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![When someone visits ohio.edu for the
first time, it is important for first
impressions to be positive, real and
lasting. Having a well-planned approach
to how content is prioritized and
purposed is how [we] have focused
[our] efforts.
Renea Morris
Exec. Director, University Communications & Marketing
Ohio University
April 2014
“
www.ohio.edu/compass/stories/13-14/4/Branding-OHIO-website-4.cfm](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cuprappreso-160314143203/75/Communicating-With-Purpose-Digital-Content-Strategy-for-Higher-Education-31-2048.jpg)
![[Content strategy] should always be
evolving and always be a goal to
improve it. … Every time your content
becomes more strategic, the better
your university gets.
Tim Jones
Associate Vice President of Marketing
Clarkson University
“
http://meetcontent.com/blog/case-in-point-content-strategy-at-n-c-state/](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cuprappreso-160314143203/75/Communicating-With-Purpose-Digital-Content-Strategy-for-Higher-Education-102-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byGeorgiana Cohen
Communicating With Purpose: Digital Content Strategy for Higher Education
This document discusses content strategy for higher education. It begins with an introduction to content strategy, noting that it plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful content. It then discusses several tools and processes used in content strategy, including goals and messaging frameworks, content inventories and audits, editorial calendars, training and guidelines, editorial meetings, content scoring, governance models, and measurement. The overall document provides an overview of how content strategy can help ensure that an organization's content is effective and achieves its goals.
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Communicating With Purpose: Digital Content Strategy for Higher Education
- 1. Communicating With Purpose DigitalContent Strategy for Higher Education Georgy Cohen CUPRAP March 11, 2016
- 2. A bit aboutme…
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- 10. What is contentstrategy?
- 11. You keep usingthat word. I do not think it means what you think it means.“
- 12. Content strategy plansfor the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content. Kristina Halvorson Author, Content Strategy for the Web “
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- 14. Content strategy helpsensure that our content is goal-oriented, useful, sustainable, and effective.
- 15. Content is thefoot soldier that represents our brand and helps us achieve our goals. https://www.flickr.com/photos/usarmyafrica/4067719395
- 16. Our content requiresongoing care and feeding. (That includes the organizations, processes and standards that inform it.) https://www.flickr.com/photos/myri_bonnie/11867181635
- 17. Content thrives when ithas purpose. https://www.flickr.com/photos/unmundane/3346378735
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- 19. But content is pretty frustrating… There’sjust SO MUCH of it! It is really hard to keep track of all the details. What is s/he working on over there? I I have no idea. I don’t know how video/ magazines/social/ web/PR works. It’s complicated. I don’t have the skills, know the process, or have the time. I don’t have a lot of guidance, so I am kind of winging it. It can get really political, really quickly. What came of this work? Was my effort even worth it?
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- 21. Content strategy helpsease those frustrations by answering questions before they come up.
- 22. 22 The newsroom ofnow, the newsroom of the future, is very much a studio environment of specialists that collaborate. Your editors are people who understand opportunity, and then they gather those people together and produce it. - Cory Haik, Washington Post “ http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/06/does-your- newsroom-have-a-smart-refrigerator-strategy/ Planning #cssummit @radiofreegeorgy Without People, You’re Nothing. Georgy Cohen #hewebpitt April 9, 2014#confabfeelings http://www.flickr.com/photos/confabevents/10855537113 Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. Philo of Alexandria
- 23. 23 The newsroom ofnow, the newsroom of the future, is very much a studio environment of specialists that collaborate. Your editors are people who understand opportunity, and then they gather those people together and produce it. - Cory Haik, Washington Post “ http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/06/does-your- newsroom-have-a-smart-refrigerator-strategy/ Planning #cssummit @radiofreegeorgy Without People, You’re Nothing. Georgy Cohen #hewebpitt April 9, 2014#confabfeelings http://www.flickr.com/photos/confabevents/10855537113 Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. Philo of Alexandria
- 24. Content strategy ismade up of various tools and processes designed to help facilitate stronger communications.
