Enough Theory! Let's Put That Content Strategy into Action!

#eduWeb14© 2014
ENOUGH
THEORY!
1
Let’s put that
content strategy
into action!
@EmmanuelCollege | @honanm | @zigzagJeff | @thePrimacy | thePrimacy.com

#eduWeb14© 2014
Thank you for coming today!
2
Molly Honan DiLorenzo
Emmanuel College – Boston
AVP, Marketing Communications
Jeff Johnson
Primacy
SVP, Education Practice Lead

#eduWeb14© 2014
Tweeting today?
3
#eduweb14
@EmmanuelCollege
@honanm
@zigzagJeff
@thePrimacy

#eduWeb14© 2014
Good conference?
How many here are…
–With a school?
–Marketing side?
–Technology side?
–Different business?
–An agency or vendor?
4@EmmanuelCollege | @honanm | @zigzagJeff | @thePrimacy | thePrimacy.com

#eduWeb14© 2014
At the Conference:
Listening. Talking. Sharing.
Many challenges to address!

#eduWeb14© 2014
MAXIMIZING THE CONTENT
EXPERIENCE USING TOPICS,
THEMES, AND TAXONOMY
@EmmanuelCollege | @honanm | @zigzagJeff | @thePrimacy | thePrimacy.com 6

#eduWeb14© 2014
Importance of Content Strategy
Create, organize, structure, govern and maintain audience-aligned
content that is audience-aligned. At its root, helps address the following:
What is most valuable to, or required by, our audience?
How does content activate, personify and differentiate the
Emmanuel College brand, mission, vision, values and
traditions?
How does content align with our business objectives?
What format, structure, and organization does content take?
Where is our content distributed and accessed?

#eduWeb14© 2014
“Content Strategy” means many things
Today’s context:
Understand how we tell the [Emmanuel College] story in
most compelling and relevant way possible
Elevating the brand and connecting with key audiences
Deliver an experience that proactively guides our
audiences by anticipating their needs
Help audiences make optimal decisions, provide the right
resources, insight and expertise at moment of need

#eduWeb14© 2014
Challenges we’ll address
Using the overhauled Emmanuel College (Boston)
website as backdrop
Balance between organizational structure of your
school… with target audience’s mental model(s)
Differentiating in a sea of “me-too” schools all saying
same thing
Effective storytelling that helps “connect the dots” on
the “why”

#eduWeb14© 2014 @EmmanuelCollege | @honanm | @zigzagJeff | @thePrimacy | thePrimacy.com
emmanuel.edu/
Educational
Offerings
Scholarly
Achievements
/ Outcomes
Nuts and Bolts
What How
Why
Informational Transactional
Experiential
10

#eduWeb14© 2014
Our Starting Point
11
Two insights…

#eduWeb14© 2014
Storytelling.
What sets you apart.
The unique stories only YOU can tell.
Today: utilizing a “topic-driven” approach
and leverage taxonomy and tagging
techniques to share content across
organizational boundaries.

#eduWeb14© 2014
Context:
Website visitors respond well to content
presented in context.
Personalizing content experiences allows
visitors to “explore” on their terms, and
“discover” with your guidance.

#eduWeb14© 2014
EMMANUEL
COLLEGE
14
Small, private, residential,
Catholic, liberal arts and
sciences college, in the heart
of Boston

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Sounds great, huge problem
More than 100 colleges and universities in greater Boston area*
20 miles

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Tired website
Served
admirably
for 6
years

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Mirrored the organizational structure

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Website began to collapse with attempts
to extend content experience

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And we needed to
celebrate things
unique to us…

#eduWeb14© 2014
So we started bolting on microsites
• Maintain
content
in two
places
• Resource
drain

#eduWeb14© 2014
We hit the wall…

#eduWeb14© 2014
We hit the wall…
…and embarked on
a website redesign

#eduWeb14© 2014
Let’s get our priorities straight
23
Website
Redesign
Priorities
Attract
(higher-
credentialed)
Students
Tell the
Emmanuel
Story
Engaging
and Intuitive

#eduWeb14© 2014
Brand AND content experience
Imperatives:
Flexible content strategy
– Can expand with needs
Create lasting IA structure
– One that doesn’t need to be rethought

#eduWeb14© 2014
Common theme:
This stuff is hard!

