WELCOME!   Karen McGrane
           karen@bondartscience.com
           @karenmcgrane
           +1 (917) 887-8149
Concept ruthlessly stolen from Heather Champ @hchamp
Via Flickr User swirlspice under a Creative Commons License   2
3
4
5
6
7
8
what
 about
the art?



           8
9
10
when do
 we see
the art?




           11
13
WHERE IS
THE ART?




           14
15
16
17
DISASTER
STRIKES!




           17
18
19
20
21
YOU WOULDN’T BUILD
A GALLERY THIS WAY.



                      22
WHY WOULD YOU BUILD
A WEBSITE THIS WAY?



                      23
TWO BIG PROBLEMS




                   24
“   Organizations invest tremendous resources on
    developing the framework for a great user
    experience — fabulous design, robust content
    management infrastructure.
    Yet when it comes to the content itself, there's
    often a gap.




                                               ”
    The end result is that the value proposition for
    customers can't be delivered because the
    content is insufficient, inadequate, and
    inappropriate.
                                          — RAHEL BAILIE
                                                       25
We already have
 most of the content.        Copywriting just isn’t
                              that big of a deal.

        We can figure the
        content out later.
                                We pretty much know
                                what we want to say.
Our marketing team is
handling the content.

                                    Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic   26
Codename Logo            Features      Browse Our Sites        About Us           Sign Up   Login   Support




                Feature Name
                Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit
                esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla
                facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui
                blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore.




                Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed
                diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
                aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.

                                    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
                                    adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
                                    euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
                                    aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.


                                    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
                                    adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
                                    euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
                                    aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.


                                    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
                                    adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
                                    euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
                                    aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.




                                    Find out more about:
  Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name                     28
Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic   29
Here be dragons




                  Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic   29
Here be dragons




                  Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic   29
CONTENT IS KING!
LONG LIVE THE KING!
OUR TIME TOGETHER
What’s Content Strategy?
Why Content Strategy?
How Does One Do Content Strategy?
 Exercise 1: Product Strategy
 Exercise 2: Content Planning
 Exercise 3: Content Audit
 Exercise 4: Content Modeling

                                    31
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT
CONTENT
33
34
35
36
37
38
via Margot Bloomstein   39
40
“   Content Strategy plans for the creation,
    publication, and governance of useful, usable
    content.
    Content strategy helps you understand not




                                            ”
    only what content needs to be created and
    published, but why.


                                — KRISTINA HALVORSON




                                                    41
CONTENT STRATEGY AT EBAY




                    Keri Majala   42
WHY CONTENT STRATEGY?
WHY NOW?
1. CONTENT (MIS)MANAGEMENT
2. EVERYONE’S A PUBLISHER
3. ACTION, NOT AWARENESS


                         44
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlaarena/3188139819/   45
http://www.getittogetherinc.net/images/storage%20before.JPG   46
DON’T LET THIS BE THE FATE
OF YOUR WEB CONTENT




    http://www.getittogetherinc.net/images/storage%20before.JPG   46
1. CONTENT (MIS)MANAGEMENT
2. EVERYONE’S A PUBLISHER
3. ACTION, NOT AWARENESS


                         47
“   All companies, no matter what the size, must
    start to think more like publishers than ever
    before. Consumer behavior has changed
    drastically over the past few years.
    Customers are more accepting of content




                                             ”
    from “non-media” sites and the barriers to
    publishing are now non-existent.




                                        — JOE PULIZZI
                                                    48
CONSIDER THE MASTHEAD
Writers
Copy editors
Art directors
Production staff
Various editors
Managing editor
Editor in chief
Ad sales
The Publisher
                   Publishers and Content Strategy from Jeffrey MacIntyre   49
CONSIDER THE MASTHEAD
Writers
Copy editors
Art directors
Production staff
                             Publishing is complex.
Various editors
Managing editor
Editor in chief
Ad sales
The Publisher
                   Publishers and Content Strategy from Jeffrey MacIntyre   49
“   If you're being asked to use your content in
    more than one way, the “more” part might
    include unfamiliar methods or technologies,
    syndication or collaborative creation,
    localization, social media or communities




                                            ”
    and user-generated content.




                                        — RAHEL BAILIE
                                                    50
Conversation Prism from Brian Solis   51
1. CONTENT (MIS)MANAGEMENT
2. EVERYONE’S A PUBLISHER
3. ACTION, NOT AWARENESS


                         52
“   The essence of the Web is action. We go to
    the Web because we have a task; there is
    something we need to do; there is a problem
    we need to solve.




