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Girl Develop It: Intro to Content Strategy - May 2017
This document summarizes David Dylan Thomas' presentation on content strategy. It discusses: - What content strategy is and why it's important through examples like Significant Objects and Casey Kasem. - The content strategy process, including investigating goals and audiences, developing ideas, creating a plan, executing, and measuring results. - Common content strategy problems like having too much content or competing with Amazon. - Case studies showing how content strategy helped organizations like a legal software company, luxury resort, and savings firm improve performance. - Techniques for building a content strategy through interviews, establishing goals, learning about audiences, and developing a strategic plan and content format.
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Girl Develop It: Intro to Content Strategy - May 2017
- 2.
- 3. David Dylan Thomas SeniorExperience Designer, Think Company @movie_pundit
- 4. Who am I? •Filmmaker at heart • 2000 – 2004: Online Education • 2005 – 2012: A content strategist by any other name • 2013 – Present: A business card!
- 6. Ask Early. AskOften.
- 7. What We’ll LearnOverall • What Content Strategy Is • Why It’s Important • The kinds of problems a content strategist solves • How a content strategist solves those problems • How you might become a content strategist
- 8. What We’ll LearnTonight • What Content Strategy Is • Why It’s Important • The kinds of problems a content strategist solves
- 9. Why should youlearn about content strategy?
- 10.
- 11. Right now Facebookhas over 50 content strategists And they’re hiring more
- 12. Freelance > FullTime
- 13.
- 14. Demand Is High, SupplyIs Low
- 15. Content strategy isgaining ground on traditional marketing and SEO
- 16. Traditional marketing says,“You know what’s awesome? Our shoes!” Content strategy says, “You know what’s awesome? Running!”
- 17. Good content strategy= Good SEO
- 18.
- 19. Most content strategistsdon’t know they’re content strategists (Many are ex-journalists)
- 20. A content strategist’sjob is to help a company think like a newspaper. A content strategist’s job is to help you make decisions about content.
- 21. Exercise: What iscontent? • Split up into groups • Come up with a working definition • Include 3 examples of what IS content and why • Include 3 examples of what is NOT content and why • 10 minutes
- 22.
- 23. What Is ContentStrategy?
- 24.
- 25. Instead of aproduct description… …they told a story
- 26. Original Price: $0.33 FinalPrice: $71.00
- 27. Original Price: $2.99 FinalPrice: $101.00
- 28. Original Price: $3.00 FinalPrice: $193.50
- 29. Content Strategy isthe planned use of content to achieve a goal.
- 30. • With SignificantObjects, the goal was to increase the value of ordinary items. • The strategy was to replace bland descriptions with colorful stories (by good writers). • The creators used content (stories) to achieve a goal (added value).
- 31. Casey Kasem Turned FinancialReports into Entertainment
- 32. “In this hourat #32 in the countdown, a song that’s been a hit 4 different times in 19 years! And we’re just one tune away from the singer with the $10,000 gold hubcaps on his car! Now, on with the countdown!”
- 33. What Is ContentStrategy? • Example: Weird Al – Business Goal: Weird Al wanted his new album to be successful – Challenge: He’s been out of the public eye for decades – Content: Music – Content Strategy: #8days8videos
- 34. Result: #1 oniTunes
- 35.
- 37.
- 38. This Is ContentStrategy
- 39. Exercise: Examples ofContent Strategy • In your group, based on the definition, come up with three examples of content strategy. • Two should show content strategy done well. • One should show content strategy done poorly. • 5 minutes
- 40.
- 41. All content strategiesrequire two things: •Goal •Audience The more you know about both, the better the strategy will be
- 42. Most content strategiestry to answer three questions: • What are the client’s goals? • What are the user’s goals? • How can content help the two intersect?
- 43. What is themost important skill a content strategist should have? The ability to listen.
- 44. The Content StrategyProcess 1. Investigate • Learn about the organization • Learn about the audience • Learn about the content
- 45. The Content StrategyProcess 2. Come up with ideas • Collaborate/Workshop • Think for yourself
- 46. The Content StrategyProcess 3. Create a Plan • What are we going to do? • How are we going to do it? (Content Model) • Who is going to do what? (Governance) • Assign Goals to Content
- 47. The Content StrategyProcess 4. Execute the Plan 5. Measure the Results 6. Learn from the Results 7. Wash, Rinse, Repeat
- 48.
- 50. The Two MostCommon Content Strategy Problems • Help, I’ve got too much content! • Help, Amazon is killing me!
- 51. Case Study #1 LegalSoftware Producer
- 52. The Challenge • Lotsof content • No strategy
- 53.
