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Back to Basics: Getting the Content Essentials Right
The document discusses the significance of content strategy in today's organizations, highlighting issues such as audience needs, findability, and voice and tone. It outlines essential focus areas for improving content management, including user research, workflow efficiency, and proper content governance. The document emphasizes that effective content creation and management require a holistic approach rather than siloed departmental efforts.
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Back to Basics: Getting the Content Essentials Right
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- 5. Back to Basics Getting the Content Essentials Right Kerry-Anne Gilowey Independent Content Strategy Consultant @kerry_anne
- 6. Why has content strategy suddenly become so important in the last few years?
- 7.
- 8.
- 9. Organisations are feeling the pain. Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/
- 10. Organisations are feeling the pain. “Why hasn’t SEO fixed our problems?” Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/
- 11. Organisations are feeling the pain. “Why hasn’t SEO fixed our problems?” “Why haven’t our users generated all our content for us?” Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/
- 13. “We need ablog!”
- 14. “We need ablog!” “We need a Facebook page!”
- 15. “We need ablog!” “We need a Facebook page!” “We need to write articles!”
- 16. “We need ablog!” “We need a Facebook page!” “We need an iPad app!” “We need to write articles!”
- 17. But what arewe neglecting?
- 18.
- 20. Hi! I’m Elizabeth. I use your product. Uh... hi! Can anyone hear me? IS THIS THING ON?
- 21. ? What information do they need?
- 22.
- 23. How do youfit into their world?
- 24. Crouching customer, hidden needs.
- 25.
- 26. Site search isbroken
- 27. I searched for macbook air ethernet adaptor. On page 1:
- 28. I searched for macbook air ethernet adaptor. On page 5:
- 29.
- 30.
- 31. 3. Voice andtone
- 32.
- 33. What type oflanguage does your audience relate to?
- 34. What type oflanguage does your audience relate to? I like a really comfy, schnuggly-wuggly blankie.
- 35. I have apreference for deep pile microfleece bedding material. What type of language does your audience relate to?
- 36. 4. Basic userexperience
- 37. Confirmation screens Ohplease don’t make me choose!
- 38.
- 39.
- 40.
- 41.
- 42. Digital document design Did they charge me twice? I (actually really) can’t tell.
- 43. So what shouldwe be focusing on first?
- 44. Focus area #1 GETTING CLEAR ABOUT YOUR CORE CONTENT STRATEGY
- 45. Sara Wachter-Boettcher ContentStrategy Consultant Editor in Chief at A List Apart
- 46. How does this feed into our overall business and content strategy? Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/tambako
- 47.
- 48. Focus area #2 THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT AND POSITION CONTENT
- 50. Content used tobelong exclusively to the Marketing department.
- 51. (Copywriting, like movies,used to be even worse.)
- 53.
- 55. Marketing copy FormsInterface copy Intranet content Terms of service Call centre scripts
- 56. But let’s moveout a few paces.
- 57. This is notyour grandfather’s website.
- 58. Point of sale Outdoor club Legal contract Customer care platform Financial management portal Advice column Travel agency
- 59.
- 60. It’s no longerabout the structure of your organisation. It’s about your customer’s cross-channel journey. Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/padday/
- 61. The end productisn’t great content; it’s a great THING. Erika Hall Co-founder of Mule Design Author of “Just Enough Research”
- 62. Focus area #3 USER RESEARCH
- 64. I want a faster horse, please.
- 65. What words dothey prefer? blanket vs blankie warm vs snug mail vs post shipping vs delivery
- 66. Make use of... One-on-one interviews Site search logs Call centre logs Web analytics Content testing
- 67. Focus area #4 THE EFFICIENCY OF YOUR CONTENT WORKFLOWS
- 68. The content creationprocess Someone&has&a& fabulous&crea0ve& idea,&right&on&cue& Magic&dust&is& sprinkled& Words&pop&out&and& form&themselves&into& orderly&sentences& The&unicorns&dance& in&a&circle& CONTENT!!!&
- 71.
- 72. Why I didn’tstudy in 2011
- 73.
- 74. Workflow questions Whatare your processes and tools? What’s working, and what’s not? What does your team look like? What other teams and departments do you work with? Where are the bottlenecks? What are your challenges?
- 75. Authorship Where shouldthe authors sit? ------ A central team? Within departments? Who oversees them?
- 76. Collaboration How canchanges best be communicated across departments? ------ How should information be shared?
- 77. Focus area #5 MANAGING AND STRUCTURING YOUR CONTENT ASSETS
- 78. Content management isthe systematic planning, development, organisation, distribution, evaluation, and preservation of all information within an organisation. Erik M. Hartman @erikmhartman
- 79. “Nimble content cantravel freely, retain context and meaning, and create new products.” – Rachel Lovinger
- 80. A new model COPE = Create Once, Publish Everywhere
- 81.
- 82.
- 83.
- 84. Focus area #6 PROPER CONTENT GOVERNANCE
- 85.
- 86. What’s it about? Who? Content governance What? When? How?
- 87. Who... ...has authoringand editing rights? ...owns this piece of content? ...has to review this document? ...has final sign-off? ...is responsible? ...needs to be notified of changes? ...else needs to be involved? ...measures effectiveness?
- 88. What... ...content liveson the home page? ...types of content do we NOT publish? ...languages do we create content in? ...metadata needs to be captured? ...are our highest priorities? ...resources should authors consult? ...changes can be made without going through the full review cycle?
- 89. When... ...should contentbe updated? ...should content be archived? ...should content be reviewed? ...should new content be created?
- 90. How... ...do contentitems get named? ...do we store our content? ...do we speak to various audiences? ...do we talk about ourselves and our industry? ...should content additions or changes be requested?
- 91. Politics Who hasthe final say when a disagreement or conflict of interests arises?
- 92. Everyone ready for a recap?
- 93.
- 94. Don’t neglect... Yourcore content strategy
- 95. Don’t neglect... Yourcore content strategy The needs of your audience
- 96. Don’t neglect... Yourcore content strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone
- 97. Don’t neglect... Yourcore content strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible
- 98. Don’t neglect... Yourcore content strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible All the small things that make for a good user experience
- 99. Don’t neglect... Yourcore content strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible All the small things that make for a good user experience Workflow and process
- 100. Don’t neglect... Yourcore content strategy The needs of your audience Voice and tone Proper content structure, both visible and invisible All the small things that make for a good user experience Workflow and process Governance
- 101. Thanks for listening! Kerry-Anne Gilowey Independent Content Strategy Consultant [email protected] http://augustsun.co.za http://about.me/kerryanne @kerry_anne