Understanding how people share knowledge with others is critical to implementing an effective content strategy in your organization. Journey mapping is an exercise that can help you to understand the various ways in which people share knowledge within your organization, and develop tools, processes, and content to make communication more effective and efficient.
Journalists have a lot to learn from other disciplines about tracking what works. We're not used to gauging our success in ways more sophisticated than ratings or circulation numbers, and we're behind the measurement curve. But these days, it's hard to value what you can't measure. And as newsrooms grapple with how to make room in tight budgets for audience engagement, it's natural that they'd also wonder what the return on that investment might be.
Social Media Measurement by Daniel Backhaus at InfuzDaniel Backhaus
Presented October 2nd at Digital East 2012 in the Advanced Social Media Track.
Discusses the need for robust SM metrics while emphasizing the importance of rigorous analysis and sound business strategy as guiding principles for social media.
Creating compelling content – in a beautiful infographic for
example – is only of value when it is seen by or shared with as
many people as possible. As social media matures, it is no
longer enough to post that infographic on your website and
trust that your search engine optimization team will add the
right magic to impact search results and reach your target
audiences. Today social networking sites such as Facebook
and Twitter are enabling a new, more sophisticated, human-led
system of connecting, organizing and distributing data. As a
result, companies now need to integrate social media features
into their online content to facilitate sharing and increase
distribution of valuable content across these networks.
Written by:
Rachelle Spero, Brunswick, New York
Northern New Jersey Social Media Boot Camp Kickoff, December 10, 2009 in Paramus. NNJSMBC is funded by a Berrie Innovation Grant, and this event was held at the Federation Headquarters.
Sm biz getting started social media handbookKay-Tee
The beginner's guide to Engagement Marketing for a small business. This handbook will walk you through the changing landscape of coplanning process, evaluation, and determining ROI that's appropriate for your business. It also arms you with a 1, 2, 3 approach for claiming your business (map), online social media, and going mobile. This was a hand out during a live presentation, so a new reader may have to connect the dots just a bit and answer the questions for their own business. Contact info is on each page though for further assistance. Happy engaging!
Journalists have a lot to learn from other disciplines about tracking what works. We're not used to gauging our success in ways more sophisticated than ratings or circulation numbers, and we're behind the measurement curve. But these days, it's hard to value what you can't measure. And as newsrooms grapple with how to make room in tight budgets for audience engagement, it's natural that they'd also wonder what the return on that investment might be.
Social Media Measurement by Daniel Backhaus at InfuzDaniel Backhaus
Presented October 2nd at Digital East 2012 in the Advanced Social Media Track.
Discusses the need for robust SM metrics while emphasizing the importance of rigorous analysis and sound business strategy as guiding principles for social media.
Creating compelling content – in a beautiful infographic for
example – is only of value when it is seen by or shared with as
many people as possible. As social media matures, it is no
longer enough to post that infographic on your website and
trust that your search engine optimization team will add the
right magic to impact search results and reach your target
audiences. Today social networking sites such as Facebook
and Twitter are enabling a new, more sophisticated, human-led
system of connecting, organizing and distributing data. As a
result, companies now need to integrate social media features
into their online content to facilitate sharing and increase
distribution of valuable content across these networks.
Written by:
Rachelle Spero, Brunswick, New York
Northern New Jersey Social Media Boot Camp Kickoff, December 10, 2009 in Paramus. NNJSMBC is funded by a Berrie Innovation Grant, and this event was held at the Federation Headquarters.
Sm biz getting started social media handbookKay-Tee
The beginner's guide to Engagement Marketing for a small business. This handbook will walk you through the changing landscape of coplanning process, evaluation, and determining ROI that's appropriate for your business. It also arms you with a 1, 2, 3 approach for claiming your business (map), online social media, and going mobile. This was a hand out during a live presentation, so a new reader may have to connect the dots just a bit and answer the questions for their own business. Contact info is on each page though for further assistance. Happy engaging!
Thrive on Jive: 6 Pillars of Social Media Marketing SuccessDeirdre Walsh
This presentation showcases the steps needed to develop a successful social media strategy. It focuses on building a good process for listening and engaging with key stakeholders across the Social Web.
