In the decade since I officially became a Content Strategist, I’ve learned many important principles of working with content. Some of them have influenced the kind of work I do, and some of them have helped me better understand how the field is developing and what directions it needs to grow in for this practice to become more effective with digital content.
In this presentation I’ll summarise my top ten learnings and describe how these principles have been critical to the work I’ve done these past 10 years. I’ll also discuss how people can dig deeper into the principles that they find most useful and relevant to their work.
Nimble, a Razorfish report on publishing in the digital ageRazorfish
Nimble, a new report by Razorfish, addresses the challenges facing the publishing industry including if and how to monetize content.
Based on interviews with media such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the report offers advice for how publishers can successfully make the transition to the digital economy, add circulation, find new readership, increase ROI, and deepen audience engagement.
A presentation I gave at MIMA Summit 2009. I also posted a list of Content Strategy resources on my blog. Some articles and sites that provide detailed information and tips on several of the content best practices that I mentioned in the presentation. http://bit.ly/15wtNI
Content Auditing: Unearthing the Substance of Your BrandRachel Lovinger
I gave this talk at Content Marketing World 2014. It talks about a content strategy practice - content auditing - and how it can benefit content marketing efforts. It includes links to some useful tools and resources.
Nimble, a Razorfish report on publishing in the digital ageRazorfish
Nimble, a new report by Razorfish, addresses the challenges facing the publishing industry including if and how to monetize content.
Based on interviews with media such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the report offers advice for how publishers can successfully make the transition to the digital economy, add circulation, find new readership, increase ROI, and deepen audience engagement.
A presentation I gave at MIMA Summit 2009. I also posted a list of Content Strategy resources on my blog. Some articles and sites that provide detailed information and tips on several of the content best practices that I mentioned in the presentation. http://bit.ly/15wtNI
Content Auditing: Unearthing the Substance of Your BrandRachel Lovinger
I gave this talk at Content Marketing World 2014. It talks about a content strategy practice - content auditing - and how it can benefit content marketing efforts. It includes links to some useful tools and resources.
Introduction to seo keyword and content strategyROI Logic
An introduction to the art and science behind the process of moving beyond keyword research into keyword mapping, strategic topic planning, and general content strategy. These slides will serve as a visual guide into what's involved and how the process works.
I presented these slides at Sisältöstrategiaseminaari 2012 (Content Strategy Seminar 2012) in Helsinki. The event was a co-production of Vapa Media and the University of Helsinki.
The presentation addresses why Content Strategy is a practice of such particular interest right now. It looks at how we got to where we are today, why content strategy matters, and a few future trends to watch.
Effective Content Curation in Higher Edmeetcontent
In our communications efforts, we seek to convey and affirm the brand of our institution. But our community is already doing that everyday through the content they share and create. We can integrate that content into our communications efforts through curation. But what does that mean, and what does it entail? Our Apr. 10 webinar explained what curation needs to be effective, the tools of the trade and examples of effective content curation in higher ed.
I was invited to speak at 5th annual New Media & Technology Conference in Frederick, MD on February 21, 2013. These are my slides and notes from a general session on content curation.
Reality Check: Using High Fidelity Content to Enhance Design and Content Stra...LavaCon
By Lisa Moore, Writebyte
The widespread use of high-fidelity prototypes in the design process brings numerous benefits: for project teams, stakeholders, and ultimately, for customers. With high-fidelity content, content strategists can keep pace with our UX counterparts, evaluating, ideating, and gathering feedback about our content approach in ways we never could before.
In this session, you will learn:
--Why we need high fidelity content
--Where to get it
--How it enhances the design process
--How it can buy you time to do the strategic content thinking many clients don't think they need (aka, 'I'm not paying for that!')
It Takes 2 to Make a Thing Go Right: A Content Strategist and Designer Talk M...Duo Consulting
When it comes to building mobile products it takes a tight collaboration between content and design. Mobile users are task driven, want localized information, and have multiple elements around them competing for their attention. Design can't meet the users needs by merely creating a lovely interface, and content strategy can't tailor content independent of the device constraints.
