user focused content strategy that is just right
DESCRIPTION
Presentation from User Focus 2012 in Chevy Chase, MD. Think your organization or project is too small for content strategy? Don’t know where to start on the massive project you’ve just been handed? Want to incorporate it into you current organization/agency/team’s process? Regardless of the size of your team, organization, or project, you can do content strategy. We’ll break down content strategy into its parts and show how anyone can fit it into what they do, stealthily or blatantly, whichever way works for you. We’ll also show you ways to sell it to your boss and evaluate your strategy’s success.TRANSCRIPT
Content Strategy That Fits
SMALL MEDIUM AND LARGE
Carrie Hane Dennison @carriehd
Lorelei Brown @beezy
#userfocus
Self-test
Do you have
A list of search terms?
Analytics?
A list of site content?
A standards/editorial style
guide?
Target audiences?
Do you know
When you need to update your
site?
Who is responsible for the
content?
What words everyone is using to
describe your
company/product/offering?
Content Strategy AUDITS, STRATEGY, GOVERNANCE
Audits – LISTING
A list of content on your site.
What wordseveryone is using to describe your
company/product/offering?
Search terms?
Strategy – PLANNING
When you need to update content.
Defined audience.
How content builds a relationship with your
audience.
Governance – MAINTAINING
Define who is responsible for the content.
Standards/editorial style guide?
Know who’s the sheriff?
Why Bother?
Reasons WHY you’re doing this – a plan
that everyone can agree on (more or less)
Ways to measure if the plan is working
Guidelines to prioritize work
Less overhead time figuring out what you
need to do
More time spent engaging your audience
Audit – You Are Here
You can’t know how to get where you’re
going until you know where you are.
SMALL
Start with top level pages and key
‘strategic content’
Note seasonal/response content
MEDIUM
Add audiences, purposes, start evaluation
LARGE
List every page
image of map with
"you are here"
INSERT EXAMPLE OF
AUDIT
screen shot of NGAUS content inventory
Audit Outcomes
Catalog of what’s there
Condition of the content – good, editable,
redundant, terrible
What’s missing
Strategy – We Are Going
There
What’s the route you’re going to take to get
there?
SMALL
Define who we’re trying to reach and what they
want to know.
MEDIUM
Map pages and paths to user tasks
Find pain points
LARGE
Group content to pages
Consider IA/functionality revisions
Strategy Input
Strategy Input
Strategy Outcomes
Strong guidelines for producing content.
Hit the ground running – we’re already
ramped up.
Common understanding for designers,
developers, marketers….everyone.
Ggovernance – We’re Here!
SMALL
Define how something gets on the site
Write a basic site calendar
Assign content ownership
Create an archive policy
MEDIUM
Write a visual and editorial style guide
Include voice, vocabulary, etc.
Create workflows
LARGE
Form a governance board that meets quarterly
Coordinate website and other communication channels
Get a place at the table
GOVERNANCE EXAMPLES
Screen shot of giant spreadsheet of terror
Governance Outcomes
Standards and process
Unified voice
Content is audience-focused
Getting Started Activities
Assess the situation
Audit
Get baseline metrics to measure changes
Find Partnerships
Coordinate editorial calendars
Record decisions
Build buy-in
Keep Going
Altruism: Build credibility by being
helpful
Communicate bite-sized, what’s-in-it-for-
me numbers and facts
Make it easier to produce and post
content
Self-Interest: Show value by being helpful
Track saved manhours from your team
and other teams
Save happy emails