The document discusses content strategy and how it can benefit projects. It provides examples of how a content strategy was implemented for two clients, MSNBC and the NAMM Foundation. For MSNBC, the strategy involved understanding existing content, developing content models, and clear workflows to inform parallel design and development. For the NAMM Foundation, workshops were used to understand brand and audience, and inventory, mapping, modeling and responsive design were applied to improve their outdated site. The document emphasizes that using content strategy tools can make projects more successful by focusing on understanding needs and iterating solutions.

1. I hope you like
spreadsheets
Implementing content strategy
on your agency projects
!
Brought to you by @eaton and @gathercontent
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2. Hi. I’m @eaton!
I’m with Lullabot.
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strategy, design, and development

3. 3
Marketing
Copywriter
Webmaster
Enterprise Web CMS
Content Strategy

4. Content Strategy:
1. The planning, development, and
management of content — written or
in other media
2. What content you’re using, where it
goes and when, who uses and
manages it, and why it matters
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5. If your projects succeed,
your’e probably doing
Content Strategy.
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6. 1. Ignoring it
2. Doing it
3. Doing it deliberately
4. Getting paid to do it
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7. ‣ 2006: Two web nerds with a dream
‣ Built Drupal sites, then planned them
‣ Training, workshops, consulting
‣ …Then building bigger sites.
‣ 2014: We’re ~50 strong
‣ Devs, designers, strategists,
project managers…
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8. Lots of content
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9. We were stuck
in the middle
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10. Practice:
1. The application or use of an idea, or
method, as opposed to theories
2. Repeated exercise of an activity or
skill to acquire or maintain
proficiency
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11. How it works
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…for us
…at the moment

12. Five things our team
needs to understand:
‣ The game plan
‣ The inventory
‣ The content model
‣ The presentation model
‣ The workflow
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13. Gameplan
The problem the project is trying to solve, the
strategy we think will solve it, the tactics we plan
to use, and the way we’ll measure the results.
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14. Goal Increase the purchase rate on
expensive products.
!
Strategy Get shoppers to imagine how the
products will fit into their lives.
!
Tactics Take product action shots around the
office, publish several each week.
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15. Inventory
A list of content resources the client currently
has, whether they’re online, offline, tucked on a
shared drive, or trapped old Word Docs.
!
…And what they’ll need to execute the plan.
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16. Oh, the spreadsheets
you’ll meet…
‣ Content inventories and audits
‣ Current and future publishing channels
‣ Content gap analysis
‣ Many, many, many spreadsheets
…And some spreadsheets
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17. Content model
The types of content they’ll need, what
properties they have, how they relate to each
other, and what they should accomplish.
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18. ‣ Whiteboard sketches
‣ Database models
‣ Detailed spreadsheets
‣ Migration planning
‣ Taxonomy and grouping
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19. Presentation Model
How content will be assembled and
disseminated to accomplish the project’s goals.
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20. ‣ Navigation systems
‣ “Intent Maps” of the site
‣ Prioritized page elements
‣ Wireframes
‣ Working prototypes
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21. Workflow
Who’ll write new material, update existing
content, and remove old stuff? What roles will
work on the site, and what tasks will they be
responsible for?
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22. ‣ Interviews with content managers
‣ Tools for actual tasks
‣ Where does that actually come from?
‣ Where are the risky parts?
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23. ‣ The game plan
‣ The inventory
‣ The content model
‣ The presentation model
‣ The workflow
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24. How do they work?
‣ They emphasize understanding
‣ They require collaboration across disciplines
‣ They inform each other over many iterations
‣ They provide sanity checks
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25. A tale of
two clients
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26. MSNBC
A cable news network ready to ramp up an
engaged online community and tackle multi-
channel publishing!
!
…running a Wordpress Archipelago.
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27. ‣ Tons of existing content
‣ Multichannel (web, mobile,TV,XBox…)
‣ Not our strategy, not our design
‣ Parallel design and development
‣ Editors needed to love it
‣ …And a tight deadline
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28. 28
Design ContentCode

29. 29
Content
Code
Design
crazy but
awesome

30. Lots and lots of
communication
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31. Lots and lots of
translation
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32. Loads of
interviews
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33. The quick model
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34. The monster model
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35. Results!
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36. The NAMM Foundation
An awesome nonprofit that promotes music
education and recreational music-making.
!
…And has a site designed a decade ago.
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37. ‣ Big dreams, limited budget
‣ Lots of stakeholders
‣ Site had lots of content, no message
‣ Internally focused IA
‣ Limited staff for maintenance
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38. Workshop!
‣ What makes you special?
‣ Who’s your audience?
‣ Why do they care?
‣ What’s your voice?
‣ What’s not working now?
‣ Old fashioned brand
identity work
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Attribution text and URL go here

39. The Inventory
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40. Model and map
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NAMM Foundation Site
NAMM Fou
Your Community
Best Communities Data†
Survey Promotion
Music Teacher Finder†
Music Merchandiser Finder†
Why Music MResources for Educators
Recruitment and Retention
Tips for Success
Downloadable Teaching Tools
Blog posts for Educators
What We Do
Get Involved
Webcasts
Sign up
Action Kits and Downloadables
Advocacy Blog Posts
Donation
Partner Orgs and other Resources*

41. Displays and styles
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42. HTML wireframes
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43. Responsive Design
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44. Results!
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45. The lessons
we’ve learned
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46. Mixed
teams rock
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47. Language
matters
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48. Silos hurt
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49. “Big reveals”
suck
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50. Iteration isn’t
optional
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51. Building your
strategy practice
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52. Just do it.
Content Strategy’s tools make projects more
successful.You don’t have to have a Grand
Unification Theory to practice, iterate, and
improve.
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53. Eating the elephant
Focus on the slice that best matches your
existing work. Grow from there.
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54. Build it into the plan
Until clients are willing to hire you as specialists,
treat it like Project Management: An ongoing,
necessary part of every project.
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55. But I don’t need the
rustproofing.
“We don’t need that service!” means a client has
the answers. You still need to understand,
though.
!
…Or, show them they need the answers
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56. No need for bombast
Use Content Strategy tools first to understand
your clients’ needs, then to advise on solutions.
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57. Playbooks, not
blueprints
Hold your process with an open hand, and
assume that different projects may need
different tools.
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58. Questions?
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