The Future of Social Intelligence - Extracting the Gold from Social Media #sm...Alterian
Companies are just beginning to grasp the true power of social data. The ability to collect feedback without the need for costly market research studies, surveys, and focus groups is a relatively new prospect. But as brands have started measuring, many sense that they could (and should) be doing much more with the abundant data at their finger tips. Simply collecting data is not enough. To remain competitive, marketers must fully realize the breadth and depth of knowledge and insights they can gain from online conversations.
Scott Briggs discusses the state of social media intelligence today and where we are headed in the future. He outlines the advanced techniques that forward-thinking brands are using to move from simply collecting data to truly analyzing and drawing insights that are fueling smart business decisions.
The future of social intelligence is predictive, strategic, and unlike social measurement as you know it today. Are you ready?
Online communities have taken hold among businesses, to connect employees, customers and partners. However, community management as a profession is largely misunderstood and inadequately resourced. We created this book to raise the literacy level among businesses on what community managers actually do, and for community managers to have a trusted guide in their daily jobs. This guide addresses at a high level the strategy, design and everyday execution of a successful and healthy community.
Authors: Maria Ogneva, Matt Jensen, Molly Bugler
This workshop will discussed how to strategically evaluate areas within a nonprofit in which integrating digital tools can increase an organization’s effectiveness, while also saving time, money, and stress. The workshop concludes by zeroing in on steps a small to medium size organization can take to optimize their Facebook Page, and help to answer the ever-elusive question of how to effectively use Social Media without it becoming a full-time job.
Thrive on Jive: 6 Pillars of Social Media Marketing SuccessDeirdre Walsh
This presentation showcases the steps needed to develop a successful social media strategy. It focuses on building a good process for listening and engaging with key stakeholders across the Social Web.
The Future of Social Intelligence - Extracting the Gold from Social Media #sm...Alterian
Companies are just beginning to grasp the true power of social data. The ability to collect feedback without the need for costly market research studies, surveys, and focus groups is a relatively new prospect. But as brands have started measuring, many sense that they could (and should) be doing much more with the abundant data at their finger tips. Simply collecting data is not enough. To remain competitive, marketers must fully realize the breadth and depth of knowledge and insights they can gain from online conversations.
Scott Briggs discusses the state of social media intelligence today and where we are headed in the future. He outlines the advanced techniques that forward-thinking brands are using to move from simply collecting data to truly analyzing and drawing insights that are fueling smart business decisions.
The future of social intelligence is predictive, strategic, and unlike social measurement as you know it today. Are you ready?
Online communities have taken hold among businesses, to connect employees, customers and partners. However, community management as a profession is largely misunderstood and inadequately resourced. We created this book to raise the literacy level among businesses on what community managers actually do, and for community managers to have a trusted guide in their daily jobs. This guide addresses at a high level the strategy, design and everyday execution of a successful and healthy community.
Authors: Maria Ogneva, Matt Jensen, Molly Bugler
This workshop will discussed how to strategically evaluate areas within a nonprofit in which integrating digital tools can increase an organization’s effectiveness, while also saving time, money, and stress. The workshop concludes by zeroing in on steps a small to medium size organization can take to optimize their Facebook Page, and help to answer the ever-elusive question of how to effectively use Social Media without it becoming a full-time job.
Bloom Works’ Social Impact Designer, Alyson Fraser Diaz, recently sat down with Community Up Founder, Jermeen Sherman, to discuss the emerging field of social impact design and share how their work aims to keep community members at the center of the design process. Watch a recording of their conversation to better understand the principles of social impact design, learn about several tools Alyson and Jermeen use in their work, and hear examples of how they’ve used these tools to create better outcomes.
The accompanying Community Engaged Design Guide is a free resource that your organization can use to begin incorporating insights from Alyson and Jermeen into your projects.
Learn more about Automotive Digital Marketing at the most popular professional network for car dealers and interactive marketers working in the auto industry at http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/
Please visit our online professional network and join our community of Automotive Social Media Marketing professionals at http://www.ADPsocialMarketing.com
This presentation aims to teach others how to use the user centered design methodology known as personas.
Personas are archetypes (models) that represent groups of real users who have similar behaviors, attitudes, and goals. A persona describes an archetypical user of software as it relates to the area of focus or domain you are designing for as a lens to highlight the relevant attitudes and the specific context associated with the area of work you are doing.
