CONTENT STRATEGY:
What’s Real, What’s Relevant
Kristina Halvorson | Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco | 04.01.09

WHO AM I?
• President, Brain Traffic
• Speaker, conferences
• Author, in training

WHO AM I?
• Advocate, importance of planning for
content

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sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

HOW DID THIS
HAPPEN?

SKILLSET.ORG
Business
Analyst
User
Project Production
Experience
Manager Assistant
Architect
Account
Designer
Producer
Manager
New
Information
Web Analyst
Business Developer
Architect
Developer
Content Usability
Programmer
Strategist Specialist
SEO Technical
Specialist Assistant
Server
Web Editor Administrator
Web Writer

SKILLSET.ORG
Business
Analyst
User
Project Production
Experience
Manager Assistant
Architect
Account
Designer
Producer
Manager
New
Information
Web Analyst
Business Developer
Architect
Developer
Programmer
Technical
Assistant
Server
Administrator
Web Writer

SKILLSET.ORG
Business
Analyst
User
Project Production
Experience
Manager Assistant
Architect
Account
Designer
Producer
Manager
New
Information
Web Analyst
Business Developer
Architect
Developer
Programmer
Technical
Assistant
Server
Administrator
Web Writer

LIES WE TELL
OURSELVES
• “The copy shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
• “We already pretty much know what we want to say.”
• “We already have most of the content.”
• “We’ll fix it post-launch.”

THIS IS COPYWRITING.

THIS IS CONTENT.
• Audit
• Analyze
• Strategize
• Categorize
• Structure
• Create
• Review
• Approve
• Publish
• Update
• Archive

CONTENT STRATEGY
Plans for the creation, publication, and
governance of content.

•TEXT
•GRAPHICS
•VIDEO & ANIMATION
•AUDIO

STRATEGY
A plan for obtaining a specific goal or result.

NOT JUST …
A series of educational articles
Blogs by our employees
A sponsored channel on YouTube
CEO Twitter account
More cowbell

NOT JUST …
What

BUT …
What With what
Why When
How Where
For whom How often
By whom What next

THIS IS WEB 2.0?
• Where do you start?
– Facebook (page? API?)
– Twitter
– Flickr
– YouTube
– Wikipedia
– Employee blogs
– Community forums

THIS IS WEB 2.0.
• Search – findable content is valuable content
• Links – guides to important content
• Authoring – ability to create constantly updatable content
• Tags – categorization of content with simple, one-word
descriptions
• Extensions – automation of work/patterns in content
• Signals – RSS (Really Simple Syndication) notifies users of change
in content, fast

HOW DOES
IT WORK?

1. PRODUCT
2. PROCESS
3. PEOPLE

1. PRODUCT

Brands are now used more than they
are preferred.
Functional benefits and relevance
now outweigh the intangible and
emotional allure of a brand.
— The Brand Bubble
by John Gerzema and Ed Lebar

WEB CONTENT
MUST WORK
FOR YOU.

WEB CONTENT
MUST WORK
FOR ME.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
+ USER GOALS

USEFUL.
USABLE.
ENJOYABLE.

2. PROCESS

Consider the masthead. Writers,
copyeditors, art director and staff, ad
sales, production, managing editor,
the EIC, the publisher.
Publishing is complex.
— Jeffrey MacIntyre

THIS IS CONTENT.
• Audit
• Analyze
• Strategize
• Categorize
• Structure
• Create
• Review
• Approve
• Publish
• Update
• Archive

This picture is incomplete:
The model outlined here does not
account for secondary
considerations (such as those
arising during technical or content
development) that may influence
decisions during user experience
development.

COPYWRITER
... pause …
... pause …
NON-CONTENT OWNER

PLAN.
CREATE.
PUBLISH.
GOVERN.

PLAN.
CREATE.
PUBLISH.
GOVERN.

3. PEOPLE

CMS/
IT
UX/Web Brand/
???
Strategy Marketing
The
Business

CMS/
IT
UX/Web CONTENT Brand/
Strategy Marketing
STRATEGY
The
Business

SKILLSET.ORG
Business
Analyst
User
Project Production
Experience
Manager Assistant
Architect
Account
Designer
Producer
Manager
New
Information
Web Analyst
Business Developer
Architect
Developer
Content Usability
Programmer
Strategist Specialist
SEO Technical
Specialist Assistant
Server
Web Editor Administrator
Web Writer

PARADIGM SHIFT

THE WORLD OF MARKETING

THIS IS ALL (web) CONTENT.

TREAT YOUR
CONTENT LIKE A
CRITICAL
BUSINESS ASSET.

Thanks.
E kristina@braintraffic.com
W braintraffic.com/blog
T @halvorson

Resources
• CONTENT STRATEGY
• http://alistapart.com/issues/274
• http://tr.im/lovingercs
• http://www.cmsreview.com/Stages/
• http://tr.im/CSslideshare
• http://tr.im/PublishersandCS
• WRITING FOR THE WEB
• http://tr.im/redish
• ALSO MENTIONED
• http://thebrandbubble.com