ATLANTA CONTENT STRATEGY
July Meetup
www.meetup.com/Content-Strategy-Atlanta
WHAT IS
CONTENT STRATEGY
Sponsored by
July 9, 2009 July 9, 2009
Dom Darda Photo

I’m Colleen Jones,
Chair of CHI*Atlanta.

Thanks for caring about content!

UM, WHAT IS CONTENT?

Content is…
“the text, graphics, video,
and audio that make up an
interactive experience.”
Kristina Halvorson
“Death to Lorem Ipsum and Other Adventures in
Content”
Adaptive Path Essays
Darwin Bell Photo

Content is…
“king!”
Karen McGrane
Content is King!
From Business to Buttons

CONTENT DESERVES STRATEGY
But we don’t always treat it
that way.

WE PUT OFF CREATING
CONTENT….
…AND DELAY OUR PROJECTS
(NOT TO MENTION RESULTS).

WE MAKE CONTENT SECONDARY
TO DESIGN…
….AND DELIVER SHINY BUT EMPTY CANDY WRAPPERS.
Alyson Hurt Photo

WE TRY OUT NEW CHANNELS…
….BUT DON’T GOVERN THEM TO KEEP
FRESH CONTENT FLOWING.
Kathleen Tyler Conkin Photo

So, what is content strategy?

Content strategy is…
“the practice of planning for content creation,
delivery, and governance.”
Kristina Halvorson,
Content Strategy for the Web (forthcoming)

Content strategy is…
“an emerging field of
practice hatched out of user
experience design.”
Jeffrey MacIntyre
“Content-tious Strategy”
A List Apart

Content strategy helps you
make content choices.

Sound useful? Now what?

1. Don’t Miss This Event AUGUST 6
WEB CONTENT STRATEGY:
Where UX, Marketing, & IT Meet
Register at www.atlantaima.org Kristina Halvorson
Author, Content Strategy for the Web
President, Brain Traffic
Brian Ikeda, Philips Design
Karen McGrane, Bond Art+Science
John Muehlbauer, IHG
Ryan Esparza, CMS Consultant
Sponsors

2. Read, Connect, & Read More
CONTENT STRATEGY KNOL
(Google unit of knowledge)
THE WEB CONTENT STRATEGIST’S BIBLE
CONTENT STRATEGY FOR THE WEB
International Email List Twitter
(Google Group) #contentstrategy
http://tinyurl.com/csgooglegroup

3. Hang With Us
TONIGHT’S AGENDA
• Discovering the Need for Content
Strategy at Philips Design
Katie Riddle
• The Importance of Content to
Product Strategy at AutoTrader
Greg Vilines
• Web Content Strategy at UPS.com
Richard Sheffield
MANY THANKS TO OUR HOST

Discovering the Need for Content Strategy
at Philips Design

It all starts with brand…
Macro
Philips
Philips
Healthcare
Business Business Business Business
Line Line Line Line
Product Product Product Product Product
Micro

Where does content fit in?
As referenced by Kristina Halvorson in
Content Strategy: The Myth, The Mania, The Mayhem

Where does content fit in?
As referenced by Kristina Halvorson in
Content Strategy: The Myth, The Mania, The Mayhem

Where does content fit at Philips?
(ideal)

The world of Philips web presence
Possible
user paths

Mapping content strategy to Philips
design process
 Activities
◦ Gather business requirements
◦ Determine content requirements
◦ Participate in initial planning
meetings
◦ Set criteria for success
 Deliverables
◦ Content brief
INITIATION

Mapping content strategy to Philips
design process (cont’d)
 Activities
◦ User research
 Identify key user tasks/goals
◦ Content audit and evaluation
◦ Content matrix
◦ Identify and interview content providers
 Get list/location of source materials
◦ Competitive analysis
◦ Establish key themes and topics
◦ Map user goals and biz req. to themes
◦ Present findings to client
 Deliverables
◦ User, competitive and content provider
research findings
◦ Key themes and mapping ANALYSIS
◦ User personas
◦ Gap analysis

Mapping content strategy to Philips
design process (cont’d)
 Activities
◦ Work with IAs to create site map
◦ Create user scenarios, using user
tasks/goals
 Deliverables
◦ Key messaging and themes
◦ Editorial guide (incl. style/tone)
◦ Standards document
◦ Sample content for comps
CONCEPT

Mapping content strategy to Philips
design process (cont’d)
 Activities
◦ Create style guide
◦ Create or edit site copy
◦ Map workflow for ongoing content
maintenance
 Deliverables
◦ Copy deck
◦ Content governance plan (workflow
and maintenance)
FINALIZATION

Mapping content strategy to Philips
design process (cont’d)
 Activities
◦ User research
 Deliverables
◦ User research findings
EVALUATION

About the author
Katie Riddle
678-471-1730
katie@riddlecommunications.com

Why Content is
Important to AutoTrader
Classics
Greg Vilines - Product Manager

AutoTrader Classics Overview
• Autotrader Classics (ATX) is a
multi-channel business unit in
the AutoTrader family, with 6
print titles alongside
autotraderclassics.com
• Focuses on vintage and late-
model enthusiast and
collectible vehicles
• Primary online revenue streams
are classified advertising from
dealerships and private sellers,
supported by online advertising
We sell content!

ATX Rebranding and Relaunch
• Kicked off in late 2007
• In July 2008, the existing print and
online properties were rebranded as
AutoTrader Classics
• The website relaunch, which went live in
April 2009, was a parallel strategic effort
to:
– Further enhance the online brand
– Expand advertising capability beyond
vehicles and dealerships
– Foster an online community for collector
car enthusiasts
– Add rich content experiences to drive
site stickiness
Adding quality content leads to
measureable business impact!

