Content Strategy: Up to the Test!

@mbloomstein #UPA2012
© 2012© 2012
CONTENT STRATEGY
UP TO THE TEST
Margot Bloomstein
UPA June 4, 2012
#UPA2012
@mbloomstein

© 2012
OK = Yes?
Don’t mess my mental model, man!

© 2012
INCONSISTENCY &
INACCURACY
beyond just a label
CCLICENSEDBYSYBRENA.STUVEL

© 2012
What happened here?
Could content strategy help?

© 2012
What happened here?
• Kicking off content strategy within
constraints

© 2012
What happened here?
constraints
• Testing content with an audit

© 2012
What happened here?
constraints
• Testing content with an audit
• Communicating value

© 2012
What is content strategy?
Planning for the creation, aggregation,
delivery, and governance of useful,
usable, and appropriate content in an
experience.

© 2012
Steps along the way…
Message architecture
Content audit/inventory
Prescriptive content matrix
Content model
Editorial style guidelines
Metadata guidelines
Governance guidelines

© 2012
Deliverables are
merely punctuation in
the conversation.
They cannot replace
the conversation.

© 2012
Why content strategy?
Because we all want the same thing,
but content keeps getting in the way.
If you cannot accessibly
communicate the value of your work,
you will fail to get the work.

© 2012
Deliver on time, on budget

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Maintain a consistent vision

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Support a holistic user experience

© 2012
Keep the voice in microcopy

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Ensure cross-channel consistency

© 2012
Ensure cross-platform consistency
(and contextual relevance)

© 2012
First things first.
What do you need to communicate?

© 2012
First things first.
Why even do this…

© 2012
First things first.
Why even do this…redesign the website,

© 2012
First things first.
start a new blog,

© 2012
First things first.
start a new blog, audit the content,

© 2012
First things first.
start a new blog, audit the content, start
engaging on Twitter,

© 2012
First things first.
engaging on Twitter, consolidate the
current site architecture,

© 2012
First things first.
current site architecture, add video
testimonials,

© 2012
First things first.
testimonials, incorporate class reviews,

© 2012
First things first.
develop new brand guidelines…

© 2012
First things first.
develop new brand guidelines…
if you don’t know what you need to
communicate?

© 2012
If you don’t know WHAT
you need to communicate,
how will you know HOW,
or if you succeed?
You cannot measure quality—in content
or otherwise—without standards.

© 2012
What’s a message architecture?
A hierarchy of communication goals
that reflects a common vocabulary.

© 2012
A little thing with big impact.

© 2012
A little thing with big impact.
How could we prove this is a car not like
anything else out there? It’s a small car,
but it’s premium. You get a Porsche 911
ride for a fifth of the cost. It’s got history…
but in Europe.
You need to give people content to give
them history.”
“

© 2012
Premium technology
• Assertive; ready to perform as a driver’s car
• Proactive and supportive of spontaneity
Classic design
• Experienced and savvy
Cheekiness
• Smart,“punny,” hip
• Fun, gleeful

© 2012
If these emails are boring you
and you don’t mind missing out
on all the lip-smackin’ stuff
we’ll be sending in the future,
simply send a message to owner-
unsubscribe@insiders.miniusa.com
and include “Unsubscribe” and
your favorite fruit in the
subject field.

© 2012
Message architecture drives
the user experience

© 2012
Nomenclature
Calls to action
Instructional content
Sentence structure
Diction
…in content

© 2012
Photographic angles
Dark backgrounds
Bold headlines
Thick stroke weights
…and in design

© 2012
…and in the choice of features
and content types

© 2012
…so you can assess all of that.

© 2012
Premium
• Quality in taste, feeling, ingredients, interactions
• Approachable: indulgences made accessible
Empowering, responsive, and consistent
• Always gracious and appropriate, polished
• Championing individuals
• Building from European heritage in the US
Community-minding
• Customer-oriented and socially conscious

© 2012
Opportunities and problems
• Do consumers feel like we hear them?
• Do we create a sense that products fit a
range of settings and lifestyles?
• Do we communicate the quality of
products in a competitive way?

Premium? Approachable? Responsive? Community-minded?

© 2012
What’s a message architecture?
Concrete, shared terminology,
not abstract concepts.

© 2012
Make us look
innovative,
but not risky.

© 2012
We want to
be hip, but
traditional.

© 2012
Words are valuable,
but meaningless without
context and priority.
(In a few minutes, we’ll
give them context.)

© 2012
What?
Who?
Why?

© 2012
Why do this?
• Words are cheaper than comps.

© 2012
Why do this?
• You cannot know what you need until you
know what you have.
• Gain standards against which to test
content.

© 2012
How?
• Engage in a tangible, hands-on way
• Encourage debate and conversation
• Identify points of disagreement
• Prevent seagulling
• Force prioritization
• Encourage ownership & investment

© 2012
Step three:
• Form groups: what goes together?
• Prioritize the goals or groups
• Tell the story of those aspirations
~10 minutes

© 2012
So where to from here?
Content audit: measure quality against
the concrete aspirational attributes in the
message architecture.
(What is “good” anyway?)

© 2012
Passionate about strategic discovery
• Creative, spirited, inspired
• Visionary, innovative thought leader and industry leader
• Flexible
Tactical and hands-on
• In the trenches, in touch
• Detail-oriented and methodical
Pioneering
• Groundbreaking, trend-setting
• Modern and savvy
People-focused and market-driven
• Trusted by medical professionals, researchers, and media
• Industry news source

Audit to understand what you
have vs. what you need.
Before you start, know why:
What are you trying to learn?

Test functionality and brand
communication.
Forget one, and you omit half
the user experience.

© 2012
Every tab tracks the same data
Quantitative:
• Head count: what do we have?
• Is it consistent?
• Are similar content types
consistent in size and structure?
• Is there parity of length, level of
detail, and tone?

© 2012
Every tab tracks the same data
Qualitative: is it any good?
• ROT analysis: redundant, outdated, trivial
• Current, relevant, and appropriate
to the message architecture
• Does it serve the communication goals?
• Does it speak to the target audience?

© 2012
What can you learn?
• What do we have?
• Is it good? Does it meet communication
goals?
• Do people even like it? (Check analytics!)
• What do we need to update / translate /
augment?

© 2012
Thank you!
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
margot@appropriateinc.com
slideshare.net/mbloomstein
http://amzn.to/CSatWork

Content Strategy: Up to the Test!

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