Content Operations: Connecting strategy and delivery

1. ContentOps Connecting strategy and delivery Robert Mills

2. Robert Mills Head of Content GatherContent

3. But enough about me, what about you?

4. We’ll be covering… Defining ContentOps1

5. We’ll be covering… Three pillars of ContentOps 2 Defining ContentOps1

6. We’ll be covering… Elements of ContentOps3 Three pillars of ContentOps2 Defining ContentOps1

7. How would you define content operations (ContentOps)?

8. Defining ContentOps Deane Barker Chief Strategy Officer, Blend Interactive Content operations is concerned with everything between content strategy and content management, and therefore is   the “glue” between the (1) plan for content, and (2) the content management system in which it’s managed and delivered.

9. Defining ContentOps Colleen Jones Author of The Content Advantage Content operations is the behind-the-scenes work for managing content activities as effectively and efficiently as possible. Today, content operations often require a mix of elements related to people, process, and technology.

10. Defining ContentOps Rahel Bailie Chief Knowledge Officer, Scroll ContentOps is a set of principles that results in methodologies intended to optimise production of content, and allow organisations to scale their operations, whilst ensuring high quality in a continuous delivery pipeline, to allow for the leveraging of content as business assets to meet intended goals.

11. Three pillars of ContentOps 2

12. Three pillars of ContentOps People Process Technology

13. Strategy, operations and delivery Strategy Delivery CONTENT  OPERATIONS PROCESS TECHNOLOGY PEOPLE

14. Who here is dealing with … Multi-source  Everyone is now a content producer  Multi-channel  Everyone is now a multi-channel publisher  Speed of delivery  The need to reactively create content at speed Scale  The need to systemise content in order to automate and scale  Content governance  Regulations and compliance workflows  Quality & consistency  High audience expectations in a competitive world

15. CMI 2019 Content Management and Strategy Survey Subscribers to CMI who are organisations with 50+ employees

19. Content is considered a business asset but requires lots of manual effort, using ill-fitting technology, that isn’t repeatable or scalable.

20. Audiences expect content 84% of people expect brands to create content Havas Group’s 2017 Meaningful Brands study84%

21. Consuming content The average person consumes 11.4 pieces of content before making a purchase decision Forrester 11.4

22. Annual content budget 53% of organisations don’t know their annual budget for content Content Science Review: Content Operations Benchmark Study 53%

23. How much does your content cost?

24. Producing content is expensive.

25. Imagine spending lots of money on poor quality content.

26. The challenge is operational.

27. This puts pressure on production.

28. Elements of ContentOps3

29. Elements of ContentOps Clearly defined roles Production workflow Content types and templates Content style guides

30. Clearly defined roles

31. Why clear roles are important for … Multi-source  Accountability across all requirements: no gaps or overlap  Multi-channel  Bring in experts if needed, leave no stone unturned  Speed of delivery  Dedicated people so content isn’t shoe- horned or de- prioritised Scale The right amount and kind of people to deliver at scale  Content governance  Avoid different teams creating the same content  Quality & consistency  Roles for checking against different criteria to ensure high-quality

32. Are roles at your organization clearly defined?

33. Dedicated roles At GOV.UK they created a Guidance Manager role to improve their ContentOps

34. Clearly defined roles Identify gaps and over laps No longer a swim lane mentality Can’t afford to waste time or effort Remove ambiguity, increase accountability

35. Production workflow

36. Why workflow is important for … Multi-source  Workflow to connect silos and bring teams together  Multi-channel  One workflow, or many, to deliver to different channels  Speed of delivery  Make it clear how content gets produced Scale  Define a workflow so it is easier to scale up (and back) content production  Content governance  Stops review and approval loops taking too long  Quality & consistency  Ensures best practice in QA, review and approval and progress is maintained

37. Approval At GOV.UK, one department had a 27- step approval process for content. This wasn’t good! 27step approval

38. Production workflow Connects silos and disciplines Facilitates scalable and repeatable processes Keeps content moving Helps identify bottlenecks, who is overloaded and where more resource is needed

39. Learning from Cornell University Redesign of alumni.cornell.edu and giving.cornell.edu Successful cross-department collaboration via a bespoke workflow All content production and approval achieved in 3 - 4 weeks 30 - 40 people involved in producing and approving content

40. Learning from Cornell University Five workflow stages: Draft Approval Review Publish Push to CMS

41. Learning from Cornell University

42. Content types & templates

43. Why content templates are important for … Multi-source  Every working from the same template  Multi-channel  Clear and agreed structure for delivery to specific channels  Speed of delivery  Quicker to create content within an agreed structure and formats Scale  Easier to deliver content across different platforms and devices  Content governance  Prepare content for future formats and allows content to be reused  Quality & consistency  Consistency in structure of different content types and remove duplication

44. Subscribers to CMI who are organisations with 50+ employees CMI 2019 Content Management and Strategy Survey

45. Do you use content templates to structure your content?

46. Padma Gillen Author of Lead with Content We need to stop seeing content as blocks of text and start seeing it as components of data that can be used, reused and combined in different ways to benefit users based on the channel. This makes it easier to maintain websites and allows a higher level of quality and a more efficient way of managing content on a site. It also means the same content can be pushed out on different channels. Content led digital transformation

47. The inefficient way

48. The efficient way

49. Content types and templates Brings together content, design and development Consideration given to the content experience Technology decisions pro-active, not last minute

50. Content style guide

51. Why style guides are important for … Multi-source  One source of truth for many sources of production  Multi-channel  Set rules and guidelines for content across various channels  Speed of delivery  Guidelines make it easier (and quicker) for authors Scale  Produce content at scale with confidence in style  Content governance  Part of a bigger governance system  Quality & consistency  Consistency in style and format of content

52. Content style guides Provide a shared understanding of language, style and rules Empowers content creators Facilitates successful cross-discipline collaboration Helps achieve consistency in content quality, style, and format (so also saves time!)

53. Does your organization have a content style guide?

54. How do people actually use it?

55. Example 1- Mailchimp

56. Example 1- Mailchimp A resource for non-content teams Has become a tool to scale as the company has grown Avoids subjective interpretation with examples. Tell, then show! Written in the style it is getting others to use Written with different internal and external audiences in mind Effective dissemination through suitable techniques Part of a bigger design system A tool for alignment

57. Example 2 - Dundee University

58. Example 2 - Dundee University Catalyst: silos, different styles, inconsistency Negative impact on the University’s brand! Organizational restructure and brand refresh were opportunities for change Informed by research, but not dictated by it Statement of intent and vision for the future Considers non-linear user journeys, multi-device behaviours and expectations of immediacy Improvement in content quality

59. ContentOps maturity3

60. What level is your organization at? Defined by Colleen Jones

62. The need to deliver effective content isn’t going to go away.

63. It’s probably going to get more challenging and complicated.

64. Three pillars of ContentOps People Process Technology

65. ContentOps requires organizational transformation and cultural change.

66. An investment in ContentOps can have an impact on the pace at which organizations can deliver value and innovate.

67. The focus must be on establishing operational processes, roles, and technology required to achieve efficient ContentOps.

68. Any final questions?  rob@gathercontent.com  @RobertMills

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