Market Research Drives the Content Strategy
• Top activities for users:
– Education about specific classic
car topics
– General learning Since content is
– Entertainment critical to users,
it’s critical to the
• Most used features: product
– Shop for classic cars
– Find events
– Find services
Data applies to visitors to classic car community websites

Defining the Content Groups
User-Generated Content In-House or Aggregated
Vehicle Listings
Existing Part Listings
Dealership Listings
Service Provider Listings
Events
New
Articles & Resources
Vehicle Information
The complexity of migrating and reimagining existing content, as well as the diverse
needs of the new content types, meant…
Each type of content demanded a distinct strategy

Strategy: Vehicle Listings
• User-generated: purchased and created
by consumers and dealer customers
• Vehicle listings provide the site’s
revenue baseline
• The quality of the listing directly drives
the user experience
• Key Strategic Questions:
– How do we migrate existing listings
from the previous site to the new site?
– What information should be collected
for each listing to satisfy both shopper
and seller needs?
– What content needs to be provided to
educate sellers how to create effective
listings?
– How does the entry and display of the
listings need to differ to reflect the
needs of each seller group?

Results: Vehicle Listings
• Successes:
– Successfully migrated ~10K listings
from old site to new
– Listings have the most robust,
enthusiast-focused content of any
classified site today
– Guided entry of listings give private
sellers useful information as they
build their ads
– Robust B2B site lets dealers speed
through vehicle creation
• Opportunities:
– There’s a gap between what
shoppers want to see versus what
sellers are willing to enter
– Though listing entry was simplified
for dealer power users, even
greater simplification and speed is
needed

Strategy: Articles & Resources
• New feature of ATX
• In-House and Aggregated: sourced
both internally and externally
• Key Strategic Questions:
– What types of content should we
provide?
– What should the format be for each
type?
– How do we mesh delivery systems
(CMS, video management, vendor
content feeds) to create an ideal
solution?
– How do we govern the workflow of
editing and publishing content?
– How do we measure what content
is most effective to drive stickiness?
– How do we shift site operations to
handle the demands of an online
content publisher?

Results: Articles & Resources
• Successes:
– Identified 6 topic areas of focus
– Developed multiple content
templates to flexibly handle
multiple content formats
– Developed an integrated CMS
solution that can easily handle
manual creation or bulk loading
from a variety of sources
– Created a simple, reproducible
workflow for content management
– The new content has helped
improve time on site 16% since
launch!
• Opportunities:
– We still don’t have a good
understanding of what specific
content is driving stickiness
– Creating an editorial calendar to
plan and communicate when
content will be published is TBD

Summary
• For product strategy, Content is King
– Quality content has measureable business impact
– Users crave it, so how do we deliver it?
• Each type of content is VERY different
– Each needs its own unique strategy
– User and market research is invaluable
• It won’t be right the first time
– Be prepared for phase 2 - and 3, and 4…
• Content can’t be considered fire-and-forget
– It is a living and breathing thing and must be maintained and
improved

A Quick Explanation of Content Strategy
By Richard Sheffield

T Y P IC A L W E B P R O J E C T
S C H E D U LE
As referenced by Kristina Halvorson inContent Strategy: The Myth, The Mania, The Mayhem

It’s Week 10 -
The technical
lead politely asks
the project
manager for the
content.

The project
manager calmly
asks the new
copywriter to
“go find” the
content.

WTF?

T Y P IC A L W E B P R O J E C T
S C H E D U LE
Co
nt
en
tS
tra
te
gy

Another Definition of Content Strategy:
Content Strategy is all the
things that you should have
done so that your content
would have been useful and on
time.

Content Strategy at
UPS.com
October 22, 2008

Agenda
A Little About UPS.com
Content Strategy for a Mature Website
How Culture Affected Content Strategy
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

UPS.com - Some Context
1.5 million visits per day
140,000 pages of content
40 online applications
110 country versions of UPS.com
33 languages supported
Single source for content
Localized as needed for factual differences
CMS generated - InterWoven TeamSite
It’s Complex
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

Content Strategy for a Mature Website
Current version is six years old
Content strategy decisions have been made
Content strategy = content development strategy
Projects are broadly defined
Content strategist’s job to identify content impact
Adjust the project plan and set expectations
It’s a well-defined process
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

Corporate Culture and Content Strategy
Where we arrived is not where we were heading
Efficient vs. Redundant
Complex vs. Simple
Centralized control vs. Distributed Development
Complexity drives centralization
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

Typical UPS.com Page
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

UPS.com Page Structure - 13 Modules
Plus 32
more
language
versions.
Modules
move in
and out
based on
metadata.
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

This is a Very Powerful Page Structure
Allows maximum content reuse
Allows max flexibility of single source content
Relies on accurate and complex metadata
Keeps translation costs low
Too complex for an occasional CMS user
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

Impacts of a Complex CMS
A well-trained CS can create a lot of content
quickly
Content maintenance cannot be assigned to “the
business”
Unexpected surges in work cannot be covered by
bringing in short-term contractors
Long ramp-up time for new hires
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

Thanks!
Richard Sheffield
richardsheffield@ups.com
sheff@mindspring.com
web-content-strategy.com
Interactive Communications Content Strategy

Don’t Forget AUGUST 6!
WEB CONTENT STRATEGY:
Where UX, Marketing, & IT Meet
Register at www.atlantaima.org Kristina Halvorson
Author, Content Strategy for the Web
President, Brain Traffic
Brian Ikeda, Philips Design
Karen McGrane, Bond Art+Science Invite colleagues,
stakeholders, bosses, &
John Muehlbauer, IHG
more to start a
Ryan Esparza, CMS Consultant conversation about content.
Sponsors