                                           ”
    What helps us do? What helps us act?



                                  — GERRY MCGOVERN




                                                  53
THE ANSWER TO “WHY?”
IS AN ACTION
                  — LORELEI BROWN




                                    54
We should have
      a blog.
                   Our goal is to be seen
                      as a resource.


  We want to
build awareness.      We plan to create
                         a series of
                     educational articles.



                              Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic   55
“We can drive significant improvements in
customer experiences.
How? By putting more emphasis on using
content to help customers — whether it is
providing relevant information when customers
buy a product or delivering easy-to-use and
understandable content for customer self-service




                                                            ”
Websites — rather than simply focusing on how
to create, manage, and search for content.

                                      — FORRESTER RESEARCH
                    Use Persuasive Content to Improve the Customer Experience

                                                                         56
HOW DO THEY DO IT?
“   Content strategy is a repeatable system that
    defines the entire editorial content development
    process for a website development project.




                                            ”
                                  — RICHARD SHEFFIELD




                                                   58
59
What




       59
topics are we going to cover?
What   formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…)




                                                              59
topics are we going to cover?
What    formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…)

Why
How
Where
When
Who
                                                               59
topics are we going to cover?
What    formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…)
        does anyone care?
Why     does this provide business value?


How
Where
When
Who
                                                               59
topics are we going to cover?
What    formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…)
        does anyone care?
Why     does this provide business value?

        are we doing to deliver the message?
How     should we say it? (Tone of voice…)


Where
When
Who
                                                               59
topics are we going to cover?
What    formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…)
        does anyone care?
Why     does this provide business value?

        are we doing to deliver the message?
How     should we say it? (Tone of voice…)
        will we get the content?
Where   can we syndicate the content? (Feeds, social media…)

When
Who
                                                               59
topics are we going to cover?
What    formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…)
        does anyone care?
Why     does this provide business value?

        are we doing to deliver the message?
How     should we say it? (Tone of voice…)
        will we get the content?
Where   can we syndicate the content? (Feeds, social media…)
        will this be published?
When    will it need to be updated?

Who
                                                               59
topics are we going to cover?
What    formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…)
        does anyone care?
Why     does this provide business value?

        are we doing to deliver the message?
How     should we say it? (Tone of voice…)
        will we get the content?
Where   can we syndicate the content? (Feeds, social media…)
        will this be published?
When    will it need to be updated?
        is responsible for this content?
Who     will maintain it over time?
                                                               59
60
• What are my business objectives?
• What do my users want to do?
• What does my brand stand for?




      Product Strategy




                                     60
• What are my business objectives?
                              • What do my users want to do?
                              • What does my brand stand for?
        De
           sig
               nS
                  tra
                     teg
                         y
                                     Product Strategy


• How will users interact with it?
• How will it be structured?
• What will it look like?




                                                                   60
• What are my business objectives?
                              • What do my users want to do?
                              • What does my brand stand for?
        De
           sig
               nS
                  tra
                     teg
                         y
                                     Product Strategy


• How will users interact with it?
• How will it be structured?
• What will it look like?




                                        Technology
                                         Strategy


                                     • How will we build it?
                                     • Who will maintain it?
                                                                   60
• What are my business objectives?
                              • What do my users want to do?
                              • What does my brand stand for?
        De                                                                      te gy
           sig                                                               tra
               nS                                                          S
                  tra
                     teg                                           te nt
                         y                                     C on
                                     Product Strategy


• How will users interact with it?                             • What do we want to say?
• How will it be structured?                                   • Where will we get the content?
• What will it look like?                                      • Who will maintain it?




                                        Technology
                                         Strategy


                                     • How will we build it?
                                     • Who will maintain it?
                                                                                         60
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
              Planning   Sourcing   Creation   Governance
Strategy




Exercise 1




                                                            61
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
               Planning    Sourcing     Creation     Governance
Strategy




Exercise 1    Exercise 2   Exercise 3   Exercise 4




                                                                  61
62
“                                            ”
    Build a better mousetrap, and the world will
    beat a path to your door.