Together, Content Strategists and Designers can optimize the user experience for mobile to ensure the products are useful and usable. Through case studies, we will share our method for co-owning the product creation and putting siloed design to bed.
The transformation from the age to print to digital and the impact on marketing. How can content marketing help your brand, discoverability, reputation and intellectual property?
The version of the Every Page is Page One presentation given to the Wellington Waterloo Webmakers, Dec 10, 2014 at the Symposium Cafe in Guelph, Ontario.
This is a preview version of the Content Modelling Workshop that I've co-written with Cleve Gibbon. So far we've given this workshop in Cape Town and Minneapolis. Coming soon to Helsinki, and hopefully elsewhere. This deck introduces the ideas and methodologies of content modelling. It's a subset of the slides for the workshop. The full workshop also includes more information on structured content, benefits of content modelling, many group exercises and discussions, and tips on how to putting these practices to work in real projects.
Sine Qua Non: Core Values and Content StrategyJonathon Colman
Core values aren't created; they’re found. They're not selected; they’re discovered. And they’re not your mission or vision; they're what support them. But for most of our organizations or clients, content and design are not—and never will be—core values. Rather, they’re simply just commodities.
Our content strategy work so often focuses on tactics, techniques, and tools that when it comes to creating a core content strategy, we find ourselves blocked. Never for the lack of goals or objectives, but for the values that help us create authentic experiences in support of them. Our values help us find our voice and delight our audience.
Using real-world examples, we’ll walk through the hard questions that you need to ask in order to discover your organization's core values and build them into your content and design.
In this presentation, you'll learn:
- What are core values (and what aren't!)
- How to discover your organization's core values and build them into your brand
- How to align your content with your core values to build lasting results
Based on the works of Jim Collins, Jerry Porras, Patrick Lencioni, and several others. Featuring examples from NatureBridge, Etsy, Moz, Pack, and Facebook. Originally presented at the Content Strategy Forum #csforum13 in Helsinki, Finland on September 12, 2013.
You can learn more about Jonathon Colman at http://www.jonathoncolman.org/ and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jcolman
Also see 200+ free Content Strategy resources at http://www.jonathoncolman.org/2013/02/04/content-strategy-resources/
Simple steps to easy personal and B2B content marketing and relationship building. Presented 9/24/2016 in Phoenix, AZ at the 2016 Hotfirm conference. An easy guide to building thought leadership in your business category.
The Information Mapping Format: A Proven Content StandardInformation Mapping
The Information Mapping Format: A Proven Content Standard. What makes the Information Mapping format work so well? Learn about the elements of the Information Mapping format that are the keys to making it an internationally recognized content standard.
Introduction to seo keyword and content strategyROI Logic
An introduction to the art and science behind the process of moving beyond keyword research into keyword mapping, strategic topic planning, and general content strategy. These slides will serve as a visual guide into what's involved and how the process works.
I presented these slides at Sisältöstrategiaseminaari 2012 (Content Strategy Seminar 2012) in Helsinki. The event was a co-production of Vapa Media and the University of Helsinki.
The presentation addresses why Content Strategy is a practice of such particular interest right now. It looks at how we got to where we are today, why content strategy matters, and a few future trends to watch.
Effective Content Curation in Higher Edmeetcontent
In our communications efforts, we seek to convey and affirm the brand of our institution. But our community is already doing that everyday through the content they share and create. We can integrate that content into our communications efforts through curation. But what does that mean, and what does it entail? Our Apr. 10 webinar explained what curation needs to be effective, the tools of the trade and examples of effective content curation in higher ed.
I was invited to speak at 5th annual New Media & Technology Conference in Frederick, MD on February 21, 2013. These are my slides and notes from a general session on content curation.
