.

Being editors and journalists by experience, we brought whatwe thought was a more appropriate model or producingcontent that would succeed in networks: the newsroom.

Newsrooms are story-obsessed, chaotic (like the web), aliveto opportunities and ready to drop everything that has beenplanned and move like lightning when theres an opportunityor a scoop.

Newsrooms do all the things that early web entrepreneurs andsuccessul online content outts were saying were necessary:they are iterative, alert, close to their customers and their subjectsand ready to try things out, drop them i they dont work and

add more resources quickly when they do.So we began to organise a newsroom-style approach or creatingand managing online content, using blogs, Twitter, Facebookand whatever tools were appropriate as our publishing platorms.

Having experienced editors and journalists on the team provedits worth not just in terms o perspective and propensity orstorytelling. There were many practical skills that provedinvaluable too: a ocus on nding the correct angle or dierentaudiences; applying consistency in tone and approach; sub-editing or accuracy and quality; awareness o legal issuesaround copyright, libel and deamation; managing networks oreelancers to produce additional or specialist content.

All o these things brought not only the agility o thenewsroom, but its commitment to quality produced at speed.

NEWSROOMS AREITERATIVE, ALERT,CLOSE TO THEIRCUSTOMERS ANDTHEIR SUBJECTSAND READY TO TRYTHINGS OUT

The newsroom


9/31



AN ICROSSING RESEARCH & INSIGHT WHITE PAPERV1.1 COPYRIGHT 2011 ICROSSING LTD, HEARST GROUP 9


photo by fdecomite @ Flickr

Why do you need acontent strategy?

V1.1


10/31




Why do you need a content strategy?

Its amazing, given how vital it is to successin brand marketing, that very often content has

been an afterthought - a sub-section of thesub-section on developing the new site or socialmedia campaign, which is part of the big, shiny

marketing plan.

Creating a content strategy gives us the space to ask: why are we

creating content? Who are we trying to talk to and what do they

want rom us? And what will it take - really take - to do this

brilliantly, now and into the uture?

Search engine optimisation and paid, promotional activity may be

employed to deliver trac. Success may be judged on the number

o hits, pages viewed and the like.

This tactical, technical-led approach has been common, accepted

practice or a while. But the web is changing, and its no longer

enough.

Its time to grow up about content. Content strategy helps us all

do just that.



11/31





Beyond making the most of your content, we

put forward a content first view of brandmarketing on the web.

This is a contrast we make with the approach that was takenin the past, and was based on models o marketing importedrom ofine, traditional media. These can be characterisedas technical-led and media-led. Sometimes you will seecombinations o the two, but either way content loses out interms o ocus, resources and eectiveness.

p

p

Creative/technical-led approaches willput the emphasis on creating a website thatis unctionally and aesthetically superior,cutting edge. It will dazzle any expert inthe room, and any user who is running acomputer and display capable o makingsense o it. Above all, it will be expensiveand the proportion o the budget let over

or content will be minimal, and mainly anup-ront cost with almost nothing let overor ongoing production and governance ocontent.

Media-led approaches wil l put theemphasis on delivering trac to thewebsite, by prioritising SEO and paidsearch and display ads to bring largeamounts o trac to the website. Contentin this approach is a unction o deliveringtrac, with SEO considerations orinstance taking precedence over qualityand relevance o the content. Lookingbeyond trac to engagement measures(e.g. how long they spend using content,viewing videos, Liking pages onFacebook, linking to it, talking about it)oten reveal the lack o real impact o thisapproach.

These approaches oten refect e-commerce priorities, buttheyre not appropriate or brand marketing and may lead to riskor the brand. When users eel theyve been misled into viewinga sales-ocused page when they were researching a product,or instance, they will - at the very least - eel rustrated by thebrand having wasted their time.

When a brand is also selling direct online, it must balance itsapproach to the sales unnel by considering how it can supportusers at the awareness, interest and consideration phases as well

as the nal conversion stage. Giving content consideration earlyon in planning and allocating proper resource to it will help todevelop a smarter approach.

I brand impact is the priority, content should not just be anecessary component o the marketing strategy, it should be inthe driving seat.

The content-led view of managing

brands online


12/31





Visits to your

microsite equate roughlyto one for every poundyou spent on building

the thing.

Clues that you need a

content strategy

You dont know

who wrote the lastblog post on yourcompany website.

Online content

is being discussed after

the TV advertising or othermarketing creative has

been decided and isexpected simply to

amplify that.

You have a Facebookpage and strategy but

no Likes or Responsesto anything you put

up there.

Digital marketing has not evolved as a singlediscipline, but as a host of parallel activities. This has

brought about a Heath-Robinson-style marketingmachine, cobbled together from different skills andpoints of view.

One client shared with us the ollowing insight: I I ask or amarketing challenge to be solved by my digital agencies I willget a dierent strategy rom each. The SEO agency will give anSEO solution, the creative agency will give a creative solution,the media agency will talk about which media to buy no one

will give a digital strategy.

Content strategy arbitrates between the demands o dierentstakeholders and disciplines. It ensures that content, whatever itssource, is executed in a coordinated way and contributes to theoverall objectives or both the brand and the user.

Heath-Robinson

digital marketing strategy


13/31



AN ICROSSING RESEARCH & INSIGHT WHITE PAPERV1.1 COPYRIGHT 2011 ICROSSING LTD, HEARST GROUP 13


photo by seier+seier @ Flickr

In summary: contentstrategy in questions

answered

V1.1


14/31




In summary: content strategyin questions answered


How to summarise how a content strategy develops?At iCrossing, weve found that breaking it down intothe questions that we have to answer along the waycan be a practical way to demonstrate the process.