                              — RALPH WALDO EMERSON
                                                   63
“   beat a path to your door.
    you’re still going to have to develop a
    content strategy, if you want anybody to
    actually buy it.                         ”
    Build a better mousetrap, and the world will




                              — RALPH WALDO EMERSON
                                                   63
EXERCISE 1: PRODUCT STRATEGY
You have developed the proverbial “better mousetrap.” You’re clearly a
successful innovator. Now, it’s time to put your innovation skills to work
developing a content strategy to support your new product.
On the next page, answer the following questions about your new
mousetrap and its benefits:

Who do you want to buy your mousetrap?
Moms? Schools? Restaurants? Animal-rights activists? Rube Goldberg?
What values does your brand stand for?
Health? Cleanliness? Speed? Hatred of vermin?
How do you plan to make money?
Repeat sales? Subscriptions? Advertising?

                                                                        64
EXERCISE 1 DISCUSSION




                        65
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
             Planning   Sourcing    Creation   Governance
Strategy



           CONTENT PLANNING
           • What messages should be communicated?
           • What content features will support those messages?
           • What tone of voice should the site speak in?
           • What new content do we need to create?
           • How long will it take to source or develop content?

                                                                   66
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
               Planning       Sourcing   Creation   Governance
Strategy




             Exercise 2:
           Content Planning




                                                                 67
EXERCISE 2: CONTENT PLANNING
You plan to create a website to promote your new mousetrap. What
content do you need to develop in order to show the benefits, get
people to engage with your brand, and persuade them to buy?
On the next page, answer the following questions about the content
you want to appear on your website:

What are the main categories or topics you plan to cover on the site?
Products? Shop? See it in action? Customer service?
What do you want to say about your product?
It’s Fast? Clean? Cheap? Environmentally-friendly? Easy-to-use?
What additional content features do you need to develop? Why?
CEO blog? Video? Podcasts? Social networking? Infographics?

                                                                        68
EXERCISE 2 DISCUSSION




                        69
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
             Planning   Sourcing    Creation   Governance
Strategy



           CONTENT SOURCING
           • What content currently exists on the site?
           • What print content do you expect to reuse?
           • What content is missing?
           • Will new content be created or sourced from a third party?
           • How will you migrate existing content to the new site?

                                                                      70
WHERE IS YOUR CONTENT?




                         71
CONTENT AUDIT
Possibly the most important thing you can do to avoid scope creep and
minimize risk
_ Catalog web pages, print materials, all communications
_ Map content to business and user goals
_ Analyze the gap between what you have and what you need
_ Don’t draw boxes for content you don’t need, you can’t create, or no
  one will maintain




                                                             Brain Traffic   72
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
            Planning     Sourcing      Creation   Governance
Strategy




                        Exercise 3:
                       Content Audit




                                                               73
EXERCISE 3: CONTENT AUDIT
The success of your design beats out all others, and Acme Mousetrap
Co. — your nearest competitor — goes out of business. You purchase
the assets of the failed company, which includes the right to repurpose
anything from their website.
Refer to the content inventory on the next page, and determine:

Which content supports your business goals? Your users’ goals? Both?
Which content would you keep? Which content would you delete?
Do you have enough information to determine which content to keep or
delete? If not, how would get the information you need?
How long do you think it would take to get that information and make
those decisions?

                                                                       74
EXERCISE 3 DISCUSSION




                        75
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
             Planning   Sourcing    Creation   Governance
Strategy



           CONTENT CREATION
           • Who is going to write or produce all this content?
           • What guidelines do we need to provide content creators?
           • Who is responsible for reviewing, editing, and approving?
           • What legal or regulatory approvals do we need?
           • What quality control measures do we need?

                                                                   76
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
            Planning   Sourcing     Creation   Governance
Strategy




                                    Exercise 4:
                                  Content Model




                                                            77
EXERCISE 4: CONTENT MODEL
You know that it’s not enough just to put up a website for your
mousetrap. You want to place your product on other retailer websites,
like Amazon.com.
Review the attached examples of product pages from several online
retailers to determine:

What are all the different content elements that make up a listing?
You may want to go through each page and circle every element associated
with the product. Use the table on the next page to document them.
What new content will you need to create for these retailer websites?
What content elements are the same across all the sites? Are there any
custom elements you need to create for just one or two sites?
What content about your product will be created by someone else?
What gets created by retailers? What do users create themselves?
                                                                         78
EXERCISE 4 DISCUSSION




