Keynote on content strategy for NGOs, delivered at Re:Campaign 2012 in Berlin, Germany, May 2012.

1. C o n t e n t
f o r c h a n g e
Sunday, 13 May 2012

2. content strategy
Sunday, 13 May 2012

3. We’ll get to that.
Sunday, 13 May 2012

4. This
is your
organisation
Image: Tang Yau Hoong
Sunday, 13 May 2012

5. Sunday, 13 May 2012

6. Communications
= what we see above the line
Sunday, 13 May 2012

7. Content
affects the entire
organisation
Sunday, 13 May 2012

8. Why?
Sunday, 13 May 2012

9. It’s your people
Photo: Greg Peverill-Conti
Sunday, 13 May 2012

10. It’s your processes
Sunday, 13 May 2012

11. It’s your audience
Sunday, 13 May 2012

12. It’s everything
we see about your story
Sunday, 13 May 2012

13. This thing called
content strategy?
Sunday, 13 May 2012

14. ‘...anything that conveys meaningful
information to humans is called “content.”
‘but ...[organisations] with hundreds
or thousands of pieces of online content need
someone who can stand back and figure out
what all that content should communicate.’
- Erin Kissane
Sunday, 13 May 2012

15. CS is about
all of the mess
Sunday, 13 May 2012

16. And it’s all
getting messier
all the time
Sunday, 13 May 2012

17. Sunday, 13 May 2012

18. But that’s only one
half of the mess
Sunday, 13 May 2012

19. The rest of the
mess
Sunday, 13 May 2012

20. People are messy
Sunday, 13 May 2012

21. This guy again.
Photo: Greg Peverill-Conti
Sunday, 13 May 2012

22. And what he does.
Sunday, 13 May 2012

23. Context is king.
Sunday, 13 May 2012

24. Your best stories
depend on
your organisation
Sunday, 13 May 2012

25. The behind-the-scenes
contexts matter most too
Sunday, 13 May 2012

26. OK, back to these guys
Sunday, 13 May 2012

27. People want stories.
Sunday, 13 May 2012

28. It’s how to get them to listen -
and keep listening - that’s
hard
“If your idea ends with “and
then we drive traffic to it,”
you’ve failed.”
Whatconsumesme.com
Sunday, 13 May 2012

29. But we
fear
losing
control
Sunday, 13 May 2012

30. In reality,
control
isn’t ours
to lose
Sunday, 13 May 2012

31. Sunday, 13 May 2012

32. Of course,
that’s not
quite true
Sunday, 13 May 2012

33. what you can do
Sunday, 13 May 2012

34. Communication
travels two ways
Sunday, 13 May 2012

35. First, you
need to
understand
user context
Sunday, 13 May 2012

36. Sunday, 13 May 2012

37. Assumptions about reader context - however
well researched - will never be perfect.
- Erin Kissane
We all make
assumptions
Quit thinking you can just guess what subset of
content a “mobile user” wants. You’re going
to guess wrong.
- Karen McGrane
Sunday, 13 May 2012

38. Don’t assume.
Listen instead.
Sunday, 13 May 2012

39. things to listen
to
Sunday, 13 May 2012

40. activism &
audience
Sunday, 13 May 2012

41. All content is inert
until it is useful
Sunday, 13 May 2012

42. What inspires
imagination?
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43. Sunday, 13 May 2012

44. Sunday, 13 May 2012

45. Sunday, 13 May 2012

46. Sunday, 13 May 2012

47. Sunday, 13 May 2012

48. Sunday, 13 May 2012

49. Sunday, 13 May 2012

50. Sunday, 13 May 2012

51. These
are
game-changing
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52. C h a n g e
b e yo n d
campaigns
Sunday, 13 May 2012

