copyright 2010 Brain Traffic
At the very center is the core content strategy. This defines how an organization (or project) will use content to achieve its objectives and meet its user needs.
The core strategy informs what the content will be and how it will be structured:
• Substance: What kinds of content do we need (topics, types, sources, etc.)? What messages does content need to communicate to our audience?
• Structure: How is content prioritized, organized, formatted, and displayed? (Structure can include IA, metadata, data modeling, linking strategies, etc.)
The core content strategy also informs how people (specifically content owners and overseers) will help drive the content lifecycle:
• Workflow: What processes, tools, and human resources are required for content initiatives to launch successfully and maintain ongoing quality?
• Governance: How are key decisions about content and content strategy made? How are changes initiated and communicated?
One breakthrough people often have when looking at the quad for the first time is realizing how important it is to address the people components as well as the content components. The relationship between substance and structure is fairly implicit: when you add content to a website, for example, the structure of that website might change. But what about how that new content will impact workflow? Does anyone need to review changes before they can go live? What happens if the content goes live and it’s incorrect? Who’s responsible for maintaining the new content? You get the point: Content strategy connects real content to real people. That connection is key to getting your content right.
Who does Content Strategy?
The easy answer is, “lots of people.” And they do! Many people are practicing some type of content strategy in their current role ... probably even you. But for now, let’s look at the roles and responsibilities of a fully dedicated content strategist.
The content strategist is the person who is responsible for your content—for one project or your entire content landscape. This person:
• Is the advocate for the content throughout the team and organization
• Provides the background research and analysis that stakeholders need to make smart decisions about content
• Creates recommendations for the content based on business and user needs
• Works with the organization to implement the content online
Ideally, especially on large or complex projects, the content strategist solicits and synthesizes input from a variety of people, including web writers and editors, information architects, SEO practitioners, database managers, and subject matter experts. When needed, however, a good content strategist is often willing and able to embrace whatever role is necessary to deliver on the promise of useful, usable content.
What Exactly does a Content Strategist do?
What follows is a sample job description for a content strategist. Of course, depending on the structure and needs of your particular organization, roles and responsibilities will vary.
The content strategist is responsible for overseeing the success of content initiatives.
Collaborating closely with other key project stakeholders, the content strategist is critical to defining the content needs of websites and applications.
For each project, the content strategist will:
• Gather, audit, and analyze existing content relevant to project requirements.
• Collaborate with project leads to examine and analyze the content “ecosystem”—internal and external factors that impact the content—during the project discovery phase.
• Determine projects’ overall content requirements and potential content sources.
• Ensure that the team aligns on content objectives, assumptions, risks, and success factors.
• Develop content strategy and plans based on client business objectives and user needs.
• Coordinate and collaborate with a team of experts in IA, SEO, social media, database management, metadata, and anyone else who is assigned ownership of an online initiative.
• Work with the web editor or web writer to oversee the development of all content to be included in the solution.
• Create taxonomies and metadata frameworks for grouping and tagging content.
• Develop content indexes and mapping documentation for the site.
• Understand and help implement content accessibility standards according to national law and organizational policy.
• Shepherd content through the creation process.
• Oversee content migrations and prepare documentation to do so.
• Work with database administrators to make necessary changes and updates.
• Ensure there is a plan for maintaining and governing content post-launch.
How is Content Strategy Different from Other Disciplines?
Well ... it might not be.
A content strategist’s work isn’t necessarily separate or apart from user experience, technical, or communications professionals. In fact, you might say the content strategist can work within, between, or inclusive of any of these disciplines, which may include:
Messaging and branding
Messaging and branding professionals specialize in defining what the “story” is behind the content. They answer questions such as: What are your brand values and attributes, and how will they inform the content? What do you want the user to learn or know or believe after reading your content? Do we say different things to different users? Do we talk to the same user differently depending on his current task or length of relationship with the organization?
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Case Study: Becoming a Content Strategist
In 2010, Shelly Wilson worked as the head of editorial in Northern Ireland’s national education body’s multimedia team, overseeing the content in the organization’s print, web, and A/V materials. Deciding she was ready for a change, she applied for a position as a “content editor” at a web strategy and design studio called Front, located in Belfast. That’s where she first encountered the concept of content strategy. With 15 years of experience in writing, editing, and marketing, both for print and for the Web, she thought it would be a fairly simple transition.