                        79
CONTENT STRATEGY

Product
             Planning   Sourcing    Creation   Governance
Strategy



           CONTENT GOVERNANCE
           •What happens to our content once it goes up on the site?
           •How often do we need to update the content?
           •How will we know if the content is doing its job?
           •What metrics can we use to track content performance?
           •Should ownership be centralized or decentralized?
                                                                  80
PARTING THOUGHTS
IT’S NOT ABOUT ADDING A NEW
SHINY OBJECT.
IT’S ABOUT DECIDING WHAT
YOU WANT TO SAY, AND WHY.
THINK ACTION,
NOT AWARENESS.
CONTENT STRATEGY IS TOO
COMPLEX TO BE SOMEBODY’S
“SOMETIMES JOB”
YOU, OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE,
MIGHT ALREADY BE DOING
CONTENT STRATEGY
HELP IS OUT THERE.
Google Group: groups.google.com/group/contentstrategy/

 Google Knol: knol.google.com/k/jeffrey-macintyre/content-strategy/

     Linked In: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1879338

   Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/

  Conference: stcfrance.org/conference


                                                                      86
THANKS!   Karen McGrane
          karen@bondartscience.com
          @karenmcgrane
          +1 (917) 887-8149

Content Strategy: Content is King!

  • 1.
    WELCOME! Karen McGrane [email protected] @karenmcgrane +1 (917) 887-8149
  • 2.
    Concept ruthlessly stolenfrom Heather Champ @hchamp Via Flickr User swirlspice under a Creative Commons License 2
  • 3.
  • 4.
  • 5.
  • 6.
  • 7.
  • 8.
  • 9.
  • 10.
  • 11.
  • 12.
    when do wesee the art? 11
  • 15.
  • 16.
  • 17.
  • 18.
  • 19.
  • 20.
  • 21.
  • 22.
  • 23.
  • 24.
  • 25.
    YOU WOULDN’T BUILD AGALLERY THIS WAY. 22
  • 26.
    WHY WOULD YOUBUILD A WEBSITE THIS WAY? 23
  • 27.
  • 28.
    Organizations invest tremendous resources on developing the framework for a great user experience — fabulous design, robust content management infrastructure. Yet when it comes to the content itself, there's often a gap. ” The end result is that the value proposition for customers can't be delivered because the content is insufficient, inadequate, and inappropriate. — RAHEL BAILIE 25
  • 29.
    We already have most of the content. Copywriting just isn’t that big of a deal. We can figure the content out later. We pretty much know what we want to say. Our marketing team is handling the content. Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic 26
  • 31.
    Codename Logo Features Browse Our Sites About Us Sign Up Login Support Feature Name Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad. Find out more about: Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name 28
  • 32.
  • 33.
    Here be dragons Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic 29
  • 34.
    Here be dragons Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic 29
  • 35.
    CONTENT IS KING! LONGLIVE THE KING!
  • 36.
    OUR TIME TOGETHER What’sContent Strategy? Why Content Strategy? How Does One Do Content Strategy? Exercise 1: Product Strategy Exercise 2: Content Planning Exercise 3: Content Audit Exercise 4: Content Modeling 31
  • 37.
    WHAT WE TALKABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CONTENT
  • 38.
  • 39.
  • 40.
  • 41.
  • 42.
  • 43.
  • 44.
  • 45.
  • 46.
    Content Strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content. Content strategy helps you understand not ” only what content needs to be created and published, but why. — KRISTINA HALVORSON 41
  • 47.
    CONTENT STRATEGY ATEBAY Keri Majala 42
  • 48.
  • 49.
    1. CONTENT (MIS)MANAGEMENT 2.EVERYONE’S A PUBLISHER 3. ACTION, NOT AWARENESS 44
  • 50.
  • 51.
  • 52.
    DON’T LET THISBE THE FATE OF YOUR WEB CONTENT http://www.getittogetherinc.net/images/storage%20before.JPG 46
  • 53.
    1. CONTENT (MIS)MANAGEMENT 2.EVERYONE’S A PUBLISHER 3. ACTION, NOT AWARENESS 47
  • 54.
    All companies, no matter what the size, must start to think more like publishers than ever before. Consumer behavior has changed drastically over the past few years. Customers are more accepting of content ” from “non-media” sites and the barriers to publishing are now non-existent. — JOE PULIZZI 48
  • 55.
    CONSIDER THE MASTHEAD Writers Copyeditors Art directors Production staff Various editors Managing editor Editor in chief Ad sales The Publisher Publishers and Content Strategy from Jeffrey MacIntyre 49
  • 56.
    CONSIDER THE MASTHEAD Writers Copyeditors Art directors Production staff Publishing is complex. Various editors Managing editor Editor in chief Ad sales The Publisher Publishers and Content Strategy from Jeffrey MacIntyre 49
  • 57.
    If you're being asked to use your content in more than one way, the “more” part might include unfamiliar methods or technologies, syndication or collaborative creation, localization, social media or communities ” and user-generated content. — RAHEL BAILIE 50
  • 58.
  • 59.