It's storytelling time! Non-profit storytelling plays a key role in messaging your organization’s values and projects .This booklet is the result of NGOs Communication Camp - 2nd Edition Training Course funded through Erasmus+ programme and is designed to help youngsters interested in communication, new media, brand identity, social media and internal communication to develop their know-how in these fields.
Working Out Loud: A step towards building your digital capabilityAnne Bartlett-Bragg
An article that uncovers some of the underpinning perspectives for creating Working Out Loud activities and how these can be a step towards building digital capabilities.
This article originally appeared in Training & Development magazine February 2016 Vol 43 No 1, published by the Australian Institute of Training and Development.
How to apply DEI lens to community engagementMuryani Kasdani
Why does Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) matter to build a robust community engagement strategy? Having diverse voices help inform inclusive and more equitable programs and services that are more effective to deliver the intended outcomes, especially in solving complex social and environmental challenges. And the process of engagement itself usually creates a sense of ownership from community members. When people are meaningfully engaged, it increases the likelihood for the initiatives to be adopted by the community, and empower community members to be the drivers of change.
Whether we call it user research, co-design, or community engagement, the purpose of the activities is similar, which is to create spaces where people, especially those who will be most impacted, can meaningfully inform, shape, design, envision, and evaluate the interventions. Behind all of these activities is the belief that participatory approach to solving problems leads to better outcomes.
There are many resources available that talk about best practices in engaging community members for program design. I would like to add to this conversation by using the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lens to approach community engagement, user research, or co-design based on my experience working with community members who are historically under invested and marginalized.
Similar to Information Outlook Journey Mapping Article - "Connecting People To Other People" (20)
The session includes a brief history of the evolution of search before diving into the roles technology, content, and links play in developing a powerful SEO strategy in a world of Generative AI and social search. Discover how to optimize for TikTok searches, Google's Gemini, and Search Generative Experience while developing a powerful arsenal of tools and templates to help maximize the effectiveness of your SEO initiatives.
Key Takeaways:
Understand how search engines work
Be able to find out where your users search
Know what is required for each discipline of SEO
Feel confident creating an SEO Plan
Confidently measure SEO performance
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.\
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
SMM Cheap - No. 1 SMM panel in the worldsmmpanel567
Boost your social media marketing with our SMM Panel services offering SMM Cheap services! Get cost-effective services for your business and increase followers, likes, and engagement across all social media platforms. Get affordable services perfect for businesses and influencers looking to increase their social proof. See how cheap SMM strategies can help improve your social media presence and be a pro at the social media game.
It's another new era of digital and marketers are faced with making big bets on their digital strategy. If you are looking at modernizing your tech stack to support your digital evolution, there are a few can't miss (often overlooked) areas that should be part of every conversation. We'll cover setting your vision, avoiding siloes, adding a democratized approach to data strategy, localization, creating critical governance requirements and more. Attendees will walk away with actions they can take into initiatives they are running today and consider for the future.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Is AI-Generated Content the Future of Content Creation?Cut-the-SaaS
Discover the transformative power of AI in content creation with our presentation, "Is AI-Generated Content the Future of Content Creation?" by Puran Parsani, CEO & Editor of Cut-The-SaaS. Learn how AI-generated content is revolutionizing marketing, publishing, education, healthcare, and finance by offering unprecedented efficiency, creativity, and scalability.
Understanding
AI-Generated Content:
AI-generated content includes text, images, videos, and audio produced by AI without direct human involvement. This technology leverages large datasets to create contextually relevant and coherent material, streamlining content production.
Key Benefits:
Content Creation: Rapidly generate high-quality content for blogs, articles, and social media.
Brainstorming: AI simulates conversations to inspire creative ideas.
Research Assistance: Efficiently summarize and research information.
Market Insights:
The content marketing industry is projected to grow to $17.6 billion by 2032, with AI-generated content expected to dominate over 55% of the market.
Case Study: CNET’s AI Content Controversy:
CNET’s use of AI for news articles led to public scrutiny due to factual inaccuracies, highlighting the need for transparency and human oversight.
Benefits Across Industries:
Marketing: Personalize content at scale and optimize engagement with predictive analytics.