53. Managing this
much content
takes planning
Sunday, 13 May 2012

54. So real change means
organisational
change
Sunday, 13 May 2012

55. Anecdotage
Sunday, 13 May 2012

56. A story about
letting go of
command + control
‘There's a lot of worry about the lack of control
- what happens when you let things go live.
People worry about giving their marketing
teams license to speak for the brand.’
- Shelley Gregory-Jones
Sunday, 13 May 2012

57. Sunday, 13 May 2012

58. Sunday, 13 May 2012

59. Sunday, 13 May 2012

60. Sunday, 13 May 2012

61. Sunday, 13 May 2012

62. How they got there
•Empowered by a rebrand - ‘It gave us
leverage’
•Subject-matter content audit - to
determine quality and match content to
audience
Sunday, 13 May 2012

63. ‘With our science content, I thought 'oh, that
content is fine, I don’t have to worry about it'
but the audit and analytics showed otherwise.
There were instances of our message across
the site but no one concise message
anywhere.’
- Jo Kerr
Sunday, 13 May 2012

64. Expert use of
experts
‘To redo the science content, I brought in an
audiologist, had him sit down and said "Explain
it to me like I'm doing my GCSEs". ’
- Jo Kerr
Sunday, 13 May 2012

65. Why it worked
•Ownership and empowerment
•‘We were told it had to be ‘good’ -
but had to define for ourselves what
‘good’ was
•Set up analytics goals themselves,
got ‘a bit obsessed’
Sunday, 13 May 2012

66. ‘It's all about being smarter with the resources
you have.
‘And you need to hire people for whom
content is their "thing". Otherwise it won't
work.’
- Jo Kerr
Sunday, 13 May 2012

67. "We have freedom, we have to use it to best
effect - it's all a bit frightening, how do we
know we're doing the right thing? But if you
make even one thing better and everything
else stays the same, it's worth the effort."’
- Jo Kerr
Sunday, 13 May 2012

68. Using
the tools
you have
Sunday, 13 May 2012

69. What we
recommend
Sunday, 13 May 2012

70. Non-stop strategy
Auditing
1
NT
CO NTE 2 Planning
Measurement 4
AND AL
RI
ITO GY
ED
ATE
STR
3 Delivery
Sunday, 13 May 2012

71. Audits
•The unavoidable first (and never-
ending) step
•It will debunk the deepest beliefs
you have about your website
Sunday, 13 May 2012

72. Testing
•Do this as lightly as you have to or as
thoroughly as you can
•Use testing to define your users - and
develop personas, if you like
•Try to set personas for each
organisational area so you have
something external to measure
Sunday, 13 May 2012

73. Measurement
•Get to know Google Analytics - or
whatever tool you use
•But remember, it’s not really about
the numbers
•It’s the insights they reveal
•And above all, the changes you
make as a result
Sunday, 13 May 2012

74. Editorial calendars
•People will not just come and tell
you what their plans are
•Everyone thinks their content is top
priority
•If you don’t have a plan, you can’t
show them where they fit in the
hierarchy of needs
Sunday, 13 May 2012

75. Conversations
•Still using social media just for PR?
People can tell
•Use it to talk directly people, to find
out where & how they’re talking to
each other
•Be willing to take risks
Sunday, 13 May 2012

76. Think beyond web
•Your story is not just happening on
the web, or on mobile or tablet
•Get data from outlets if you have
them, from people who post in
donations, from forums
Sunday, 13 May 2012

77. What all that means
•Figure out what you have
•Rewrite
•Listen to your audience
•Talk to your audience
•Analyse their responses
Sunday, 13 May 2012

78. There’s a lot more
to say.
Sunday, 13 May 2012

79. Please ask.
Sunday, 13 May 2012

80. with thanks to
Jo Kerr, Owen Booth &
Shelley Gregory-Jones
Sunday, 13 May 2012

81. About
Me: Elizabeth McGuane
Content strategy: LBi.co.uk
Writing: mappedblog.com
Twitter: @emcguane
Sunday, 13 May 2012