1. The Dreaded Matrix:
How to Make Your Content Dance
by Sarah Beckley
CMS Expo 2013

2. Sarah Beckley
Senior Content Strategist,
Razorfish, Chicago
7 years in Content Strategy
10 years tech/web/print publishing
Specialize in financial services, contextual help,
online applications, content matrix development
Client projects include work for Allstate, Citadel, HSBC, STAR Financial
Network, and the Options Industry Council.
@sarahbeckley
Sarah.Beckley@Razorfish.com

3. Razorfish
3rd largest US digital agency
2 years running on Ad Age’s
Agency A-List
300+ staff in Chicago
2,500+ staff worldwide
Owned by Publicis
One of Forbes’ Top 100 Global Ad Agencies
That Know Social Media and Google

4. AGENDA
What You’ll Learn Today
The What/Why/When of Matrices
A Matrix Methodology
Matrix Challenges
Summary
Resources

5. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY

6. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY
• A repeatable methodology to create powerful
matrices to help you and your stakeholders make
better business decisions around content
• Methods for automating/accelerating Excel
• What we’re not going to cover:
– How to turn a matrix into C-suite consumables

7. THE WHAT/WHY/WHEN OF MATRICES

8. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CONTENT MATRIX?
It is what we make it

9. WHY DO I NEED A CONTENT MATRIX?

10. WHEN DO YOU USE A CONTENT MATRIX?
Any time you need to understand your content
Structure unstructured content
Whenever you need a:
– Content inventory
– audit/assessment
– Gap analysis
– Migration plan
– Content development tracking
– Capture any data about content
“A superficial understanding of content isn’t going to cut it anymore.” -
Rachel Lovinger

11. WHEN BY PROJECT PHASE
Discovery: inventory, audit, gap analysis
Design: site map, content model
Develop: page templates, tracking
Deploy: migration plans
Govern: metadata, taxonomy

12. WHEN DON’T YOU USE A CONTENT MATRIX?
Your CMS can produce all the reports you need
Your company uses automated inventory tools
– But you may still be validating both of those, which were
probably exported into Excel or a proprietary spreadsheet

13. A MATRIX METHODOLOGY

14. A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DISCOVER
Before you build:
– Plan for the handoff; consider the entire project
lifecycle’s needs
– Matrix goals: audit, gap, migration, content dev.
Tracking
– Matrix audience(s): content owners, SMEs, legal,
developers
– Client needs: offshore developers, reviewers,
legal approval, external compliance

15. A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DEFINE
Determine matrix requirements:
– Outputs: audit findings, site map, charts, gap analysis,
keyword tracking, etc.
– Required fields: page name, url, content type,
reviewer, template
– Can one matrix rule them all?

16. A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DESIGN
Add bells and whistles:
– What can you automate or accelerate?
– Create filters, formulas, macros, and/or pivot tables
– Test your design: is it client proof?
– Format for ease of use and readability
– Assign numerical values to content when appropriate

17. ACCELERATOR: FILTERS
• Sort matrix on one or more fields
• Find content (values)
• Slight overlap with value formulas
• Turns spreadsheet into a table on a Mac
• Not good for cross Mac-PC files
• Excel, Data, Filter
• Searches in a Filtered sheet won’t search
• hidden content
• Limited: Can only filter by one value at a time

18. SAMPLE MATRIX INPUTS
• Content
– Text, images, whole Word docs
• Metadata
– Structural, admin, descriptive, 508(c)
• Reviewers
– Legal, lines of business SMEs
• Status
– With business, with legal
• Ratings
– Brand, accessible, tagged

19. ACCELERATOR: VALUE FORMULAS
• Excel formula that references textual cell content
• “Data mine” content
• Gather quantitative data
– Search and sum keywords, content types, templates,
etc.
• Aggregate values for audit/gap analysis
• Use Conditional Formatting formulas to highlight key
content
• Excel’s Conditional Formatting is on the Home Ribbon

20. ACCELERATOR: MACROS
• Automates repetitive tasks, including formatting
• Reduces time to create inventories or parse large
spreadsheets
• Don’t need to code to create macros
• Easier to create than you think
• Tip: Tools> Macro> Security: set it to medium or low or
macros may be blocked from running

21. ACCELERATOR: PIVOT TABLES
• Create “sub” matrix from original with a subset of the
content/data
– Great for special audiences and audits
• Gather detailed stats quickly
– E.g., How many pages in each category use a
particular template?