    1. CONTENT (MIS)MANAGEMENT 2.EVERYONE’S A PUBLISHER 3. ACTION, NOT AWARENESS 52
  • 60.
    The essence of the Web is action. We go to the Web because we have a task; there is something we need to do; there is a problem we need to solve. ” What helps us do? What helps us act? — GERRY MCGOVERN 53
  • 61.
    THE ANSWER TO“WHY?” IS AN ACTION — LORELEI BROWN 54
  • 62.
    We should have a blog. Our goal is to be seen as a resource. We want to build awareness. We plan to create a series of educational articles. Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic 55
  • 63.
    “We can drivesignificant improvements in customer experiences. How? By putting more emphasis on using content to help customers — whether it is providing relevant information when customers buy a product or delivering easy-to-use and understandable content for customer self-service ” Websites — rather than simply focusing on how to create, manage, and search for content. — FORRESTER RESEARCH Use Persuasive Content to Improve the Customer Experience 56
  • 64.
  • 65.
    Content strategy is a repeatable system that defines the entire editorial content development process for a website development project. ” — RICHARD SHEFFIELD 58
  • 66.
  • 67.
  • 68.
    topics are wegoing to cover? What formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…) 59
  • 69.
    topics are wegoing to cover? What formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…) Why How Where When Who 59
  • 70.
    topics are wegoing to cover? What formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…) does anyone care? Why does this provide business value? How Where When Who 59
  • 71.
    topics are wegoing to cover? What formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…) does anyone care? Why does this provide business value? are we doing to deliver the message? How should we say it? (Tone of voice…) Where When Who 59
  • 72.
    topics are wegoing to cover? What formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…) does anyone care? Why does this provide business value? are we doing to deliver the message? How should we say it? (Tone of voice…) will we get the content? Where can we syndicate the content? (Feeds, social media…) When Who 59
  • 73.
    topics are wegoing to cover? What formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…) does anyone care? Why does this provide business value? are we doing to deliver the message? How should we say it? (Tone of voice…) will we get the content? Where can we syndicate the content? (Feeds, social media…) will this be published? When will it need to be updated? Who 59
  • 74.
    topics are wegoing to cover? What formats are we going to use? (Blogs, video, charts…) does anyone care? Why does this provide business value? are we doing to deliver the message? How should we say it? (Tone of voice…) will we get the content? Where can we syndicate the content? (Feeds, social media…) will this be published? When will it need to be updated? is responsible for this content? Who will maintain it over time? 59
  • 75.
  • 76.
    • What aremy business objectives? • What do my users want to do? • What does my brand stand for? Product Strategy 60
  • 77.
    • What aremy business objectives? • What do my users want to do? • What does my brand stand for? De sig nS tra teg y Product Strategy • How will users interact with it? • How will it be structured? • What will it look like? 60
  • 78.
    • What aremy business objectives? • What do my users want to do? • What does my brand stand for? De sig nS tra teg y Product Strategy • How will users interact with it? • How will it be structured? • What will it look like? Technology Strategy • How will we build it? • Who will maintain it? 60
  • 79.
    • What aremy business objectives? • What do my users want to do? • What does my brand stand for? De te gy sig tra nS S tra teg te nt y C on Product Strategy • How will users interact with it? • What do we want to say? • How will it be structured? • Where will we get the content? • What will it look like? • Who will maintain it? Technology Strategy • How will we build it? • Who will maintain it? 60
  • 80.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy Exercise 1 61
  • 81.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 61
  • 82.
  • 83.
    ” Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door. — RALPH WALDO EMERSON 63
  • 84.
    beat a path to your door. you’re still going to have to develop a content strategy, if you want anybody to actually buy it. ” Build a better mousetrap, and the world will — RALPH WALDO EMERSON 63
  • 85.
    EXERCISE 1: PRODUCTSTRATEGY You have developed the proverbial “better mousetrap.” You’re clearly a successful innovator. Now, it’s time to put your innovation skills to work developing a content strategy to support your new product. On the next page, answer the following questions about your new mousetrap and its benefits: Who do you want to buy your mousetrap? Moms? Schools? Restaurants? Animal-rights activists? Rube Goldberg? What values does your brand stand for? Health? Cleanliness? Speed? Hatred of vermin? How do you plan to make money? Repeat sales? Subscriptions? Advertising? 64