Reality Check: Using High Fidelity Content to Enhance Design and Content Stra...LavaCon
By Lisa Moore, Writebyte
The widespread use of high-fidelity prototypes in the design process brings numerous benefits: for project teams, stakeholders, and ultimately, for customers. With high-fidelity content, content strategists can keep pace with our UX counterparts, evaluating, ideating, and gathering feedback about our content approach in ways we never could before.
In this session, you will learn:
--Why we need high fidelity content
--Where to get it
--How it enhances the design process
--How it can buy you time to do the strategic content thinking many clients don't think they need (aka, 'I'm not paying for that!')
It Takes 2 to Make a Thing Go Right: A Content Strategist and Designer Talk M...Duo Consulting
When it comes to building mobile products it takes a tight collaboration between content and design. Mobile users are task driven, want localized information, and have multiple elements around them competing for their attention. Design can't meet the users needs by merely creating a lovely interface, and content strategy can't tailor content independent of the device constraints.
Together, Content Strategists and Designers can optimize the user experience for mobile to ensure the products are useful and usable. Through case studies, we will share our method for co-owning the product creation and putting siloed design to bed.
The transformation from the age to print to digital and the impact on marketing. How can content marketing help your brand, discoverability, reputation and intellectual property?
The version of the Every Page is Page One presentation given to the Wellington Waterloo Webmakers, Dec 10, 2014 at the Symposium Cafe in Guelph, Ontario.
This is a preview version of the Content Modelling Workshop that I've co-written with Cleve Gibbon. So far we've given this workshop in Cape Town and Minneapolis. Coming soon to Helsinki, and hopefully elsewhere. This deck introduces the ideas and methodologies of content modelling. It's a subset of the slides for the workshop. The full workshop also includes more information on structured content, benefits of content modelling, many group exercises and discussions, and tips on how to putting these practices to work in real projects.
Sine Qua Non: Core Values and Content StrategyJonathon Colman
Core values aren't created; they’re found. They're not selected; they’re discovered. And they’re not your mission or vision; they're what support them. But for most of our organizations or clients, content and design are not—and never will be—core values. Rather, they’re simply just commodities.
Our content strategy work so often focuses on tactics, techniques, and tools that when it comes to creating a core content strategy, we find ourselves blocked. Never for the lack of goals or objectives, but for the values that help us create authentic experiences in support of them. Our values help us find our voice and delight our audience.
Using real-world examples, we’ll walk through the hard questions that you need to ask in order to discover your organization's core values and build them into your content and design.
In this presentation, you'll learn:
- What are core values (and what aren't!)
- How to discover your organization's core values and build them into your brand
- How to align your content with your core values to build lasting results
Based on the works of Jim Collins, Jerry Porras, Patrick Lencioni, and several others. Featuring examples from NatureBridge, Etsy, Moz, Pack, and Facebook. Originally presented at the Content Strategy Forum #csforum13 in Helsinki, Finland on September 12, 2013.
You can learn more about Jonathon Colman at http://www.jonathoncolman.org/ and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jcolman
Also see 200+ free Content Strategy resources at http://www.jonathoncolman.org/2013/02/04/content-strategy-resources/
Simple steps to easy personal and B2B content marketing and relationship building. Presented 9/24/2016 in Phoenix, AZ at the 2016 Hotfirm conference. An easy guide to building thought leadership in your business category.
The Information Mapping Format: A Proven Content StandardInformation Mapping
The Information Mapping Format: A Proven Content Standard. What makes the Information Mapping format work so well? Learn about the elements of the Information Mapping format that are the keys to making it an internationally recognized content standard.
Structured Thinking: Authoring for Precision ContentRob Hanna, ECMs
Presented at STC Summit in Phoenix, AZ and Toronto, ON.
Precision Content offers a holistic approach to content strategy developed by Ascan Information Architects Limited.
Everyone's talking about responsive design, and how you need structured content in order to make it happen. But what does "structured content" really mean, and how do you make it happen?
A presentation given on 25 October 2012, at Content Strategy Forum 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa.
