The document summarizes Jamie Tiralla's experience attending the Confab content strategy conference. Some key points: - Confab is a leading content strategy conference that was established in 2011 and had over 600 attendees from various professional backgrounds. - Jamie wanted to learn from industry experts to improve their skills in content strategy and user experience and bring back ideas to help their company Ads Next. - They learned that content strategy is tailored to client needs and goals, involves defining objectives and audiences, and delivering the right content to the right people at the right time through various channels. - Content strategy is an ongoing process that evolves over time to meet changing goals and audiences.

1. Presented for Ads Next
June 15, 2013
by Jamie Tiralla

2. What Is Confab?
It is the industry’s leading Content Strategy conference.
How long has it been around?
Since 2011
How many people attended?
611 attendees from 42 different states.
What kind of people were they?
Professionals from all types of background who care about
making the Internet a better place: Marketing, User
Experience, Writers, SEOs, Designers, Developers...
What qualifications did the presenters have?
There were 33 speakers who are leading authorities in
Content Strategy, SEO and User Experience.

3. Why did I go?
★ I am passionate about Content Strategy and User Experience
★ I wanted to learn from industry experts and improve my craft
★ To bring back ideas for Ads Next so that we can be better at what we do
★ Learn ways to communicate with our clients about Content Strategy and
why it’s important.

4. My Agenda: Day 1
Opening Keynote - Kristina Halvorson
CEO Brain Traffic, Host of Confab, Author of Content Strategy for the Web
Content Strategy Case Studies - Catherine Toole
CEO Sticky Content
Responsive Web Projects - Steve Fisher & Alaine Mackenzie
Founder of The Republic of Quality / Lead Content Strategist at Yellow Pencil
Write Like a Human, Think Like a Robot - Sara Wachter-Boettcher
Content Strategy Consultant, Author of Content Everywhere
Plan, Create, Amplify & Measure Content - Pam Didner
Global Integrated Marketing Manager, Intel
Content in a Zombie Apocalypse - Karen McGrane
Partner Bond Art + Science, Author of Content Strategy for Mobile

5. My Agenda: Day 2
Experiencing Delightful Content - Jared Spool
CEO User Interface Engineering
Making the Case for Content Strategy - Ahava Leibtag
President Aha Media Group
Content Strategy for Social Media - CC Holland
Principal C Squared Media
Getting the User Generated Content You Want - Vanessa Gennarrelli
Learning Lead, Peer 2 Peer University
Poetry of SEO - Mike King
DIrector of Inbound Marketing, iAcquire
Closing Keynote - Paul Ford
Director, Activate

6. What did I learn?
There is a lot that we’re doing right
There are many ways we can improve
There are things we can start doing now
There are things we can do down the road

7. What is Content Strategy?
Content is anything that is on the website (social media, blog, etc).
Not just page copy, it’s also headlines, titles, microcopy, metadata, video, photos,
animations, PDFs...
Content Strategy is about giving users the best possible experience and getting
them to do what you want them to do.

8. Content Strategy is not a one-size-fits-all solution
It’s tailored to the clients needs and goals
In order to have a good Content Strategy, you must:
1. Define the business objectives
2. Identify the audience
You want to deliver the right content to:
• the right audience
• in the right place
• at the right time

9. There is only one Content Strategy
but there are multiple channels:
• website
• blog
• social media
• newsletters
• print
• radio
• tv
• etc...

10. Content Strategy never ends
It just evolves and adapts to new business objectives
and new audiences.

11. How does Content Strategy apply to Ads Next?
Dental Clients
Business Objectives: Deliver 10 new patients per month
Audience: Determined on the kick off call
What happens next:
Keyword research and analysis
Geographical research and analysis
Create an audience profile, tone of voice, copy guidelines
Review client’s existing content, identify missing pieces
Edit existing copy and write new copy with SEO goals in mind
Create standard copy for services, treatments and concerns
Guide client to add-on services like photography, video, etc
Measure results, analyze and adjust as needed

12. How does design / development fit in?
Great design is invisible. - Jared Spool
Content Strategy and Design combine for User Experience
Design conveys tone, promotes brand recognition, connects with the audience.
A great design makes it easy for the user to find the content they want and
move logically through the buying process.

13. What happens after the website goes live?
Content Strategy never ends.
We want to create a Content Strategy that lives on after the website launches
so that we have consistency in our messaging as we move on to
blogs, social media, newsletters, etc.
As the business objectives change or the audience changes,
we should re-evaluate our Content Strategy, make adjustments
and apply it across the board.

14. What is our Content Strategy for mobile?
There is only one Content Strategy but there are multiple channels.
Ads Next is moving towards responsive design
so we are delivering the user with the same content
regardless of the device they are using.
We cannot continue to assume that mobile users are “on the go.”
We cannot continue assume that mobile users want less content.
We can only assume that mobile users have a smaller screen.

15. 31% of Americans who access the internet
from a mobile device say that’s the only way they go online.
88%of American adults own a smartphone.
By 2015, more Americans will access the internet
through mobile devices than through desktop computers

16. Our mobile Content Strategy should be
having a great Content Strategy for websites
prioritizing the information for users
and making sure that the content is easy to
read, access and interact with regardless
of the screen size.

17. Ads Next Content Strategy Action Plan
• create standard copy for services, treatments and concerns to streamline
the process, optimize for search and user experience, and save time on
setups.
• spend more time creating unique content for About Us, New Patients,
Meet the Doctor, etc.
• continue to work on responsive design, consider mobile users when
developing content and start to prioritize content for mobile.
• create an editorial calendar to streamline the process for blogs, social
media, etc. and ensure that these efforts tie into and support our Content
Strategy.
• use data to create better Content Strategies, better designs and improve
User Experience.