Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Content Stategy, But Afraid to Ask By Ethan Machado, Content Strategist - Experience Design, DigitasLBi

1. “Everything you
always wanted to know
about content strategy*
*But were afraid to ask”

7. “Are content strategists
glorified peeping toms?”

8. Masters of Content
• A clinical
approach to
content
• Understand the
desires of users
• Understand the
desires of the
brand
• Understand the
desires of
experience
designers,

9. Masters of Content
The art and science of
• Organization
• Empathy
• Rhetoric

10. Masters of Content
A discipline within User Experience
• Contextual inquiry (social listening & search
behavior)
• Conceptual models
(dashboards, infinite feeds, dynamic tiles, immersive worlds,
wizards)
•
•
•
•
•
Personas
User testing
User journeys
Competitive analysis
Perceived affordances

12. Masters of Content: The Dreaded
Audit
BUSINESS NEED
ALIGN ON REVIEW STANDARDS
INVENTORY SITE
CONDUCT AUDIT
SYNTHESIZE & VISUALIZE
SUMMARIZE KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

13. Masters of Content: Review
Standards
GUIDELINES
TARGET
CONSIDERATIONS
Voice and tone
Brand
Does the content consistently reflect the brand
voice and attributes?
Does the content reinforce the brand positioning?
• Voice and style
• Useful, relevant, Is the content timely and up-to-date?
clear, persuasive
Useful, relevant, Customers
clear,
Is the content consistent throughout the
• Findable, shareable
persuasive
experience?
Does the content improve user understanding of
product or brand?
• Readability, accessibility
Usable, findable, Customers &
Robots
shareable,
optimized
Can customers find the content when searching
using relevant keywords?
Is the content easy to navigate to and through?
Readability,
accessibility
Is the content written at the appropriate grade
level?
Is the content accessible by those with visual or
auditory impairments?
Customers &
Compliance

14. “Will you whisper sweet
nothings into my ear?”

15. Masters of Content: Content Narrative
Translate brand meaning into
content
• Pillars/themes
• Channels
• Roadmap

16. Masters of Content: Content Narrative
Translate brand meaning into
content

18. “Does size matter to a
content strategist?”

19. Size Matters
• Less is best
• Too much
unkempt content
hurts usability
• More to manage,
more resources,
higher costs
• Focus on what
matters

20. “The food here
is terrible, and
the portions
are too small.”

21. lesscontentmorestrategy.c
om

22. “How would a
sadomasochist interpret
content strategy?”

23. Less Content, Better
Results
•
•
•
•
•
Identify top tasks
Prioritize content
Remove long-tail content
Reduce cognitive overload
Write shorter, more succinct
copy
• Improve usability

24. Focus on Results
Business-critical content
solves business-critical goals
• 22% decrease in online
complaints
• 48% increase in inbound links
• 80% increase in visitors
• 70% increase in new
registrations

25. Customer Satisfaction = Better
ROI

32. Customer Experience = Better
ROI

33. Customer Satisfaction = Better
ROI
Customer Experience = Better
ROI

35. “Should content
strategists and
designers ‘go native’?”

36. BUSINESS STRATEGY
BRAND STRATEGY
MEDIA STRATEGY
(paid)
SEARCH
STRATEGY
CONTENT STRATEGY
(owned)
SOCIAL STRATEGY
CONTENT
MARKETING

38. And now a
sponsored post from
The School for Digital
Craftsmanship

39. http://www.admci.org

41. “Are content strategists
monogamous?”

42. Should content strategists by
monogamous?
CS
Creativ
Dev
e
XD/UX

44. Wireframe Annotations
Template Type Definitions
Page Element Definitions
Content Interactivity

46. “Design thinking is the search for the
magical balance between business and
art, structure and chaos, intuition and
logic, concept and execution...”

47. Clients

48. “Are there any deviant
content strategy
practices I should know
about?”

49. TYPICAL HUB MODEL for CONTENT STRATEGY
Content
for
Website

50. NEW MODEL for CONTENT STRATEGY?
Content
for
Website

51. 300,000 sites since 2012

56. The Robots Are Now Your
Writers

57. Wear My Content

58. Wear My Content

59. Brand Newsrooms, Brand Content,
RTM

60. Licensed per term
Outsource & owned
Exploit the death spiral

61. Big Data, Binge Viewing & Cadence

62. Big Data & Binge Viewing

63. Final Thoughts for CS Success
• Adopt the same curious approach to content as you
had to sex as a teenager
• Bring a clinician’s mindset to your work with content
• Use the UX toolbox to help inform your content
strategy, which in turn can be used to inform design
strategy
• Don’t hate, collaborate – a brand’s content strategy is
bigger than me or you. Guide the ship when you
need to.
• Thin or play to win with your content

64. “Thanks!
Any
questions?”

65. “Are content strategists
into cross-dressing?”

67. Technology &
Content

68. UNIFIED ENTERPRISE CONTENT STRATEGY
PRINT
TRAINING
Central
Governed
XML Content
Repository
WEB
MOBILE
SOCIAL
INTRANET

71. “Is it OK to learn ‘content
strategies’ from older
women?”

73. Redish ahead of her time
• Use natural language
• Think of your site as a conversation
with your customer
• Exhibit domain mastery
• Stay “on theme” in your headlines and
copy
• Use semantic linking
• Maintain strong information scent

74. “Does food act as an
aphrodisiac for content
strategists?”

76. GREAT ADS, CAMPAIGNS, CONTENT
MARKETING, DESTINATION
MICROSITES, BRANDED UTILITY APPS,
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
PRODUCT INFORMATION, PRICING,
CONTRACT INFORMATION,
DISCLAIMER, LEGALESE
NEWSLETTERS, HOW-TO’s, TIPS and
TRICKS, PERSONALIZATION, SOCIAL
ENGAGEMENT, SWEEPSTAKES