In 2012, Jason Scott, Rachel Lovinger & a small crew filmed a documentary about the 20th year of DEFCON. Over the course of the next year Jason edited it together, and we premiered it at DEFCON 21. We also did this talk about the making of. You can watch a video of the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4VsmniMfpQ
This is a talk I gave at Paraflows, a digital arts conference in Vienna. It's about why I do what I do, and how the cultural history of Generation X plays into it.
I suggest reading the speaker notes while viewing, or it probably won't make a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately, the speaker notes (after the first slide) are offset by about 8 slides.
Archives are arranged and described in accordance with a set of international and national standards. By understanding the theories and standards that underpin the way archives are described, users will be able to use archives catalogues more fully.
Better Cross-Channel Experiences With Metadata - Information Architecture Sum...aungstad
Metadata provides a foundation for the cross-channel experiences we consume in the dawn of the 21st century by enabling consistency, context and interoperability.
While Metadata is key to many of the User Experience methods we use – from triggering Content Strategy workflows to enabling faceted search through groups, sorts and filters, it remains a mystery to many of us. This session is a crash course on Metadata in the 21st century for UX Designers.
We'll look at recent developments in the field, and build an understanding of how Metadata enables the exchange of information between parties, channels, systems and platforms through semantic, syntax and lexical specifications.
Attendees will understand how Metadata fits into UX methods and tools they already know – using an ontology to support a mental model for example. This session is a must for all UX Designers looking to build meaningful cross-channel experiences in an increasingly interlinked world.
Learn how to use content types as the building blocks of your organisation's content strategy. Presented at the Content Strategy Singapore Meetup on 5 October 2016.
If your organization is online, you need to have and use a content strategy. This presentation outlines what content strategy is and what content strategists do.
Masterclass on the integration of service design and content strategy given at the Service Design Global Conference 2016 in Amsterdam.
Learn how to apply content strategy to customer journeys, enriching one of the best-known service design deliverables with critically important new layers.
Emerging a Content Strategy from User ResearchScott\ Bryant
Presented at UX Australia 2010.
http://www.uxaustralia.com.au/conference-2010/
Emerging a Content Strategy from User Research
http://www.uxaustralia.com.au/conference-2010/emerging-a-content-strategy-from-user-research
For a long time we have been repeating the mantra “Content is King” but how much of our UX work actually has impact on content?
User research is excellent at identifying user needs and information seeking, sharing and consumption behaviour however clients, stakeholders and development teams (and even UX professionals) tend to concentrate on testing and recommending solutions to design, navigation, interaction, and technology problems. Even after user research has discovered content “opportunities” what is the transition or deliverable that needs to occur for the research to activate a content strategy. How many of us actually test “content prototypes” with users or have sophisticated content measurement tools? How influential can we be with our clients “the content experts”?
In this presentation Scott Bryant of News Digital Media (NDM) will explain how the NDM USiT team are trying to understand and test content consumption. He’ll share some insights gained from interviewing the people “who make content” happen in both news and product focused contexts and the practicalities they face when considering content strategy and using user research inputs. He’ll also discuss approaches to being influential with the content experts and ask you to share some of your content strategy tips.
This is a preview version of the Content Modelling Workshop that I've co-written with Rachel Lovinger. So far we've given this workshop in Cape Town and Minneapolis. Coming soon to Helsinki, and hopefully elsewhere. This deck introduces the ideas and methodologies of content modelling. It's a subset of the slides for the workshop. The full workshop also includes more information on structured content, benefits of content modelling, many group exercises and discussions, and tips on how to putting these practices to work in real projects.
Redlink opens the door to the world of semantics by providing simple Restful APIs, SDKs and Plugins for the most common use cases. Existing CMS can thus seamlessly integrate semantic technologies. The slides also shows how MM Asset Management Systems can profit from Semantic Lifting.
Semantic CMS using the Redlink Platform by Thomas Kurz Redlink GmbH
Originally shared on: http://www.slideshare.net/thkurz1
Redlink (http://redlink.co) provides simple Restful APIs, SDKs and Plugins for the most common use cases. Existing CMS can thus seamlessly integrate semantic technologies. The slides presented at the MODULE University in Vienna this February 2014 also shows how Digital Asset Management Systems can take advantage of Semantic Enrichment.
