Managing Stakeholders Across the Content Ecosystem: The Key to Implementing a Content Strategy

Managing Stakeholders Across the Content Ecosystem
The Key to Implementing an Integrated Content Strategy
Andrea L. Ames
@aames
CEO/Founder & Content Experience Strategist, Idyll Point™ Group
LavaCon Portland, Nov 8, 2017
© Idyll Point™ LLC #lavacon

Story time
Typical story told with
data
@aames | © Idyll Point™ LLC 2
#lavacon

Documentation accounts for
4 million
page views per week on xyz.com
Our documentation includes
225 million
unique URLs
30% (new) to 40% (returning)
of visitors
are looking for documentation
and spend, on average,
3-5 minutes reading
Our documentation system
uptime is
97%
XYZ
documentation
report
#lavacon

Would you…
Pay for a team celebration?
Hire 10 new writers?
Fund a new CMS?
#lavacon

Story time
Better story told with data
#lavacon

Using content encompasses
more than 55%
of sales cycle time (vs. 21% spent
talking to sales people)
Source: Marketing Interactions
…Buyers, influencers and
researchers are not simply
consuming content and
speeding to decisions. Rather,
they are creating distinct
sharing circles that curate
and circulate content across
the decision-making
hierarchy
Source: CMO Council & Content ROI Center
Using technical content generates
more than 50%
of viable sales leads
Source: Forbes
Using technical content is the
2nd most important
pre-sales activity for
technology buyers
Source: IDC
Trends in
enterprise tech
buying
behavior
#lavacon

Our technical content includes
230 million
unique URLs
Value and
impact of XYZ
tech content
Technical content accounts for
4 million
page views per week on xyz.com
87% of respondents visiting XYZ.com indicate that having high-quality
technical content is a major factor in their purchase decisions
30% (new) to 40% (returning)
of visitors
are looking for technical content
and spend, on average,
3-5 minutes reading
Our Web site uptime is
97%
#lavacon

NOW would
you…
Pay for a team celebration?
Hire 10 new writers?
Fund a new CMS?
#lavacon

Why is the 2nd story better?
Because the 2nd storyteller had a secret
#lavacon

Stakeholder
management
#lavacon

“
”
Stakeholder management is critical
to the success of every project
in every organization …
By engaging
the right people in the right way
in your project, you can make
a big difference to its success ...
and to your career.
Rachel Thompson
“Stakeholder
Management:
Planning
Stakeholder
Communication.”
MindTools.
12 April 2013
#lavacon

5 Keys
1. Credibility
2. Know your audience
3. Purpose: Clear vision of
outcome
4. Tell the right story…
5. …in the right way
#lavacon

Credibility
StartsLONGbeforestorytelling
Assistedbyproof
Personalleadership–itallstartswithyou!
Invisible,subconsciousrelationshipbuilding
u
#lavacon

Don’trelytoo
muchonmetrics
–buildandrely
alsoonyour
personal
credibility
What they give you
The “black and white”
part of your strategy
The facts that prove
your strategy is a
good one
An argument that
speaks to the
analytical mind
What they don’t
A guaranteed
successful “sell” to
your stakeholders
A vision that inspires
people to believe
A story that speaks to
the emotional heart
#lavacon

Themes
Self
Credibility
Trust
Model behavior
(exemplar)
Others
Invest in
relationships
Enable others
Inspire others
#lavacon

StephenCovey
7Habitsof
HighlyEffective
People
Private victory
Be proactive
Begin with the end in mind
Put first things first
Public victory
Think win-win
Seek first to understand
Synergize
Sharpen the saw
#lavacon

“
”
The capacity for
recognizing our own feelings
and those of others, for
motivating ourselves...
Daniel
Goleman
Emotional
Intelligence
Emotional intelligence: Self
Self-Awareness: Knowing what we feel at the moment and
using that to guide our decision-making
#lavacon

“
”
…for managing emotions
well in ourselves
and in our relationships.
Daniel
Goleman
Emotional
Intelligence
Emotional intelligence: Self
Self Management: Handling our emotions so that they
enhance rather than interfere with performance
#lavacon

“
”
Attitude
is the only difference
between success and failure…
[it] will affect the outcome of a task
more than anything else
John Maxwell
Attitude 101
#lavacon

John Maxwell
360-Degree
Leadership
Lead yourself exceptionally well
Become a go-to player
Be better tomorrow than you are today
Model the behavior you desire
#lavacon

StephenCovey
7Habitsof
HighlyEffective
People
Private victory
Be proactive
Begin with the end in mind
Put first things first
Public victory
Think win-win
Seek first to understand
Synergize
Sharpen the saw
#lavacon

