The energy of content: harnessing its power using strategy
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The document discusses content strategy and how content can be thought of as a type of energy. It describes how content was simpler prior to widespread mobile use but is now more complex and energetic. Content strategists help harness this energy through planning, developing systems and frameworks, and ensuring appropriate resources and technologies are in place. They provide strategic guidance to inform all subsequent work involving content.
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The energy of content: harnessing its power using strategy
- 1. The energy of content: harnessing its power using strategy Kate Thomas Content, Seriously: Real strategies for real content 21 January 2016
- 2. Content is the currency of digital Literally – sites and apps make lots of money Figuratively – without content, digital is a sad, grey place
- 9. More than currency, content is digital’s who, what, why and when No one would disagree with this. Everyone knows content is important But why is it so hard?
- 14. Taking this approach creates order, harmony, satisfaction, a positive atmosphere where people can prosper Get it wrong, and progress and possibility is hamstrung. The world is chaotic, inefficient, frustrating and sad
- 15. As content strategists, if we recognize content as energy, it gives us a framework we can use to guide clients out of their digital confusion
- 16. Energy defined: “Energy can be transformed into another sort of energy. But it cannot be created AND it cannot be destroyed. Energy has always existed in one form or another.” Stored energy is called potential energy Moving energy is called kinetic energy
- 17. So think about content in this way: • Evergreen content is stored energy, energy that sits there fulfilling a quiet role of a potential <something> • Or the more eye-catching, moving energy of well written headlines, pull quotes, compelling images, news items… that creates kinetic energy
- 18. Energy buzzes around content all the time. • It can overwhelm people and organisations • Cognitive frameworks (plus systems and processes) aren’t used to thinking beyond the present and immediate future • The (almost) palpable frustrations where people can’t see a way out of their fog of confusion But it’s also the positive energy that fizzes when a project finally gets its legs and things are coming together
- 19. | © 2015 ORM | Private & Confidential Planning • analysis • requirements gathering • editorial calendars Systems • governance • content models • content plans • translation frameworks Resources • people • content • budgets Technology • paper • spreadsheets • software • hardware Content: the energy that powers digital
- 20. Why content strategy, and content strategists? Lots of people do content these days: • (content) marketing • SEO • copywriters • project managers • account managers • designers
- 21. To answer that, let’s step back in time. Content wasn’t always this energetic or complex Prior to 2007 and the iPhone, digital existed – for most people – on a desktop or big laptop • No apps • No portability (as we know it now) • No mobile (at scale) There were big screens, limited interaction, no (well, not much) transactional content
- 22. WebArchive.org: www.johnlewis.com, 18 Jan 2006
- 23. WebArchive.org: www.direct.gov.uk/Homepage/fs/en 18 Jan 2006
- 24. In 2006… • Publishing to a website = book/magazine publishing – one thing was published at one time • No always-on publishing – people weren’t connected 24/7 (remember, there’s no real mobile/portability) • We were still the experts (editors in chief, web editor, editor…) • We understood publishing, how people read, how the message needed to be structured for maximum effect
- 27. The digital energy genie is out of the bottle Content strategy = business strategy Our collective content strategy heads are above the parapet And we need more than our good word to justify our actions
- 28. So why content strategy and not: • (content) marketing • SEO • copywriters • project managers • account managers • designers Because strategy. Because: • planning • systems • resources • technology
- 29. Content strategy The fulcrum. Informs all work that follows.
- 30. Create a gap analysis, post-team brainstorm to identify opportunities to leapfrog competitors, top-performing content (via site data) and requirements. Then, we look at the competitive landscape to understand benchmarks and how we can set them. We try to understand organizational pain points and readiness and users’ online behaviour, needs, frustrations etc. What informs a holistic content strategy? 1 2 Begin development phase Stakeholder interviews User research Competitive audit Content audit Next, we evaluate current content for quality or begin to gather the raw material for scripts, articles, video, and/or copy creation. 3 4 Content strategy Develop a content strategy that makes recommendations around formats, topics, sourcing, distribution, delivery mechanisms, tagging, etc. Gap analysis 5
- 31. Video strategies/ development Taxonomies/ SEO Topic briefs Content development plans/matrices CMS documentation/ workflows Content models for CMS How do we turn strategy into content? Development outputs Style guides Editorial schedules/ team models Interview guides Asset inventories Discovery phase inputs Content auditGap analysis Content strategy Stakeholder interviews User researchCompetitive audit
- 32. Content plan Content plan Customise as you see fit
- 33. Editorial calendar Detailed… or bird’s eye view CMS Wire
- 34. Copy template One of the pieces of the puzzle
- 35. Don’t create deliverables from scratch!
- 36. How are we going to use content’s energy for good? • Measurement frameworks make content accountable (and helps acknowledge the real costs – in money and time – of successful content) • More than ever, we need infrastructure and tech to deliver content (not at energy’s scale, but a useful analogy to recognize the realities of content today) • We must align with UX and IA and tech (on joint terms, not just theirs) • And the sales department, marketing, customer service, engineering, the warehouse… ALL areas of business (because content and digital is too important to be left to the web team)
- 37. How does content strategy help… Marketing “I need a lot of content.” •How does that content support our agreed audience/ brand objectives? •Editorial and publishing plan •Content distribution CEO “What’s the ROI?” •Content is an asset •How content moves through organisation •Governance •Risk management Courtesy Kristina Halverson, https://gathercontent.com/blog/how-to-explain-content-strategy-to-anyone
- 38. The future? right content - right people - right time The days of editing a page with a WYSIWYG editor are on their way out Networked systems and databases, always the home of technical documentation, are becoming the model for standard publishing
- 39. Harnessing content’s energy with strategy
- 40. | © 2015 ORM | Private & Confidential
Editor's Notes
- e.g. we have eBay that has shifted millions of pounds out of the retail economy into personal pockets. But also figuratively…
- Without content, we can’t be frivolous and procrastinate, losing hours in Internet time sinkholes
- More seriously, we can&apos;t understand what&apos;s going on in the world, or learn.