5 Timesaving Tools for Managing the Overwhelming World of Social MediaOff Madison Ave
This presentation covers five key components for tackling any social media marketing challenge for businesses, organizations and associations of all sizes.
Presented at CYTO 2014 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA May 19, 2014. Focused on methods used to enhance exposure of shared resource laboratories (or core facilities) by means of increased participation in social media activities.
A new era of content management: OpenPublish 2006Brendan Quinn
I found an old powerpoint deck from a conference presentation I did back in 2006. I gave the keynote presentation at the Open Publish conference in Sydney, Australia in 2006
Michael Haggerty-Villa -Joining Forces: Content Strategy in Design SystemsLavaConConference
In this session attendees will learn:
The roles content plays in design systems (editorial style guide, voice and tone guidelines, information architecture, taxonomy, and others)
Building and sharing design systems and standards for global content creators
Documenting interaction, visual, and other design decisions with content o. Using content to inform and support the design systems’ users
Presentation to The Operational Research Society on :Search Engines, Analytics and Semantics as part of the Developments In Analytics And Big Data Conference.
See www.Invotra.com for more information.
Similar to 10 Things I Learned in 10 Years as a Content Strategist (20)
Early in 2012, to commemorate the 20th year of the conference, Jason Scott was asked if he would be interested in filming a documentary about DEFCON, whose policies and attendees have traditionally rejected media scrutiny and access. He was interested. Working with his producer, Rachel Lovinger, and a crew of six, Jason filmed for most of 2012, including five 20-hour days in Las Vegas last year, and then spent another 9 months editing 278 hours of footage into what has become DEFCON: The Documentary. The finished film premiered at DEFCON XXI.
Jason and Rachel also gave this talk, which provided a look behind the scenes: discussing the planning and production process for this immense project, the ups and downs, and the learned lessons. [During the talk we showed clips and outtakes - those are not in this presentation].
Slides from my Metadata Workshop at Content Strategy Applied 2012. The session included several hands on exercises, which is where a lot of the interesting conversation took place.
A short version of a talk I've given before. This one was for the Semantic Tech & Business Conference in London in September 2011. It focuses on what makes content nimble, and how to combine standards, tools & processes to accomplish it.
This is a talk I gave at Confab 2011 about some metadata standards that will help make your content nimble. This is a follow up to the Nimble report (http://nimble.razorfish.com).
A presentation I gave at the Content Strategy Forum 2010, in Paris.
For those who couldn't make it to Paris, I gave this presentation again in Chicago in June, at Web Content 2010.
This is the (slightly) updated Chicago version.
1.Wireless Communication System_Wireless communication is a broad term that i...JeyaPerumal1
Wireless communication involves the transmission of information over a distance without the help of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical conductors.
Wireless communication is a broad term that incorporates all procedures and forms of connecting and communicating between two or more devices using a wireless signal through wireless communication technologies and devices.
Features of Wireless Communication
The evolution of wireless technology has brought many advancements with its effective features.
The transmitted distance can be anywhere between a few meters (for example, a television's remote control) and thousands of kilometers (for example, radio communication).
Wireless communication can be used for cellular telephony, wireless access to the internet, wireless home networking, and so on.
This 7-second Brain Wave Ritual Attracts Money To You.!nirahealhty
Discover the power of a simple 7-second brain wave ritual that can attract wealth and abundance into your life. By tapping into specific brain frequencies, this technique helps you manifest financial success effortlessly. Ready to transform your financial future? Try this powerful ritual and start attracting money today!
ER(Entity Relationship) Diagram for online shopping - TAEHimani415946
https://bit.ly/3KACoyV
The ER diagram for the project is the foundation for the building of the database of the project. The properties, datatypes, and attributes are defined by the ER diagram.