22. WHEN TO USE PIVOT vs. MACRO
• Pivot tables summarize and highlight values
– How many instances of “purple” appear in Section 5?
– Identify all uses of the brand name in the red template
– Custom filters can duplicate some pivot table functions
– Excel Pivot Wizard “baked in”
• Macros automate actions
– Hide and unhide rows or columns
– Add or remove formatting
– Copy and paste content

23. A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DEPLOY
Share the matrix:
– Socialize, socialize, socialize
– Morph to accommodate different audiences
Content
Strategist
User
Experience
SEO Team Dev. Team
Design Team
CMS Admin

24. MATRIX
CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS

25. CHALLENGE: MAPPING CONTENT
• Auto quote content needs to map to Business
Requirements, Wireframes, and include Standard Path,
Alternate Path, plus Help copy
• Content in both wireframes and copy deck
• How do you map your content (in the matrix) to multiple
deliverables?

26. SOLUTION: COLOR CODE AND TRACK

27. CHALLENGE: MANUAL INVENTORY
• Non-profit needs a content inventory
• Small project (~500 pages)
– Or sample-size inventory of larger site
• What inputs do you need?
• Can you automate it? How?

28. SOLUTION: Inventory with macro

29. CHALLENGE: CONTENT AUDIT
• Large site with many SMEs
• Need to evaluate content for quality
• Client has politically sensitive content
• Can you quantify quality?
• What inputs do you need?

30. SOLUTION: QUANTIFIED RATINGS AUDIT

31. CHALLENGE: MULTIPLE AUDIENCES
• Insurance company wants one matrix for the auto
quote authors, legal, developers, and marketing
• Different views needed across audiences
• Large volume of content
• How can you accommodate everyone without every
audience seeing all content?

32. SOLUTION: AUDIENCE MACRO
More features than filters, but sometimes fragile

33. CHALLENGE: MULTIPLE VERSIONS
• National company’s product varies by state
due to legal requirements
• How do you track the content variances?
• Can you automate it?

34. SOLUTION: VARIATIONS MACRO

35. CHALLENGE: MATRIX-SHY REVIEWERS
• Company stakeholders refuse to review a “regular”
matrix
• Many reviewers, little collaboration between them
• Client won’t consolidate review feedback
• How can you get good feedback and automate
feedback consolidation?

36. SOLUTION: DYNAMIC PROTOTYPE

37. CHALLENGE: THE DEVELOPER VERSION
• Bank is handing off content to offshore developers
and it must map to the page template
• Content editing and delivery must be in a matrix
• Copy has long and short content blocks
• Must map to other deliverables
• How do you deliver this content?

38. SOLUTION: GET GRANULAR
Bank Bank
Ban
k
B
a
n
k
Ban
k
B
a
n
k
B
a
n
k
B
a
n
k
Ban
k

39. SOLUTION: EMBED WORD FILES

40. DON’T LET IT CREATE THE MATRIX ALONE
Bank
Bank
Bank
Bank Bank

41. SUMMARY

42. A MATRIX METHODOLOGY
Discover: what is the desired end result?
Define: what/who are the inputs and audience?
Design: Build in accelerators and automation
Deploy: Socialize and tweak

43. RESOURCES

44. RESOURCES: AUTOMATED INVENTORY
• XML SiteMaps
• Snap Sitemap
• CAT Content Analysis Tool
• Website Auditor

45. RESOURCES: TEMPLATES
• KPN: kevinpnichols.com
• Intentional Design (Rahel Bailie)
• Web Content Strategist’s Bible
• CMS Consultants

46. RESOURCES: EXCEL MASTERY
• Excel Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools by David E.
Hawley, O’Reilly
• Excel Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Your
Favorite Spreadsheet by Curtis Frye, O’Reilly Publishers
• “Become Awesome in Excel”
• Count (value) formulas
• Learn VBA
• Excel macros video
• Filter intro; Custom filters
• Pivot tables video

47. THANK YOU!
• Questions?
• Contact/info:
– @sarahbeckley
– Sarah.Beckley@razorfish.com
– Linkedin/in/sarahbeckley
– www.razorfish.com