Publishers +
Content Strategy
Jeffrey MacIntyre 19 March 2009
IA Summit
Memphis, TN

Preamble
Who has worked as an
interactive content specialist
with a publishing
organization? *

Preamble
* A native, pre-interactive
publisher!
(We’re all publishers now.)

Proposed:
Publishing is our home and
native land. Our work reflects
and mimics editorial thinking.

CS as Editorial Process
Content strategy is “a
repeatable system that defines
the entire editorial content
development process for a
website development project.”
Richard Sheffield

CS from IA
“If information architecture is
the spatial design of
information, I see content
strategy as the temporal
side of the same coin.”
Louis Rosenfeld

Practitioner-Publisher
“Content strategists combine
the skills of writers, editors
and publishers to think in a
holistic way about what users
should see when they visit a
site[.]”
Terrell Johnson

Consider the Masthead
Writers, copyeditors, art
director & staff, ad sales,
production, managing editor,
the EIC, the publisher.
Publishing is complex.

Consider Content
Strategy
We’re complex. We work in
projects and operations. Our
work crosses traditional roles
in publishing and
conventional ones in UX.

The CS/Publisher
Affinity
We both know content. We’re
using similar tools and a
shared language. We have a
role with everyone on the
masthead.

So, the Masthead Test
How we (prefer to) work with
publishers tells us a lot about
who we are as practitioners--
and about the parameters of
our field, now and tomorrow.

Art Director/Dept.

Art Director/Dept.
Upholds visual system. Art
production and management.
CS provides:
‣ style guide (annotated)
‣ digital asset management

Editorial
style guide

Writers & Editors

Writers & Editors
Content production. Curation.
CS provides:
‣ copydeck
‣ editorial strategy

Managing Editor

Managing Editor
Traffics content. Leads
production. Tactical planner.
‣ content inventory/matrix
‣ workflow design
‣ CMS architecture

Process and
workflow !
design
!

Content
flow
schematic

!
Decision tree version

Copy Desk

Copy Desk
Edits content for consistency.
Polices in-house standards.
‣ editorial standards:
voice, linking, rights/
legal, community,
metadata, controlled voc.

Production

Production
The engine room. AKA
“Technology.”
‣ content model
‣ platform integration
‣ QA tools/reporting (CMS)

Template
mapping
Production
matrix

Ad Sales

Ad Sales
Advertiser-based revenue.
‣ SEO/keyword analysis
‣ ad guidelines

Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief
The senior editorial
decisionmaker.
‣ editorial calendar
‣ editorial strategy
‣ migration planning
‣ site governance model

Editorial strategy

Editorial strategy
!

Publisher

Publisher
Owns product & organization.
‣ product strategy
‣ syndication/partnerships
‣ cross promotion
‣ organizational change
management

Content
flow
schematic
Management tools

Postmortem

The Calling
The defining challenge for
publishers now, more than
ever, is to make its content
count.

It’s on.

Why Predicate?
‣ the maturity of CS
‣ the industry moment
‣ advocacy & aftermarkets
‣ the idea market
‣ pro bono

Questions?
predicate-llc.com