An Agile Approach to Content Planning

Editor's Notes

1. Title – An Agile Approach to Content Planning Brief Introduction Jeff Julian Managing Partner of AJi Developer by Trade Business Owner by Chance Marketer by Choice
2. The Changing World of Marketing We are moving out of the RELATIONSHIP ERA of marketing (think be my friend) to what some are calling the EXPERIENCE ERA of marketing In the past ten years we have seen a dramatic shift if the way we market to Over the past 3 years the shift continued as we embraced social and new forms of content. What we once called “New Media” is now just Media! Just having keyword saturation and blog (that no one ever updated) was no longer enough
3. Content Marketing - EXPERIENCES The importance of providing more than just sales information and product sheets is greater now than ever. You have to provide VALUE and EXPERIENCE New Channels of reaching our customers should be examined You visitors are more educated and more informed than they have ever been before. Good bye campaign mentality, sustainable impact is the aim
4. Difficulty Planning – GROUP PARTICIPATION NOW!!!!! How many pieces of content do you work on a week now? Who is involved? What types of Content do you produce? Our answer has been silos in the marketing team and each person mans a station. We have created an assembly line for content Who can keep this stuff straight with just emails, meetings, notes, and txt messages?
5. As Marketers We Need Better Planning Strategies – DOES YOUR WORKLOAD HAVE THIS MUCH FLUXUATION Is a editorial calendar the answer? Why Reinvent the wheel? I believe the workload has grown beyond what we can typically fit without better planning
6. My story with Content High school done at 17 College done at 20 Created Geekswithblogs.net at 22 Microsoft MVP at 23 Schedule of Content Required! Author at 27
7. Geekswithblogs.net Founded in 2003 3,000+ developer focused bloggers Driver was being a thought leader for most bloggers We started coaching on content planning and strategy to help build personal and corporate brands
8. Content is King We quickly grew to 50+ new blog posts a day Total before the sale was over 80,000 blog posts We had to find unique ways to categories content and curate our own content to provides the best value for the fire hose readers as well as Google.
9. Lets Learn The Basics Lean as Thought – Eliminate Waste, Amplify Learning, Deliver Fast as Possible, and Empower Teams Agile as Actions – Highest Priority is Customer Satisfaction, Change Happens, Frequent Deliveries, Sustainable Pace, Simplicity, and Regular Reflections and Adaptation
10. Lean Movement Autos in the 80s Software in the 90s and 00s Business and Startups next Everyone else (UX, Marketing, Sales, etc) Maybe this thing has legs
11. Personas – THE BRIDGE We know something about them! Who are we providing value for? We most likely will see what are providing the wrong people with value This is Our Bridge Developers can create features by these Experience Designers can design and tests with these CxOs can ensure business direction with these Marketers can reach these
12. Content Mission Statement Providing an Outline for Our Content Inline with Corporate Mission, but not a copy Target Group What value we are trying to deliver How we will deliver the value How we will be different
13. Roles of Team (Different for each Implementation) Content Developers? Writers Graphics Teams Videographers Content Owner – Who ever can make decisions about what is in the queue and what priority these items have ScrumMaster – The person responsible for ensuring planning occurs, roles are being played, teams are providing feedback, and impediments are being removed!
14. The Backlog List of Prioritized Content Stories controlled by the Content Owner PUT all your content thoughts in a big pile (or spreadsheet)
15. The Piece of Content The backlog is made up of planned pieces of content (LEGOS) LEGOS are individual pieces, but come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Each one has characteristics that are the same, but are very different as well Each one is designed to fit together and be part of a bigger story This content can take whatever shape need it to. Having a good understanding of what types of content you produce will be very important. Blogs Press Releases Videos Magazines Advertisements Infographics
16. Content Item  Borrowing the term from User Stories, a Content Story contains the following information: Story - As a Persona, a need a(n) Content Type about Content Topic so that I can Content Value Statement. This statement should be the Mission Statement of the Content. Proposed Title - The official title of the content Estimate Effort of Copy Production, Content Management Prep, and Deployment How to Demonstrate Value - Statement showing how after this article is consumed to the target persona, what will they be able to demonstrate to show that they received value from using this content Call to Action - How will the persona be moved to next steps with the organization Priority - How important is this article to the organization State of Content - Is this a new piece of content, rewrite, or update to existing
17. Task Tasks are the work that goes into the creation of a Content Item We will talk about tasks later when we getting into more planning tools
18. Priority is Key – TELL STORIES Understanding what the importance is of a piece of content is something only the Content Owner can change. No items have the same importance so give each item a unique value Reassess the priority on a regular basis, it will change based on measured value, changes in business, and many different factors Tell the story of the backlog for the book and the workshop brain writing session
19. The Art of Estimating Walk through the estimation process. What is a story point? Estimate based on a perceived magic place where you get to work on a task all day with no interuptions These Numbers or Your Own Nothing is 0 Bigger than 20, think about breaking it up ? = Not enough detail Infinite means too big to estimate
20. The Timebox Create a window of time (1, 2, 3, 4 weeks) that you can produce a few items in based on current load No one is 100% available, this fact can be measured for the whole team or by individual
21. The Timebox Discuss Items With Dedicated Resources (only one member can do it) Efficiency Factor Review – Start with 70% if team is new to estimating
22. Daily Stand Up, Coffee & Friends The purpose of the standup is to give your daily feedback. It brings the whole team together and each active members states the following: What they did the day before What they plan to do today Name any issues (impediments) they have
23. Daily Stand Up, Coffee & Friends Tasks and Content Cards move as they are considered done All Items must meet the criteria of done defined by the team
24. Retrospective What was good What was bad What can we remove What can we add
25. Planning & Review of Backlog Every Single Sprint (or Iteration) You must review the backlog! New Priority? Still Necessary? New Estimates? (Are we better or worse than we thought?) New Members Need to be aquatinted to the process
26. Important Points of Failure
27. Measuring Workload – TELL STORIES IF TIME Do not over commit at first ** Story of Two Week Willy ** Start having your team measure the work they do on a daily basis in hours. Try not to guess here Remember, no one is 100%
28. 2) We need a leader to remove disruptions – TELL STORIES IF TIME External Are outside departments or customers pulling you from your responsibilities? Isolate yourselves ** Story of the Hidden Cubical ** Internal Are you easily distracted? (squirrel) Are you not as efficient as you want to be? Do you interact with your phone too much during the day?
29. 3) Move in Small Steps – TALK ABOUT PERSONAL AND BASIC TEAM TASKS Start by making yourself more Agile Look at your Tasks Daily Plan a content item before starting on your next piece of work Brainstorm with the Team, Brain Writing, Mind Mapping
30. 3) Definition of Done – TELL STORIES IF TIME Is a video done when it comes back from the editor? Is a article complete when it is published? Do we have a person control each social voice? Come up with a checklist of everything that has to be met for a Content Item to be considered done!
31. Questions and Contact