Multi-cluster Kubernetes Networking- Patterns, Projects and GuidelinesSanjeev Rampal
Talk presented at Kubernetes Community Day, New York, May 2024.
Technical summary of Multi-Cluster Kubernetes Networking architectures with focus on 4 key topics.
1) Key patterns for Multi-cluster architectures
2) Architectural comparison of several OSS/ CNCF projects to address these patterns
3) Evolution trends for the APIs of these projects
4) Some design recommendations & guidelines for adopting/ deploying these solutions.
15. [Content] strategy, the intuitive entry point
for changing hearts and minds, is a “big,
big world” that…currently covers perhaps
too many sins for its own good. It’s time
for a conversation about what sits
under the “everything” umbrella.
- Jessica Collier, Our Narratives, Ourselves (2016)
16. 16CONTENT IS THE ELEPHANT IN EVERY ROOM
No one person can do all of these things, but if everyone only
focuses on their own bit, no one thinks about the big picture.
Illustration from “The Discipline of Content Strategy,” by Kristina Halvorson (2008).
17. 17
Illustration from “Tinker, Tailor Content Strategist,” by me (2012).
For a content strategy to succeed, someone
has to:
• Be aware of how all the aspects of content
are intertwined
• Bring them together into a cohesive plan
• Advocate for the content plan at all stages
of a project, across all members of the
project team
TAMING THE BIG (CONTENT) PICTURE
30. 30
The tools, processes & resources we need to successfully create and
distribute content:
• Easy-to-use publishing tools
• A repeatable content workflow
• Clearly defined goals and constraints
• Governance for escalating decisions
• An intuitive and flexible process
A CONTENT FRAMEWORK
Photo by Jeff Eaton
46. 46
Involve designers and developers. Ideally, content producers as well.
CONTENT MODELLING PROCESS
These activities enables us to:
• Verify that the design makes
sense for real content
• Advise on best setup of the
CMS to support the design
• Advise on best setup of the
CMS to support good
authoring experience and
content production processes
Photo by Stephen Ritchie
49. 49
Title: Ta-dah!
Description: That’s a serious jello mold!
Tags: jello, layers, delicious
Appears in: Dinner (set)
Created by: Dan DeLuca
Taken on: February 14, 2010
Taken with: Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR
Usage Rights: CC-BY Some rights reserved
Source URL:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dandeluca/4360567363
CONTENT STRUCTURE
Photo by Dan DeLuca `
50. 50
Title: Ta-dah!
Description: That’s a serious jello mold!
Tags: jello, layers, delicious
Appears in: Dinner (set)
Created by: Dan DeLuca
Taken on: February 14, 2010
Taken with: Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR
Usage Rights: CC-BY Some rights reserved
Source URL:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dandeluca/4360567363
METADATA
• Gives the content context and meaning and helps platforms
and systems understand how to use it
• Some is authored, some is machine generated
Photo by Dan DeLuca `
54. 54
Increasingly important as content ecosystems incorporate more
machine intelligence, and content moves through autonomously.
METADATA STRATEGY
Photo by Cade Roster
56. Content Strategy is concerned with
content Systems, not just content.
Learning 3, revisited (briefly)
57. 57FRONT END AND BACK END
Source “Why You Need Two Types of Content Strategist”, by Ann Rockley
58. 58
Front End
Supports the design and
creation of the content itself.
Content Design
Editorial Strategy
Content & Channel
Planning
Content Creation
Back End
Supports the design and
creation of the systems that
manage and deploy content.
Content Model
Metadata
Content Delivery
TWO DISTINCT FOCUSES
Photos by Ewald Straßmann: outside and inside
69. 69PRACTITIONERS OF CONTENT STRATEGY
Taxonomist UX Writer
Search Content
Strategist
Content
Designer
Tech Writer
Editorial
Strategist
Social Media
Strategist
Content
Marketer
Product
Content
Strategist
Content
Engineer
Information
Scientist
Content
Planner
Strategist
Information
Architect
Data
Scientist
CMS
Developer
Copywriter Designer
Photosource:Brikimedia.com
70. 70
• Ex-editors focus on editorial
strategy and messaging.