“
”
The capacity for
recognizing our own feelings
and those of others,
for motivating ourselves...
Daniel
Goleman
Emotional
Intelligence
Emotional intelligence: Others
Social Awareness: Sensing what people are feeling, understanding
the perspectives of others, and cultivating rapport
#lavacon

“
”
…for managing emotions well
in ourselves and
in our relationships.
Daniel
Goleman
Emotional
Intelligence
Emotional intelligence: Others
Relationship Management: Handling emotions in relationships well, being able to
read social situations accurately, and using these skills to persuade, lead, negotiate
#lavacon

“
”
Attitude
determines our
relationships
with people
John Maxwell
Attitude 101
#lavacon

John Maxwell
360-Degree
Leadership
Invest in relational chemistry
Put completing ahead of competing
Expand your circle of acquaintances
See everyone as a 10 (give them an A)
Develop each team member as a person
#lavacon

Themes
Self
Credibility
Trust
Model behavior
(exemplar)
Others
Invest in
relationships
Enable others
Inspire others
#lavacon

Audience
Knowthem
Internalandexternal
Youcan’tdothisbysittinginacubeallday!
Youknowhowtodothis–partnerwithUXtoget
methods
v
#lavacon

Questions to
consider:
Politics
Whose agendas do you need to understand
to be successful? Which influencers can help
you? What are their agendas?
Which influencers could block you? What
are their agendas?
How can you help your influencers be
successful? And help make you successful?
How can you map your success to their
agendas – business priorities and metrics?
#lavacon

Considerations
formanaging
stakeholders
intentionally
Top concerns
Metrics
The level of support you want/need
from them
Role they play (or you’d like them to
play) in the work
Actions you want them to take (and
priority)
Messages that you need to craft for
them to enable the outcome
#lavacon

Consider
everyone in
the community
Executive sponsor
Business unit sponsors
Content thought
leaders from
each domain
or department
Content
teams from
each
domain
or department
infrastructure gurus
graphic design
content marketing
product management
Network of
supportive friends
interaction design
engineering
writers
editors
#lavacon

Questions to
consider:
Community
Define priorities
Which common metrics can we unite around?
Which metrics will we be measured against?
Which common metrics tell our story best?
Take first steps toward impact
What mission unites us?
What small, measurable projects could we do together to
build relationships and demonstrate incremental progress?
How can we crawl—walk—run toward value?
Communicate constantly—up, down,
across
Take interim measurements
Maintain sponsor interest
Course-correct as needed
#lavacon

Purpose:Clear
visionofoutcome
w
#lavacon

Depict the
outcome
Ideal tomorrow-state
What does success look like?
Help stakeholders imagine the
possibilities!
#lavacon

Articulateyour
recommendation
Describethe
benefits
#lavacon

“
”
A character has a problem
then meets a guide
who gives them [sic] a plan
and calls them to action
[which] results in a success
or failure.
Tell the right
story
Donald Miller
Storybrand
x
#lavacon

Tellyourstoryinthe
rightway
Frame it; reframe it
Proof must match vision
Leverage rhetorical devices
y
#lavacon

Use all the
techniques at
your disposal
– including
Aristotle
Ethos—your credibility
(professionalism; authority)
Logos—the logic of your
argument; the clarity of your
message and evidence, using
either inductive (bottom-up) or
deductive (top-down) reasoning
Pathos—an emotional appeal,
vivid storytelling, creative
envisioning
#lavacon

Logos
Logic, data, clarity, evidence—
either inductive (bottom-up) or
deductive (top-down) reasoning
Use metrics to
Speak to the analytical mind
Tell the “black and white” part of your strategy
Articulate facts that prove that your strategy is a
good one
#lavacon

Ethos
Your authority, credibility,
professionalism, and authenticity
Use expert communication to
Prove that you own the space
Provide powerful evidence that you are worthy of
trust and investment
Build a network of influencers
#lavacon

Pathos
Emotional appeal, vivid imagery,
creative envisioning, imagining
Use vision to
Speak to the heart
Inspire people to believe
Craft a narrative that resonates and lingers long
after you’ve left the room
#lavacon

What is our
story, here,
today?
Solution Outcome
Who gives
them a
plan:
Manage
stakeholder
s
And calls
them to
action:
Apply these
tips
A
character:
You
Meets a
guide: Me
Has a
problem:
Develop the
most
professional
impact
Resulting
in
success
or
failure…
Conflict
#lavacon

Outcome?
Success it is!
#lavacon

#lavacon

Questions
#lavacon

Andrea L. Ames
Keynote speaker, author
CEO/Founder & Content Experience Strategist
Idyll Point™ Group
Program Chair & Instructor, Technical Writing & Communication
UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley
2016 MindTouch Top 25 Content Strategy Influencer
STC Fellow & past president
ACM Distinguished Engineer
#lavacon

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