Back to Basics Getting the
Content Essentials Right Kerry-Anne Gilowey Independent Content Strategy Consultant @kerry_anne

Why has content strategy suddenly
become so important in the last few years?

Mostly because of this

Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/

Organisations are feeling the pain.
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/

Organisations are feeling the pain.
“Why hasn’t SEO fixed our problems?” Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/

Organisations are feeling the pain.
“Why hasn’t SEO fixed our problems?” “Why haven’t our users generated all our content for us?” Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/

“We need
a blog!”

“We need a blog!” “We
need a Facebook page!”

“We need a blog!” “We
need a Facebook page!” “We need to write articles!”

“We need a blog!” “We
need a Facebook page!” “We need an iPad app!” “We need to write articles!”

But what
are we
neglecting?

1. Audience needs

Hi! I’m Elizabeth. I use
your product. Uh... hi! Can anyone hear me? IS THIS THING ON?

? What information do they
need?

What’s their context?

How do you fit into
their world?

Crouching
customer,
hidden
needs.

2. Findability

Site search is broken

I searched for macbook air
ethernet adaptor. On page 1:

I searched for macbook air
ethernet adaptor. On page 5:

Navigation is broken

Navigation is broken

3. Voice and tone

Discover your voice

What type of language does
your audience relate to?

What type of language does
your audience relate to? I like a really comfy, schnuggly-wuggly blankie.

I have a preference for
deep pile microfleece bedding material. What type of language does your audience relate to?

4. Basic user experience

Confirmation screens Oh please don’t
make me choose!

Error messages

Cross-channel consistency

File names

URL structure

Digital document design Did they
charge me twice? I (actually really) can’t tell.

So what should we be
focusing on first?

Focus area #1 GETTING CLEAR
ABOUT YOUR CORE CONTENT STRATEGY

Sara Wachter-Boettcher Content Strategy Consultant
Editor in Chief at A List Apart

How does this feed into
our overall business and content strategy? Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/tambako

Messaging

Focus area #2 THE WAY
YOU THINK ABOUT AND POSITION CONTENT

Content used to belong exclusively
to the Marketing department.

(Copywriting, like movies, used to
be even worse.)

CONTENT

Marketing copy Forms Interface copy
Intranet content Terms of service Call centre scripts

But let’s move out a
few paces.

This is not your grandfather’s
website.

Point of sale Outdoor club
Legal contract Customer care platform Financial management portal Advice column Travel agency

Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/padday/

It’s no longer about the
structure of your organisation. It’s about your customer’s cross-channel journey. Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/padday/

The end product isn’t great
content; it’s a great THING. Erika Hall Co-founder of Mule Design Author of “Just Enough Research”

Focus area #3
USER RESEARCH

I want a faster horse,
please.

What words do they prefer?
blanket vs blankie warm vs snug mail vs post shipping vs delivery

Make use of... One-on-one interviews
Site search logs Call centre logs Web analytics Content testing

Focus area #4 THE EFFICIENCY
OF YOUR CONTENT WORKFLOWS

The content creation process Someone&has&a&
fabulous&crea0ve& idea,&right&on&cue& Magic&dust&is& sprinkled& Words&pop&out&and& form&themselves&into& orderly&sentences& The&unicorns&dance& in&a&circle& CONTENT!!!&

Paging Trevor...

Why I didn’t study in
2011

?

Workflow questions What are your
processes and tools? What’s working, and what’s not? What does your team look like? What other teams and departments do you work with? Where are the bottlenecks? What are your challenges?

Authorship Where should the authors
sit? ------ A central team? Within departments? Who oversees them?

Collaboration How can changes best
be communicated across departments? ------ How should information be shared?

Focus area #5 MANAGING AND
STRUCTURING YOUR CONTENT ASSETS

Content management is the systematic
planning, development, organisation, distribution, evaluation, and preservation of all information within an organisation. Erik M. Hartman @erikmhartman

“Nimble content can travel freely,
retain context and meaning, and create new products.” – Rachel Lovinger

A new model COPE =
Create Once, Publish Everywhere

Structured content

Content models

From
guardiantruncationteam.tumblr.com

Focus area #6 PROPER CONTENT
GOVERNANCE

Rick Allen
@epublishmedia

What’s it about? Who? Content
governance What? When? How?

Who... ...has authoring and editing
rights? ...owns this piece of content? ...has to review this document? ...has final sign-off? ...is responsible? ...needs to be notified of changes? ...else needs to be involved? ...measures effectiveness?

What... ...content lives on the
home page? ...types of content do we NOT publish? ...languages do we create content in? ...metadata needs to be captured? ...are our highest priorities? ...resources should authors consult? ...changes can be made without going through the full review cycle?

When... ...should content be updated?
...should content be archived? ...should content be reviewed? ...should new content be created?

How... ...do content items get
named? ...do we store our content? ...do we speak to various audiences? ...do we talk about ourselves and our industry? ...should content additions or changes be requested?

Politics Who has the final
say when a disagreement or conflict of interests arises?

Everyone
ready for
a recap?

Don’t neglect...

Don’t neglect... Your core content
strategy

Don’t neglect... Your core content
strategy The needs of your audience

Don’t neglect... Your core content
strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone

Don’t neglect... Your core content
strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible

Don’t neglect... Your core content
strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible All the small things that make for a good user experience

Don’t neglect... Your core content
strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible All the small things that make for a good user experience Workflow and process

Don’t neglect... Your core content
strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible All the small things that make for a good user experience Workflow and process Governance

Thanks for listening! Kerry-Anne Gilowey
Independent Content Strategy Consultant kerryanne@augustsun.co.za http://augustsun.co.za http://about.me/kerryanne @kerry_anne