Publishing: Automate content creation for faster publication cycles.
Education: Efficiently generate educational materials.
Healthcare: Create accurate content for patients and professionals.
Finance: Produce timely financial content for decision-making.
Challenges and Ethical Considerations:
Transparency: Disclose AI use to maintain trust.
Bias: Address potential AI biases with diverse datasets.
SEO: Ensure AI content meets SEO standards.
Quality: Maintain high standards to prevent misinformation.
Conclusion:
AI-generated content offers significant benefits in efficiency, personalization, and scalability. However, ethical considerations and quality assurance are crucial for responsible use. Explore the future of content creation with us and see how AI is transforming various industries.
Connect with Us:
Follow Cut-The-SaaS on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Medium. Visit cut-the-saas.com for more insights and resources.
How to Run Landing Page Tests On and Off Paid Social PlatformsVWO
Join us for an exclusive webinar featuring Mariate, Alexandra and Nima where we will unveil a comprehensive blueprint for crafting a successful paid media strategy focused on landing page testing.With escalating costs in paid advertising, understanding how to maximize each visitor’s experience is crucial for retention and conversion.
This session will dive into the methodologies for executing and analyzing landing page tests within paid social channels, offering a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical insights.
The Pearmill team will guide you through the nuances of setting up and managing landing page experiments on paid social platforms. You will learn about the critical rules to follow, the structure of effective tests, optimal conversion duration and budget allocation.
The session will also cover data analysis techniques and criteria for graduating landing pages.
In the second part of the webinar, Pearmill will explore the use of A/B testing platforms. Discover common pitfalls to avoid in A/B testing and gain insights into analyzing A/B tests results effectively.
Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services using digital channels to reach and engage with potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of online tactics and strategies aimed at increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, and ultimately, converting those leads into customers.
https://nidmindia.com/
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
First Things First: Building and Effective Marketing Strategy
Too many companies (and marketers) jump straight into activation planning without formalizing a marketing strategy. It may seem tedious, but analyzing the mindset of your targeted audiences and identifying the messaging points most likely to resonate with them is time well spent. That process is also a great opportunity for marketers to collaborate with sales leaders and account managers on a galvanized go-to-market approach. I’ll walk you through the methods and tools we use with our clients to ensure campaign success.
Key Takeaways:
-Recognize the critical role of strategy in marketing
-Learn our approach for building an actionable, effective marketing strategy
-Receive templates and guides for developing a marketing strategy
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Videos are more engaging, more memorable, and more popular than any other type of content out there. That’s why it’s estimated that 82% of consumer traffic will come from videos by 2025.
And with videos evolving from landscape to portrait and experts promoting shorter clips, one thing remains constant – our brains LOVE videos.
So is there science behind what makes people absolutely irresistible on camera?
The answer: definitely yes.
In this jam-packed session with Stephanie Garcia, you’ll get your hands on a steal-worthy guide that uncovers the art and science to being irresistible on camera. From body language to words that convert, she’ll show you how to captivate on command so that viewers are excited and ready to take action.
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
10 Video Ideas Any Business Can Make RIGHT NOW!
You'll never draw a blank again on what kind of video to make for your business. Go beyond the basic categories and truly reimagine a brand new advanced way to brainstorm video content creation. During this masterclass you'll be challenged to think creatively and outside of the box and view your videos through lenses you may have never thought of previously. It's guaranteed that you'll leave with more than 10 video ideas, but I like to under-promise and over-deliver. Don't miss this session.
Key Takeaways:
How to use the Video Matrix
How to use additional "Lenses"
Where to source original video ideas
Information Outlook Journey Mapping Article - "Connecting People To Other People"
1. nov
dec
13
V 17 | N 06
information
outlook
THE MAGAZINE OF THE SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
providing
content strategy
services
2. Providing Content Strategy Services
Connecting People
to Other People
Understanding how people share knowledge with
others is critical to implementing an effective
content strategy in your organization.
By Riche Zamor
W
hether your job title
is librarian, information architect, content strategist, or user
experience designer, your role is to
connect people to the information they
need to complete a task or meet a goal.
What is often forgotten in this process
is that the information to which we connect people comes from other people.
The facts, ideas, and emotions in that
white paper, blog post, or infographic
came from a person who wanted to
share his or her knowledge with others.