  • 86.
  • 87.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy CONTENT PLANNING • What messages should be communicated? • What content features will support those messages? • What tone of voice should the site speak in? • What new content do we need to create? • How long will it take to source or develop content? 66
  • 88.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy Exercise 2: Content Planning 67
  • 89.
    EXERCISE 2: CONTENTPLANNING You plan to create a website to promote your new mousetrap. What content do you need to develop in order to show the benefits, get people to engage with your brand, and persuade them to buy? On the next page, answer the following questions about the content you want to appear on your website: What are the main categories or topics you plan to cover on the site? Products? Shop? See it in action? Customer service? What do you want to say about your product? It’s Fast? Clean? Cheap? Environmentally-friendly? Easy-to-use? What additional content features do you need to develop? Why? CEO blog? Video? Podcasts? Social networking? Infographics? 68
  • 90.
  • 91.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy CONTENT SOURCING • What content currently exists on the site? • What print content do you expect to reuse? • What content is missing? • Will new content be created or sourced from a third party? • How will you migrate existing content to the new site? 70
  • 92.
    WHERE IS YOURCONTENT? 71
  • 93.
    CONTENT AUDIT Possibly themost important thing you can do to avoid scope creep and minimize risk _ Catalog web pages, print materials, all communications _ Map content to business and user goals _ Analyze the gap between what you have and what you need _ Don’t draw boxes for content you don’t need, you can’t create, or no one will maintain Brain Traffic 72
  • 94.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy Exercise 3: Content Audit 73
  • 95.
    EXERCISE 3: CONTENTAUDIT The success of your design beats out all others, and Acme Mousetrap Co. — your nearest competitor — goes out of business. You purchase the assets of the failed company, which includes the right to repurpose anything from their website. Refer to the content inventory on the next page, and determine: Which content supports your business goals? Your users’ goals? Both? Which content would you keep? Which content would you delete? Do you have enough information to determine which content to keep or delete? If not, how would get the information you need? How long do you think it would take to get that information and make those decisions? 74
  • 96.
  • 97.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy CONTENT CREATION • Who is going to write or produce all this content? • What guidelines do we need to provide content creators? • Who is responsible for reviewing, editing, and approving? • What legal or regulatory approvals do we need? • What quality control measures do we need? 76
  • 98.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy Exercise 4: Content Model 77
  • 99.
    EXERCISE 4: CONTENTMODEL You know that it’s not enough just to put up a website for your mousetrap. You want to place your product on other retailer websites, like Amazon.com. Review the attached examples of product pages from several online retailers to determine: What are all the different content elements that make up a listing? You may want to go through each page and circle every element associated with the product. Use the table on the next page to document them. What new content will you need to create for these retailer websites? What content elements are the same across all the sites? Are there any custom elements you need to create for just one or two sites? What content about your product will be created by someone else? What gets created by retailers? What do users create themselves? 78
  • 100.
  • 101.
    CONTENT STRATEGY Product Planning Sourcing Creation Governance Strategy CONTENT GOVERNANCE •What happens to our content once it goes up on the site? •How often do we need to update the content? •How will we know if the content is doing its job? •What metrics can we use to track content performance? •Should ownership be centralized or decentralized? 80
  • 102.
  • 103.
    IT’S NOT ABOUTADDING A NEW SHINY OBJECT. IT’S ABOUT DECIDING WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY, AND WHY.
  • 104.
  • 105.
    CONTENT STRATEGY ISTOO COMPLEX TO BE SOMEBODY’S “SOMETIMES JOB”
  • 106.
    YOU, OR SOMEONEYOU LOVE, MIGHT ALREADY BE DOING CONTENT STRATEGY
  • 107.
    HELP IS OUTTHERE. Google Group: groups.google.com/group/contentstrategy/ Google Knol: knol.google.com/k/jeffrey-macintyre/content-strategy/ Linked In: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1879338 Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/ Conference: stcfrance.org/conference 86
  • 108.
    THANKS! Karen McGrane [email protected] @karenmcgrane +1 (917) 887-8149