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- 28. Content planning pillars •Goals: What are we trying to accomplish? • Audience: Who are we trying to reach? • Message: What are we trying to say to them? • Medium: What is the best way to say it? • Action: What do we want them to do next?
- 29. Core Strategy Statement Source:The Content Strategy Toolkit CUPRAP University accomplishes __________ and __________ by publishing content that is __________ and __________ that makes __________ feel __________ and __________ so they can __________ or __________. Goal Goal Descriptive Word/Phrase Descriptive Word/Phrase Audience Emotion or Adjective Emotion or Adjective Complete This Action Complete This Action
- 30. Messaging Framework Source: BrainTraffic Proof Value Statement First Impression What first impression do we want our audiences to have when they interact with our content? What do we want our audiences to know or believe about the value we provide? What will demonstrate that what we want them to know or believe is true?
- 31. When someone visitsohio.edu for the first time, it is important for first impressions to be positive, real and lasting. Having a well-planned approach to how content is prioritized and purposed is how [we] have focused [our] efforts. Renea Morris Exec. Director, University Communications & Marketing Ohio University April 2014 “ www.ohio.edu/compass/stories/13-14/4/Branding-OHIO-website-4.cfm
- 32. Content inventories andaudits
- 33. Content inventories helpus learn what content is on our website. Content audits help us understand whether or not that content is valuable or effective.
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- 40. Tools for contentinventories and audits • Content Insight • Flock • Screaming Frog • Content Auditor by Kapost • Blaze • Excel or Google Spreadsheets!
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- 42. https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalnc/8245694174/ An editorial calendaris a tool for planning, scheduling and organizing web content publishing.
- 44. • Homepage • News •Blog • Social media • Program deadlines and details • Profiles/ testimonials/brand stories • Course information • Faculty/staff bios • Tuition and fees What can you manage with an editorial calendar?
- 45. Components of aneditorial calendar • Section(s) • Topic • Source • Format/content type • Media (photos, video, etc.) • Description • Links • Channels • Category (e.g. school, initiative, campus) • Workflow • Roles (author, editor, owner, approver, publisher) • Dates (draft, review, revision, approval, publish, promotion) • Status • Brand alignment • Audience alignment • Outcomes
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- 51. To execute acontent strategy, people must be trained, supported, and empowered to fulfill their designated role.
- 52. • Reinforce consistent, strategiccontent creation at a tactical level • Align style guidelines offered with types of content creation likely to happen at various levels across the institution • Train and maintain awareness of style guidelines Style guides
- 53. • How toMaintain • Message Architecture • Style (incl. breakdown by page type) • Voice and tone • Client-specific • House style guide • Content Guidelines • Content type A • Content type B • Content type C • Taxonomy • Web Writing and Publishing Best Practices • SEO Guidelines Style guides
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- 63. From “Training theCMS” by Eileen Webb via A List Apart http://alistapart.com/article/training-the-cms
- 64. When we embedinstructions where they’re most relevant and helpful, we help our authors build good habits and confidence. We allow them to maintain and expand a complex site without feeling overwhelmed. Eileen Webb http://alistapart.com/article/training-the-cms “
- 65. Cross-Training: News (example) Headline Facebook Tweet Summary/ MetaTag Body Guidance for best practices for Headline text Guidance for best practices for Facebook text Guidance for best practices for Tweet text Guidance for best practices for Summary text Guidance for best practices for Body text
- 66. https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalnc/8245694174/ Bake your up-frontplanning into your guidelines, which become the law governing your web content.
- 67. • Help closeknowledge gaps • Make a high-level strategy actionable and accessible • Empower and inform people to fulfill their role in a content strategy • Document standards, criteria, & processes • Ongoing education Training
- 68. Editorial meetings and contentcommunities
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- 70. Putting the appropriate12 people in a room does not guarantee that productive things will happen. https://www.flickr.com/photos/wscullin/3770015203
- 71. • Source ideasfrom across campus • Include social, photo, and video • Discuss and decide on content planning • Share outcomes and measurement • Own it and facilitate it, but don’t dominate it • Encourage collaboration (which promotes efficiency!) • Share guidelines and revisit editorial priorities • Take, share, and archive minutes • Learn about other campus & communications functions Editorial meetings
- 72. Content Scoring Story Goal1 Goal 2 Audience 1 Audience 2 Message 1 Message 2 Total A B C Evaluate each story idea for the degree of alignment: 3 = High Alignment 2 = Medium Alignment 1 = Low Alignment Source: The Content Strategy Toolkit
- 73. Story Where else couldit be published/promoted? Why would that be appropriate? What roles, skills, or steps would be required? A B C Content Scoring Source: The Content Strategy Toolkit
- 74. Build a communicationsculture.