Looked at this way, our job is not just
to connect people to information, but
to connect people to each other. We
librarians, content strategists, and user
experience designers are, in essence,
facilitators of human communication
within our organizations.
Steven Beebe (2014) defines human
communication as “the process of making sense out of the world and sharing that sense with others by creating
meaning through the use of verbal
and nonverbal messages.” The foundation of human communication is the
exchange of knowledge. As facilitators
of human communication, we need
to understand the types of knowledge
people possess, how they share their
knowledge with others, and how others
receive that information, internalize it,
and then apply it in their daily lives.
Two Forms of Knowledge
One of the leading frameworks for differentiating types of knowledge was developed by Maryam Alavi and Dorothy E.
Leidner in 2001. They argue that human
knowledge exists in two forms—tacit
knowledge and explicit knowledge.
Tacit knowledge is not tangible—it is
innate within someone and difficult to
transfer to others because it cannot be
broken down into a repeatable process.
Think of tacit knowledge as things that
tend to be instinctive, like how to wiggle
a finger or take a breath of air.
Explicit knowledge is knowledge that
can easily be taught as part of a stepby-step process. It tends to be codified,
so it can easily be presented to someone or transferred between two people.
Examples of explicit knowledge are
building a house and driving a car.
Tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge co-exist and are often inter-related. For example, we often need to use
tacit knowledge to complete tasks that
call for the use of explicit knowledge.
In 2004, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka
Riche Zamor is director of strategy for 4Site Studios, a digital creative agency in Washington, D.C. In past lives,
Riche has developed content and social media strategies for Fortune 500 brands, leading nonprofits and high-profile
political candidates. He is a regular speaker and writer on the topics of content strategy and social media.
16
INFORMATION OUTLOOK V17 N06 november/december 2013
3. Providing Content Strategy Services
Figure 1: Knowledge Spiral
Takeuk developed a theory around
knowledge sharing called the Knowledge
Spiral. They argue that knowledge sharing is cyclical—it starts with externalizing tacit knowledge and follows with
linking that knowledge to explicit knowledge, putting the explicit knowledge
into practice, then internalizing and
socializing the newly gained information
through communication and collaboration with others.
This process, by which we must
both receive and share information in
order to retain knowledge, plays out
in different ways within organizations.
Understanding the dynamics of communication and information sharing within
your organization are crucial to improving how knowledge is captured by, and
shared among, your colleagues.
Sharing Knowledge
Understanding knowledge sharing
within organizations can be challenging. There are many dynamics at play:
company culture, relationships between
peers, and processes and procedures
for gathering and disseminating information. Understanding the environment in which you are operating is
essential to identifying how information
is exchanged and recognizing how you
can better connect people to each other
to exchange that information.
We often try to solve challenges within organizations by trying to change
people. That won’t work—you cannot
change people, people can only change
themselves. What you can do effec-
tively is create
tools, processes
and content that
empower people to be more
effective and efficient given their
natural behaviors
for information
sharing.
For example, if
people naturally
communicate
and exchange
knowledge
through e-mail, trying to force them to
use a wiki to share knowledge probably
won’t work. A more effective method
will be to create or leverage an application that easily allows people to transfer
information from e-mail conversations
to a knowledge repository, or introduce
a system that allows communication to
occur through e-mail and stores those
e-mails in a searchable repository.
You will need to conduct research
to understand the various ways people
in your organization share knowledge.
A very useful tool that can be used to
track knowledge-sharing behavior within your organization is journey mapping.
Journey mapping is a design thinking
exercise used to create a visual representation of the process(es) used by a
person or group to complete a task or
series of tasks.
The critical piece is first recognizing who your internal audiences are,
then identifying their needs, determining what content helps to meet those
needs, and knowing where, when, how,
and why these stakeholders seek this
content. A journey map should reveal,
at each step when someone in your
organization shares knowledge with others in the organization, the following:
• What their experience was;
• What they were feeling;
• What they were thinking; and
• Opportunities to improve the experience at that step in the process.
You can find very elaborate visuals
that have been created to represent this
data, but the simplest way to begin is
with a table. Each column should represent a step in the process, and each
row should represent the information
you want to capture.