• Ex-designers focus on content
and product design.
• Ex-librarians focus on info
architecture and metadata.
• Ex-developers focus on content
structure and publishing.
• Ex-marketers focus on content
marketing and social.
OUR BACKGROUNDS INFLUENCE OUR FOCUS
Illustration by Richard Ingram
71. 71THAT’S OK!
Photo by Aimee Ray
We need lots of content specialists, not lots of content
unicorns.
72. 72
• A body of techniques for working with content
• Content decisions are tied to strategic initiatives and measurable
goals
• Content decisions are made using user-centered design principles
• Content strategy is interdisciplinary
PROPOSAL: THE CONTENT STRATEGY METHOD
Photo by Jeff Eaton
73. 73
We tend to call all of these people “Content Strategist”
ISSUE 1: IDENTITY CRISIS
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Photosource:Brikimedia.com
74. 74
There should still be a ringleader, someone who articulates the goals
and ensures that all content work is heading in the right direction.
ISSUE 2: WHO TAMES THE BEAST?
75. 75
It’s not helpful when we see what
others are doing and say “That’s
not content strategy, what I do is
content strategy.”
ISSUE 3: WE NEED TO LET GO OF JUDGEMENT
Photo by julochka
80. 80
We’re different from Editors, Information Architects,
Copywriters, Content Marketers, etc.
WE’RE DESPERATELY TRYING TO INDIVIDUATE
81. 81IT’S AN AWKWARD TIME, BUT THERE’S GREAT POTENTIAL
The need for people who
can help make sense of
it all is only going to
grow.
Everything is content and
the digital landscape is
still largely uncharted
territory.
82. 82SO, LET’S GO DO SOME CONTENT STRATEGY!
Source: Getty Images, via The Telegraph
83. 83
0. Less is More
1. Everything is Content
2. Content is Communication
3. Content Strategy is concerned with content
Systems, not just content.
4. Author Experience is critical to Content Strategy
5. Intelligent Content needs to be Well-Structured
6. Intelligent Content needs to be Well-Described
7. Content Strategy isn’t a practice, it’s a
Methodology
8. Content Strategy is in its Adolescence
SUMMARY OF LEARNINGS
Photo by Jeff Eaton
I hadn’t heard of Content Strategy before I applied for that job, but as is probably true for many people, I had already been doing similar work for several years. I just didn’t know that that’s what it was called.
Simplify complex ideas,. If you want to communicate effectively, and hold people’s attention, you have to get to the point quickly.
The first thing I learned about content is that, in digital, everything is content.
The second most quoted thing I’ve ever said. Though, not always because people agree with it.
Learned this at my previous job. I wasn’t a CS. I was doing presentation layer development:
Creating the templates, Building dynamic content features, Enhancing the CMS.
Very familiar with: every type of content, format, topic, data relationships.
Making pathways to drive the readers to more interesting content.
Remind our clients that we don’t just mean text. Content in other formats (images, video, audio), content in other channels (email), content that they don’t own (social discussions), and even content they can’t see (metadata).
But what I really meant at the time was that, in physical media, the content and the medium, or container, are made up of different things.
Whereas, with digital content, the content and the medium, or non-content, are actually made up of the same stuff.
Quote from 1967
This means that, in theory, we can manage and manipulate the non-content the same way we manage the content, all the things you don’t see, like metadata, design elements, and even the code that renders the experience.
Diagram from: http://www.topseo.ie/cms-website-design-ireland/
Most people aren’t prepared to be responsible for all of those factors. It’s not fair to ask an editor to be a designer or a programmer – although, increasingly people are taking on hybrid roles as creative developers, or content designers, or UX prototypers.
I definitely didn’t mean that one person should be fully responsible for all aspects of content. But if everyone just focuses on their little corner of responsibility around content, no one is thinking about the big picture.