- 75. • Connection toinformation • Connection to each other • Single conduit for disseminating information • Easy to find the heroes/rock stars Build a content community
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- 81. Content ownership andworkflow
- 82. https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalnc/8245694174/ Without web governance, webpublishing becomes chaotic.
- 83. • Publishing workflow (includingroles, tasks, timeframes) • Training, guidelines, and documentation • Internal communication • Gap assessments (knowledge, processes) • Measurement and testing • Defined structure of authority and accountability • Content communities • Managing resources (human, financial, etc.) Governance checklist
- 84. • Types ofgovernance models: Centralized • Consistent, uniform policies, processes, guidelines, and standards • Requires large staff to manage disparate units • Does not account for variety inherent in large organizations Marcom Unit Unit Unit Unit Governance models
- 85. • Types ofgovernance models: Coordinated • Allow for tiers of ownership and various roles • Opportunities for two-way collaboration and partnership • Can foster sense of community, inclusion, and buy-in, and encourage peer support • Central level must own training, support, guidelines, resources, and active maintenance of relationships and community Marcom Unit Unit Unit Unit Governance models
- 86. • Types ofgovernance models: Decentralized • Processes are organic and may vary • Fosters individual freedom and innovation, but also silos • May be little or no connection/relevance to central brand/goals • Any dotted-line relationships are inconsistent and informal • Difficult if not impossible to manage or control Marcom Unit Unit Unit Unit Governance models
- 87. https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalnc/8245694174/ For a planto come together, you need someone to own it.
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- 94. https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalnc/8245694174/ We need tomeasure content in order to plan content.
- 95. • Answers questionsyou have about your content • Must determine which numbers matter to you, and why • Measure against established goals and success metrics, which should align with organizational goals • Place numbers in context by measuring patterns over time and considering offline events • Validate qualitative analysis Measurement https://www.flickr.com/photos/pleeker/117683322
- 96. Measurement Create Publish PromoteMeasure Analyze Plan• Answer questionsabout your website • Confirm content effectiveness (and retool/abandon ineffective efforts) • Validate qualitative analysis • Understand user patterns over time • Make more informed content decisions, better serving both organizational objectives and user needs • Offers externally-sourced data amidst internal flux
- 97. Measurement Create Publish PromoteMeasure Analyze Plan • Collect content outcomedata from across platforms (web, social, email) • Plot data against success metrics • Share outcomes internally • Observe any other patterns/trends • Given these outcomes, what do we do next? • Consider new platforms/ metrics
- 98. Story Email Newsletter Twitter Facebook .edu NewsFeeds Homepage News Site • Pageviews • Time on page • Desktop/mobile • Likes • Comments • Shares • Views • Retweets • Likes • Replies • Clickthrus • Pageviews • Time on page • Desktop/mobile • Pageviews • Time on page • Desktop/mobile Measurement
- 99. Measurement Analytics Measurement Framework (adaptedfrom Avinash Kaushik) Business Objectives What is your website’s purpose? Content Goals What actions do you want people to take on your website? KPIs What relevant metrics can help measure goals over time? Targets How do you rate success? Segments What visitor attributes will provide meaningful insights?
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- 101. I’m Georgy. https://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/5241459773 How do youbecome a content strategist? https://www.flickr.com/photos/saltygal/1289079855
- 102. [Content strategy] shouldalways be evolving and always be a goal to improve it. … Every time your content becomes more strategic, the better your university gets. Tim Jones Associate Vice President of Marketing Clarkson University “ http://meetcontent.com/blog/case-in-point-content-strategy-at-n-c-state/
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