Creating a Journey Map
The first step in creating a journey map
is to develop a plan for what you would
like to discover. Start by creating a
statement that defines a problem you
are trying to solve, what you suspect
is the root cause of the problem, and
any ideas you have for solving it. Next,
define who is being affected by the
problem, being as specific as possible
(e.g., managers of international relief
projects). Finally, define how you intend
to measure whether the problem you
are addressing has been resolved.
Next, perform research into how
people within your organization share
knowledge. The most accurate method
is observation and documentation of
people’s behavior in a real-world setting.
There are many resources available on
how to perform behavior observation; I
personally draw from the processes outlined in Jeff Gothelf’s book Lean UX.
After completing your research, you
should be able to define, for each
group of people you researched, the
following:
• What their goal was;
• The specific steps in the process of
completing that goal;
• How long it took to complete each
step;
• Each touchpoint at which the group
interacted with a piece of knowledge
that was shared with them;
• The general emotions that people
felt at each touchpoint;
• The thoughts that were communicated at each touchpoint; and
• Any ideas that were shared on how
to improve the experience at each
touchpoint.
Note that if you can capture any data
that can be used to validate the results
INFORMATION OUTLOOK V17 N06 november/december 2013
17
4. Providing Content Strategy Services
of your observations, be sure to do so.
Web analytics or usage statistics from
knowledge management systems and
other forms of data can help to prove
that your research observations are correct or identify discrepancies in what
you are observing and how systems are
actually being used.
Next, develop an audience persona
for each group that was researched.
The persona should tell a story of who
this group is, what they want to accomplish, why they want to accomplish
it, the various ways in which they try
to accomplish it, and their motivators
and depressors. Make the persona as
detailed as possible—give the person
a name, age, job title, and a biography
that helps to give context to why that
person behaves the way he or she does.
Your goal in developing this persona is
to effectively communicate the experience your colleagues have when sharing knowledge within the organization.
Once you create your personas, you
can begin to produce your journey
map. My recommendation is to start
by simply creating a table that con-
tains your findings for each audience
group. Depending on the outcomes of
your research, you may want to create a visual that shows any overlap in
the experience between audience segments.
Activate Your Journey Map
There is no cookie-cutter approach to
translating a journey map into solutions
to your organization’s content- or knowledge-sharing problems. The solutions
that you implement will vary, depending
on the outcome of your research and
the needs of the organization.
One easy first step is to look at the
suggestions of the people you observed
for solutions. There are often small
changes to processes, tools, or content
that can be made to greatly improve the
communication experience. Measure
the impact of going after this low-hanging fruit, then begin to implement larger
solutions as needed.
It is very important to remember that
journey mapping is an ongoing process.
People’s behaviors and their environ-
ments change, and you will need to
develop a continual system for identifying audience segments, performing research, and finding solutions to
knowledge sharing experiences. This
iterative process will ensure that you
are on top, if not ahead, of the content
needs of your colleagues. SLA
REFERENCES
Alavi, Maryam, and Dorothy E. Leidner.
2001. Review: Knowledge Management and
Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual
Foundations and Research Issues. MIS
Quarterly, 25(1): 107-136.
Beebe, Stephen A., Susan J. Beebe, and
Mark V. Redmond. 2014. Interpersonal
Communication: Relating to Others. New
York: Pearson.
Gothelf, Jeff. 2013. Lean UX: Applying Lean
Principles to Improve User Experience.
Sebastopol, Calif.: O’Reilly Media.
Nonaka, Ikujiro, and Hirotaka Takeuk. 1995.
The Knowledge Creating Company. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Click University Certificate Programs
Advance your skills and get noticed with a certificate from SLA’s Click University!
Certificate in Copyright Management
CCM100 Introduction to Copyright Management:
Principles and Issues
Begins: January 23
http://bit.ly/SLA-CCM
Certificate in Knowledge Management/Knowledge Services
KMKS104 Networking and Social Media:
Technology-Enabled Knowledge Sharing
Begins: February 12 http://bit.ly/SLA-KMKS
18
INFORMATION OUTLOOK V17 N06 november/december 2013
Courses are conveniently offered
online. Sign up for individual
courses or a full certificate.
Contact Click University
staff at clicku@sla.org
for more information.