1. Objectives

pWhat is the scope o your project? To sort out theentire organisations content, on and ofine? Or toplan or a new platorm or campaign?

p Are your overall business goals and the requirements oyour customers clearly understood and articulated?

2. Context

p What do you have (existing content, in-house expertise,partnerships) that could already be an asset or the uture?

p Where are the people and conversations online that matterto you most? What content works or them?

pWhat are the opportunities or your brand to be useulto these people in these places, and earn attention andengagement?

p Are there no brainer things your content must do? Arethere big gaps o opportunity that you can get to rst?

3. Principles

p Are all your stakeholders clear about how user attentionworks online, and what it takes to produce successuldigital content?

p Online, divisions between marketing, productinormation, customer service and PR are blurring -is your organisation ready or a strategic approach toproducing content that capitalises on this, and puts theuser rst every time?

4. Approach

p Given your shared understanding o the objectives, thecontext or your content and the principles you haveagreed - in what direction will your content strategy take

your organisation?

pBeore you get stuck into the detail: is everyone who has astake in this new strategic direction on-board?


15/31




Continued...

5. Platforms

p What platorms will you require to execute this strategy?

p What guiding principles or content can you apply to theuse o each platorm?

p How much eort will each require? Processes orproduction are essential - quantiy whats involved.

p Will your strategy result in a renewable and reviewableactivity plan that is more than just a single creative idea or

even a series o them?

p How will the content oering you have be promoted awayrom spaces over which you have direct control, orexample via online PR and outreach, and through paidmedia?

6. Resource

p Do you have the people and the budgets you need? Dontgloss over this. Content creation and governance should beaccounted or realistically in the working day.

p How will you access the specialist expertise you need?I possible ensure you or your agency have trained editorsand community managers attached to the project, and thatthe content production team has access to SEO, technical,online PR and legal support when required.

p Will you be able to move quickly to capitalise on success?What contingencies do you need to have in place to allowor this?



16/31




The planningprocess



photo by 96dpi@ FlickrV1.1


17/31




The planning process

Developing your content strategy and plan shouldbegin as early as possible in the creation of a new

website, campaign or other online activity. If it isa case that content has been left until last - well,

better late than never to get your strategy together.

When does content strategy happen?

I you are planning user research to understand what yourwebsite needs to do, content strategy should be the next step on

your project plan. I you arent planning user research, it shouldabsolutely happen beore you start wireraming or developingsite architecture. Content strategists and inormation architects

/ user experience specialists should be working in partnershiprom the very earliest stages o design and build.

Planning should be seen as a process o establishing your contentteam or unction and then sustaining it. Ater the initial phase ogetting things going ensure that time and milestones have beenset or regular reviews and updates o the approach.

Be prepared to make your best bet on what will be successul,then adjust or completely change tack as you start to see theimpact o your content online. Use analytics and user research tocheck what you need to do more o or less o, and what you justneed to stop doing altogether.


This timeline illustrates

the process or a content strategy project

at eBay, ocused on its business sellers

across Europe. Note the seven-month

period spent building relationships

between teams - a lot o content strategy

is about creating sustainable conditions

or the ongoing planning, creation and

governance o content, which may well

mean bringing stakeholders together in

a new way.

Slide produced with permission o Nikki

Tiedtke, EU Senior Content Strategist.

The ull presentation can be viewed at

www.slideshare.net/nikkitiedtke/con-

tent-strategy-applied-an-ebay-use-case.

TIMELINE

N, Charcol and Toyota.

In 2009 he became iCrossings rst Content Strategist, and has since worked on contentstrategies or brands including Virgin Atlantics vtravelled, STA Travel and Visit Wales.He specialises in editorial content strategy and social media, and is driven by thepotential or non-traditional publishers to become trusted providers o content.He tweets as @cpev.


30/31




iCrossing UK is a digital marketing agency that specialisesin search and social media.We design and build search and social media strategies orsome o the worlds biggest brands, including The Coca-Cola Company, Toyota, Virgin, Bank o Amer ica, andTK MAXX.iCrossing UK is part o iCrossing, one o the worldslargest, digital marketing agencies, which employs 600sta in 12 oces around the globe, including 100 stabased at UK oces in London and Brighton.

iCrossing has won numerous accolades, including thenumber one-ranked agency or both paid and naturalsearch in Forrester Researchs 2009 Wave report o USsearch marketing agencies, OMMAs Search Agency othe Year, Best Use o Search at the Revolution Awardsand a nal ist or Revolutions Agency o the Year award.We are also the only agency with two Forrester social-media case studies to its name.iCrossing is a unit o Hearst Corporation, one o theworlds largest diversied media companies.

For more inormation please visit www.icrossing.co.ukor contact us at [email protected]

About iCrossing


31/31




Acknowledgments

Wed like to thank everyone at iCrossing whos helpedshape our teams content strategy services over the past

couple o years, in particular Simon Mustoe, MarkHigginson, Matthew Neale, Jeremy Head and Jason Ryan.

Antony Mayeld, who originally ounded the contentand social media teams at iCrossing UK, has contributedenormously to both the structure and substance o thiseBook, and we owe him a particularly big thank you.

content strategy ebook 050411

Documents