Are you trying to get approval on your comps, save budget, govern the tone of your client's Tweets, or manage a project that--gasp!--includes content? No matter your role, bringing a content strategist on to your team can help--without bloating the budget! Here's how to make the case for content strategy.
Presented by Margot Bloomstein (@mbloomstein) at Content Strategy New York City, February 11, 2010.
11. 11
Planning for the creation,
aggregation, delivery, and
governance of useful,
usable, and appropriate
content in an experience.
What is content strategy?
12. 12
Anticipating and taking care
of the core of most projects
that you know—you know—
would just bog things down
like normal, and you know
you’ll benefit from it anyhow.
What is content strategy?
16. 16
Empathizing with designers
How do you visualize
abstract concepts without
concrete terms?
We need to look
traditional…
not conservative.
Make us look hip!
17. 17
Empathizing with designers
How do you visualize
abstract concepts without
concrete terms?
We need to look
traditional…
not conservative.
Make us look hip!
More. Like. Apple.
21. 21
More like Apple’s “message architecture”
Confident but approachable;
an accessible market leader
Simple
Minimal detail with
streamlined, unfussy ID
Inviting, friendly, supportive
but not fawning
22. 22
Question:
How do you visualize
abstract concepts without
concrete terms?
Answer:
Start with a message
architecture of prioritized
brand attributes.
25. 25
Brand-oriented
content strategy can save
time and the design budget
• Use real copy for more
unified concepts
• Get it right in fewer
rounds of revision
26. 26
Budget?
Fewer rounds of creative
revision more than pay for
content strategy-driven
concepting—
especially if your client
communicates in words,
not images.
29. 29
Predictability for them
• Plan for photo shoots
• Anticipate content types
• Research case studies
• Gather testimonials
• Write to exact specs for
keywords & character
counts
30. 30
Predictability for you
• Plan for specific content
types and exact character
counts
• Anticipate user-generated
content length and structure
• Create more interesting
templates
39. 39
Empathizing with IAs & PMs
How do you budget by page
count if you don’t know how
many pages you need in
order to express key points
or complete key
interactions?
41. 41
Thorough strategy
demands a quantitative and
qualitative content audit
• Conduct a head count
• Check for parity in length
and consistency in
structure
48. 48
Writing is only one tactical
part of content strategy.
It doesn’t raise the big
strategic questions.
Internal resources also
don’t offer a neutral,
outside perspective.
49. 49
Empathizing with SEO folks
How do you write meta and
ad copy when the copy for
fulfillment and landing
pages keeps changing?
52. 52
Content strategy
can help SEO specialists
deliver higher conversions.
• Map ad copy to evolving
communication goals in
the message architecture
53. 53
Content strategy
can help SEO specialists
deliver higher conversions.
• Translate page titles and
descriptions for tone,
not just keywords,
to fulfill brand promise
54. 54
Empathizing with SM strategists
How do you get your client
to stop talking about
themselves and genuinely
engage?
And what’s an editorial
calendar anyway?
55. 55
Most organizations are determined
to talk about themselves instead of
interacting with audiences or
creating two-way content.
—Jeff Cutler
56. 56
Content strategy
can help social media
strategists prioritize
the tenets of a message
architecture to ensure
consistency, even in tweets.
61. 61
Why should they care?
• More air-tight solutions
• Save time, budget, and
energy on iteration
• More comprehensive,
cohesive user experiences
• Higher conversions
62. 62
Why do this?
• Get to “yes” more quickly
• Happier communication,
happier clients,
happier teams,
and happier users!
63. 63
Additional resources
• Twitter: #contentstrategy
• SXSW Content Strategy workshop track
• LinkedIn Content Strategy group (600+)
• ContentStrategy.com Google Group
• Content Strategy knol