- And we can&apos;t get by. To pay someone money and be paid a salary. To buy insurance, sign up for a gas or electricity account, apply for a visa, organise grocery deliveries, buy an airline ticket… everything today is assumed to happen online. And if it’s happening online, it’s happening with content.
- Take away the content - how can governments and companies expect people to function?
- Why is every content project unique? Why are they all singularly challenging? Why is it so rare that a client is on top of their content? Because content is the energetic life force of digital. And just like energy, if left uncontrolled, it&apos;s inefficient, expensive, and hamstrings and frustrates people and progress.
- This is energy out of control and unchecked. A bushfire in Australia – very destructive. Yes, an extreme example of uncontrolled energy. (The equivalent for content? Not easy to find. Donald Trump’s runaway hair and the path it might furrow in the US presidential campaign perhaps?!) [bushfire image http://www.blacksaturdaybushfires.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Black-Saturday-Bushfire.png]
- Less sensationally, energy can often just be wasted. In an average house, particularly in the UK, unless specific preventative steps are taken, energy seeps out of the ceiling, walls and floor, resulting in increased energy use and higher bills. [house - http://archinspections.com/nj-home-inspection-helpful-home-owner-information/nj-reduce-home-energy-bills/]
- So what’s a better approach to managing energy? Getting it right first takes planning. Every government has an energy policy. This is a press release about the UK government’s vision for the UK’s energy system. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-direction-for-uk-energy-policy
- Second, it needs systems and resources, infrastructure. (Solar panels, such as these in Nevada, would be part of an overall energy plan or strategy.) [solar panels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Nevada]
- Third, it needs smart technology. With energy - we&apos;re warm, well fed, able to function after the sun’s gone down. Without it... well. [energy efficient globes http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/domestic/energy-efficient-lighting]
- [source http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter01.html]
- There is sometimes the (almost) tangible energy in the meeting room of frustration and impotence when discussing a client’s content problems and it feels like there’s no way out. Problems seem insurmountable, the content can’t be tamed. This energy feels so real it’s as if you can almost reach out and grab it. On the right, more positively, there’s also the energy that buzzes when things go right.
- How are we going to make the most of this energy? Why, with content strategy of course! And like any energy, to do its job it needs planning, systems, resources, technology
- So to answer why content strategy... let&apos;s step back in time. Mobiles did exist - but we used them to make calls.
- Thanks to the WayBack machine, we can see exactly how the Internet looked 10 years ago. Blocks, squares, no fluidity to the interface or experience. no swiping. John Lewis’s site is a print brochure transformed onto the web - there’s no immediately obvious way to buy from the website. On second glance however, there is - but it’s a bit subtle. The top right nav has Your orders and Checkout. Web design circa 2006 isn’t about making it easy to transact; people had to click through several pages first. Amazon’s one-click purchase feels a long way from this page.
- And Direct.gov, the precursor to Gov.uk is all about the links. This is on its way to being user centred; the language and labels largely reflect people and their needs, not government departments. But the content hierarchy is flat - all information is equally important
- Which of course meant we weren’t really in control. The content was just part of the story of understanding. Marshall McLuhan 1964 image source: http://www.slideshare.net/annejo83/week-13-the-medium-is-the-message)
- Happily, over the past few years publishing hurdles have tumbled, boundaries between tech and ux and content are dissolving and suddenly content, at last, is being treated as the star it always was. [Hollywood walk of fame image http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame]
- So how are we going to justify our decisions? Competition is tight - we have other disciplines nipping at our heels Because we design the systems that help harness the energy of content. And we do that via deliverables and artefacts. Let’s take a closer look at these now.
- A content strategy – normally a PPT presentation. The culmination of research, insight, knowledge.
- First, you start with interviews and user research - what is the problem you&apos;re trying to solve Next - competitor review. Who&apos;s doing this well? Or badly? Doing this helps make a stronger case Third - what content exists? Not just their website, but the whole digital ecosystem Fourth - gap analysis. What&apos;s missing. By this point, you can start to spot the holes Last but not least - the actual strategy, where you bring these four things together, tie them with your expertise and start making recommendations
- This is an example of a plan to track page-level content changes during a site overhaul. Columns J to O indicate intersection with related projects. Columns P to V indicate where a page is part of a user journey. Column AA is a link to the related content brief for that page. In this project, briefs were managed using JIRA, the issue and project tracking tool.
- On the left, a calendar showing activity for one quarter in five specific areas: Information architecture changes Design and component issues/updates Content hygiene e.g. broken links SEO Content creation On the right, the editorial calendar for CMS Wire for Jan-Aug 2016 showing the themes they’ll cover each month.
- And a copy template, reflecting structured content fields that will be mapped to the templates in the CMS. The cover sheet links through to related and supporting content. These deliverables - and others - are used at different points in a content strategy process/project. To maximise effectiveness, they need to relate and link e.g. by using the same field names, file naming convention etc
- Two resources I know of. Both full of helpful advice and practical tools
- Change is our salvation, As well as the cost, there&apos;s also the loss in revenue and inefficiencies of trying to do content without systems in place
- How content strategy helps
- As we can see with the emergence of new tools such as GatherContent