- 54. LAWYERS HAVE NOTIME! What we learned:
- 55. Why are youshowing them all of this?
- 56.
- 57. The Solution • Deliverthe right content at the right time • Simplify and make content more findable
- 58. Old vs New •More sales from fewer visitors • 200% increase in orders for this product • 100% increase in related product • 160% increase in sales across the entire site
- 59. Case Study #2 Aluxury resort
- 61. Why aren’t thesesites performing the way that they should?
- 62. Survey • Potential Customers •Existing Customers Cluster analysis • Personas In-Depth Interviews • Representative sample Case Studies: AMResorts Research
- 63. • Wrong people,wrong imagery • No easy way to choose • How do I book? Case Studies: AMResorts Insights
- 64.
- 65.
- 66. Online Bookings +22% inFirst 6 Months Case Studies: AMResorts
- 67. Case Study #3 Asavings firm
- 68. before Writing for theWeb Ascensus
- 69. What would thisinteraction feel like in the real world? If I walked into a store and five people approached me, how would I feel? Writing for the Web The “Real World Equivalent” Problem
- 70. Writing for theWeb Ascensus
- 71. ● How manysteps does it take to get to the sale? ● Is the sale simply a phone number or chat or does it require an entire flow? ● What’s the least I can explain to get you to call? Writing for the Web The “Step Number” Problem
- 72. before Writing for theWeb Ascensus
- 73. after Writing for theWeb Ascensus
- 74. Writing for theWeb Ascensus
- 75. Exercise #1 Sell methis elephant in one tweet (max 140 characters) 2 minutes
- 76. Case Study #4 Abig sports retailer
- 77. “We have agreat experience in- store but that’s not translating to online.”
- 78. The oldest contentstrategy in the world • Use content to make it clear you know a lot about something. • When people need that something, they’ll think of you.
- 79. You’re there tohelp your customer achieve a goal. Selling them shoes is just one part of that.
- 81. “Content change isprocess change. Process change is culture change.” - Erin Abler, Former Lead Content Designer, City of Philadelphia
- 82. Exercise: Build YourOwn Content Strategy • On your own, write down one thing you’re good at. • Write down three ways you might use content to let the world know you’re good at it. • 5 minutes
- 83.
- 84.
- 85. Thank you! David DylanThomas @movie_pundit dave@daviddylanthomas.com
- 87. What We LearnedLast Time • What Content Strategy Is • Why It’s Important • The kinds of problems a content strategist solves
- 88. What We’ll LearnTonight • How a content strategist solves those problems • How you might become a content strategist
- 89. Building a ContentStrategy for Your Client • Learn about the client and their goals • Learn about the audience and their goals • Explore how content can align those goals
- 90. Interview Techniques • ContentDeep Dive – What content is your client creating? – How are they creating it? – Why are they creating it? – What is their capacity to produce more? – What is their content culture? • Distributed vs. hierarchical • Open vs. closed (regulated) • Stakeholder Interviews
- 91. Exercise: Establishing BusinessGoals • One person will represent GDI. • One person will interview. • One will take notes • Answer: – Is GDI creating content? What kind? How? – Why does GDI Create Content? • GDI creates content in order to __________. • If GDI Content doesn’t __________ , it isn’t worth creating • GDI members arrive feeling ________ but they should leave feeling __________ . – Describe the culture of GDI. • 10 minutes
- 92.
- 93. Audience Interview Techniques •What are you looking for? – Consumption habits • Devices • Media (video, blogs) • How are they finding content? – Social component – Search component • Triggers for content • Triggers for sharing – What do they value? – What do they want?
- 94. Exercise: Learn Aboutthe Audience • One person will represent audience. • One person will interview. • One will take notes • Answer: – Why do they come to GDI? – What do they hope to get out of it? What problem are they trying to solve? – What role did content play in them finding out about it (look for triggers)? – What types of content do they consume/share? • How? • On what devices? • When? – What, if anything, prompts them to share content? • 10 minutes
- 95.
- 96. Content Strategy Format •Describe the current state • Describe your idea • Describe your tactics • Describe what the client needs to do to get there • Bonus: Describe how the client will know if the strategy is working
- 97. Exercise: Build aStrategy • Given what you now know about the client, their content, and their audience, come up with a plan that uses content to align business and user goals. • Come up with one user story that describes an example of this plan in action. • How will GDI know that this plan is working? • 20 min
- 98.
- 99. How to Geta Job
- 100.
- 101.
- 102. Thank you! David DylanThomas @movie_pundit dave@daviddylanthomas.com