#eduWeb14© 2014
No other category of
website has a
greater range of
relevant target
audiences than a
college or university.
26
Feel free to tweet this. 

#eduWeb14© 2014
Media, Faculty, Staff
(and Prospective)
Current Students
Alumni/Donors
Family /
Influencers
Prospective
Students
Typical
Education
Website
Audience
Identification
and
Prioritization

#eduWeb14© 2014
It’s easy to oversimplify
28
http://xkcd.com/773/

#eduWeb14© 2014
And…
also easy
to spoof!

#eduWeb14© 2014
Result of many website redesign efforts
9-18 months of pure fun
New design
New CMS
– more often than is often
necessary
Similar underlying structure
Little or no change with
content strategy
Congrats! You put a new suit on the same challenges.

#eduWeb14© 2014 31@EmmanuelCollege | @honanm | @zigzagJeff | @thePrimacy | thePrimacy.com
Foundation
for Website
Redesign
Where teams
should spend
MORE of their
time
Where
organizations
should spend
MORE of their
time
Where teams
spend MOST
of their time
Where
organizations
spend MOST
of their time
Communication
& Content
Strategy
Information
Architecture
Technology
Visual Design

#eduWeb14© 2014
Meanwhile, back at
Emmanuel College…

#eduWeb14© 2014
In effort to help make
connections we provide
so many ways to navigate.
We’ve forgotten the
reason “they” are here.
33
To consume, experience and interact with… content!

#eduWeb14© 2014
Often, the structural “bones” are there…
34
There’s only
so many ways
to name and
organize
these sections

#eduWeb14© 2014
…but every page works too hard
35
Navigation
Contextual
Links
Factoids
and
thematic
content
AKA: “I read
somewhere
about a 3-click
rule, so lets put
navigation
everywhere”
AKA: “We
have added
too many
things and now
the IA isn’t
intuitive”
AKA: “I know
you came
looking for
something
specific but
maybe click on
me instead”

#eduWeb14© 2014
WHICH
BRINGS US
TO…
36
Cue up the
foreboding
music please

#eduWeb14© 2014
The Information
Architecture (IA)
Dilemma
37
Information architecture had
performed admirably, considering…
Often the real need transcends ANY
information architecture structure.

#eduWeb14© 2014
The “IA Dilemma”
38
Easy,
Intuitive,
Task-driven
Contextual
Content
Relationships
Storytelling
The Dilemma

#eduWeb14© 2014
LongstandingApproach:
Aligning Website with User’s Mental Model
Organizational Structure versus User’s Mental Model
Question: What if we stop fighting the endless, winless battle?

#eduWeb14© 2014
Revisiting the “IA Dilemma”
40
Answer: And…Choose both!

#eduWeb14© 2014
1st: IA Organizational Approach
Everything gets “home” within core IA structure
Navigation/nomenclature streamlined to accelerate “findability”
Somewhat common to most colleges, i.e., low learning curve
Mostly managed by respective organizational owner
41
Home
Tier
One
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 2
Tier 3 Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 3
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 2 Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5

#eduWeb14© 2014
Home
Tier
One
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 2
Tier 3 Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 3
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
1st: IA Organizational Approach
Good for finding a piece of information
Not as good for contextually related information
42
Test drive:
“what’s your
passion?”
Science?
Programs Internships ResearchAlumniFaculty Big News

#eduWeb14© 2014
Education
stakeholders are
consumed by
reflecting their
organizational
model.
43
What’s missing? The
“connective tissue”
to tie it all together.