If we only think about the words, or the publishing system, or the distribution channels, we’re only dealing with part of the picture. As Content Strategists, we have to tame the big picture.
This may seem somewhat obvious, but it highlights something unique about digital publishing.
Unlike traditional publishing or broadcast media, where the communication is mainly going in one direction
Which brings me to my third learning. The reason we need to think about all these aspects of content is that we’re not just designing content, we’re designing systems of content.
This brings me to the thing I’m most quoted for saying.
Or, if you want to see it expressed using symbols…
Do you do these in Australia? This kind of word problem is a big part of our high school standardized tests in the US.
This is a useful analogy to people in web design, but maybe not to others, so let’s break it down a little.
When I started talking and writing about this kind of work, I noted a lot of questions about how it was different from being an editor.
An editor takes the content every day and works with it - shapes it…
preps it, and directs it out into the world.
She may also be planning ahead for new content, and new type of content for the days and weeks ahead, but she’s very focused on specifics.
This that lets content creators focus on being creative and making great content, rather than struggling with ambiguous decisions and cumbersome production tasks.
Which is how I came to my fourth learning. In fact, both your content strategy and your experience will become degraded over time if you don’t deeply consider the needs of your authors.
The whole team loves it. BUT for the vision to come to life & be sustained over time…
If they have this level of insight, not just training and guidelines (although, those don’t hurt), they will be able to make decisions when they encounter an unexpected content need wasn’t specifically accounted for in the design (and they will).
You may not always notice the effects on the surface of the content, because the first thing to get neglected will be the aspects of your content that aren’t immediately visible.
The effects of these shortcuts become more evident as our digital world becomes more connected and we expect content to move seamlessly through dynamic ecosystems.
Because, of course…
This is the thing that I’ve spoken most about in my career.
*skill – an app for Amazon Echo
It’s not JUST about identifying types and fields. It’s also an opportunity to understand the behavior and purpose of every item of content in your site or product.
Means that information has been added to the content that helps systems better understand what it is, what it’s about, and how it can be used.
This includes metadata on the subjects, people, places, events, and products that it’s about. But also answers questions like…
Advanced functionality: Facilitates a wide range of rich interactions with data-driven sites
Let’s go back to that third learning again, because I’ve been talking a lot about back-end content systems, but of course some content strategists are doing more front-facing work. It still needs to be concerned with systems.
This dichotomy has been becoming more explicit. This article by Ann Rockley touched on topics that many of us were thinking, especially those working in the back end realm, since a much larger population thinks of the front end when they think of content strategy.
So, You may find yourself doing content planning, setting up editorial calendars, evaluating the reach and impact, and even pitching and producing specific content ideas.
What makes this content strategy, what distinguishes it from traditional editorial & creative work, is an emphasis on tying these content decisions to bigger strategic initiatives and measurable goals.
Vision statement – based on the specific needs of the client, their challenges and opportunities
Content principles – many of them will seem like “best practices” but they should be the ones that will have the most impact on the opportunities that are a high priority for the client or stakeholders
People have been comparing it to the field of “medicine” but I’d go even further and say it’s more like “the scientific method”. In the same way that it’s not very informative to say “I’m a scientist” just because you use the scientific method in your work.
People are finding it increasingly useful to define specializations that make it clearer what aspects of content strategy they focus on. Then there are all the people who don’t identify themselves as some kind of content strategist, but could and should use some of the principles and activities of CS in their work
We already have people from all different disciplines coming into content strategy and they tend to focus on the aspects that align to their experience.
So rather than trying to come up with some sort of unilateral definition of content strategy, and rather than all of us trying to be some kind of T-shaped unicorns, maybe we should identify the common aspects of the CS methodology and then build individual practices around the various needs that arise.
But there are two problems.
Every person whose work impacts or is dependent on the content, regardless of their title or department, should be involved in making sure their work supports the content goals.
Which brings me to my final learning. Or, it’s a theory really.
There’s great potential for growth, intelligence, and mastery, and revolution.
I have great confidence in us.