#eduWeb14© 2014
Conceptual Approach: Connect the Dots

#eduWeb14© 2014
Every school has signature features that truly differentiate
it from other schools. Celebrate them.
2nd: Add a Topical / Thematic Overlay
45
Sciences
at
Emmanuel

#eduWeb14© 2014
Topical / Thematic Overlay
46
Sciences
at
Emmanuel

#eduWeb14© 2014
Eschew
organizational
boundaries
47
All schools have topics and
themes that make them
distinctive.
Topics/themes transcend
any one part of the
organization.
Consider ways in which to
“celebrate” your school,
topically/thematically.

#eduWeb14© 2014 48
Arts at
Emmanuel
Topic of
____ at
Emmanuel
Boston
Residence
Life at
Emmanuel
Mission
and
Spirituality
at
Emmanuel
The
Catholic
Intellectual
TraditionAcademics
at
Emmanuel
Visiting
Emmanuel
Beyond the
Classroom
Global
Studies
Research
at
Emmanuel
Sciences
at
Emmanuel

#eduWeb14© 2014 49
Arts at
Emmanuel
Topic of
____ at
Emmanuel
Boston
Residence
Life at
Emmanuel
Mission
and
Spirituality
at
Emmanuel
The
Catholic
Intellectual
TraditionAcademics
at
Emmanuel
Visiting
Emmanuel
Beyond the
Classroom
Global
Studies
Research
at
Emmanuel
Sciences
at
Emmanuel
Home
Tier
One
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 2
Tier 3 Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 3
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier
One
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Organizational AND Topical

#eduWeb14© 2014
Identifying Topics
50
Signature themes and brand
attributes
Centers of gravity around
research, centers and
institutes
Aspects of the customer
journey that matter
Unique, intersecting
characteristics that tell the
Emmanuel story

#eduWeb14© 2014
Bringing it to life

#eduWeb14© 2014
Home Page
 Bringing it all
together on the
homepage
 Primary navigation
 Gateway access
 Footer with utility
and high-value
links

#eduWeb14© 2014
 Streamlined
 Focused on the
prospective
student
 It’s the front
door, not the
catch-all
 Access for all
 Themes/topics
as centerpiece
feature

#eduWeb14© 2014
Celebrate
Topics
 Signature
Emmanuel
themes and
topics
55
Boston
The
Catholic
Intellectual
Tradition
Sciences at
Emmanuel

#eduWeb14© 2014
Topics, Taxonomy, and Tagging
Aggregate and syndicate within site
Create a taxonomy of key words to “tag” all content
within the site
Use tags to aggregate and filter
Leverage CMS to write once, share many

#eduWeb14© 2014
Beyond the website
Viewbook
– Sections align with topics and are tethered to the website
Email
– Topics are focus of campaigns during Admissions cycle
Social
– Feature topics during downtimes or when contextually
relevant

#eduWeb14© 2014
Impact
Page Views +12%/visit
Length of Visit Time +13.8% /visit
New Visits +6.4%
Bounce Rate -17%
Mobile Traffic +93.7%
Tablet Traffic +46.7%
Content authorship + storytelling
Internal satisfaction + satisfaction
Topic Pages + site engagement

#eduWeb14© 2014
Project Management
Process Model
Vision and Leadership
ContentWeb Print
Social
Writers
conversant in
CMS
Budgets tight
– Had to figure
how to be
robust with
limited
resources
Efficiency
– Centralize
content
repositories
– Build system
without holes,
pull in default
stories

#eduWeb14© 2014
Takeaways
72
Tear down the organizational
barriers
Create pages that address key
“signature” and “ownable” topics
Use to aggregate access to
content found throughout the
website (connect the dots)
Test with target audiences

#eduWeb14© 2014
Next wave
75
Customized content delivery
based on user behavior
Integration with external
marketing efforts (online
and offline)
Take advantage of
CMS search and
digital market tools

#eduWeb14© 2014
THANK YOU
WWW.EDUWEBSPEAKERSURVEY.COM
76
@EmmanuelCollege
@honanm
honanm@Emmanuel.edu
@thePrimacy
@zigzagJeff
Jeff.Johnson@theprimacy.com

Enough Theory! Let's Put That Content Strategy into Action!

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