Though Shelly’s skills and experience made her the perfect candidate for the job, she quickly realized there was a new skill she’d need to master as a content strategist: persuasion. Of course she had always persuaded authors to make changes, but she discovered that consultants use persuasion differently with clients. Many clients genuinely don’t understand content, and that made it difficult for her to do her job. So rather than being a gatekeeper for quality and accuracy, she was now an ambassador, reaching out to clients and stakeholders to advocate for content. She learned how important it was to deconstruct, document, and articulate her rationale for each suggestion. She also began to invest a lot more time in showing rather than telling. She continues to hone her consulting skills to better deliver the strategic recommendations she was hired to create.
It’s always tough to shift careers, and Shelly is still adjusting. “I’m not entirely comfortable yet, but I think you just have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” And what’s the upside? “Content strategy is more collaborative. The benefit is the additional perspectives. Working with so many people brings to light things you hadn’t considered.” And there’s no greater thrill than getting all those people excited about good content.
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Web writing
Web writing is the practice of writing useful, usable content specifically intended for delivery online. This is a whole lot more than smart copywriting. An effective web writer must understand the basics of user experience (UX) design, be able to translate information architecture documentation, write effective metadata, and manage an ever-changing content inventory.
Information architecture
Information architecture involves the design of organization and navigatio
n systems to help people find and manage information more successfully. An information architect who also focuses deeply on the content substance will define the content requirements for pages or content components of a website. This includes structural issues, messaging hierarchy, source content, maintenance requirements, and so forth.
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization is the process of creating, editing, organizing, and delivering content (including metadata) to increase its potential relevance to specific keywords on web and site search engines.
Metadata strategy
Metadata strategy identifies the type and structure of metadata, also known as the “data about data” (or content). Smart, well-structured metadata helps publishers to identify, organize, use, and reuse content in ways that are meaningful to key audiences.
Content management strategy
Content management strategy defines the technologies needed to capture, store, deliver, and preserve an organization’s content. Publishing infrastructures, content life cycles, and workflows are key considerations of this strategy.
Call it What you Want ... Just Get it Done
It’s utterly pointless to try and say, “This person isn’t a real content strategist because she only does a subset of the activities that fall under the content strategy umbrella.” Sure, there are content strategy generalists—professionals who can inform and perform the activities that affect every phase of the content lifecycle. But there are also professionals whose expertise runs deep in one specific area of content strategy, or whose work has direct impact on how a content strategy is created or executed.
Ultimately, the important thing is simply that someone is paying close attention to the critical questions that will make or break your content: why, what, where, for whom, by whom, when, how much, and what’s next. It doesn’t matter what you call it or who does it ... as long as the work gets done!
So, Now What?
Now comes the fun part.
The next six chapters will help you understand in depth how content strategy works. We’ll talk about preparing for strategy, creating your strategy, and putting together your action plans for world domination through content. Which is totally possible.
Let’s go!
Discovery
Whether you know it or not, your current “world of content” extends far beyond what’s on your website. It’s made up of all the people, places and things that affect the way your content comes and goes. Let’s go exploring...
4. Alignment
BECAUSE CONTENT TOUCHES just about every area of an organization, strategies only work when everyone is aligned and on the same page.
Alignment starts in the discovery process and continues, well, forever. At the beginning of the content strategy process, alignment is about providing your stakeholders with baseline information about the content, each other, and the strategy process. Then, for the rest of time, it means keeping people up to date, asking for input, and responding to questions. (Yes. Seriously. Forever.)
C’mon, People Now
Alignment isn’t necessarily about creating consensus. It’s about creating a common understanding. But how on earth are you supposed to accomplish that? In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:
• Identify your stakeholders.
• Convince them to participate.
• Set the stage for alignment with a kickoff.
• Get them engaged.
• Keep them motivated throughout the project.
Why is Alignment So Important?
We’ve found that we can often predict how successful a content strategy will be within the first few weeks. How? We look at how receptive the project sponsors are to collaborating with others. It’s our experience that people who are open to input and opinions succeed far more often than those who try to keep their projects under wraps.
Content strategy requires outreach and alignment. Why? Two reasons.
Lots of people affect your content
People throughout your organization are involved in content processes. The marketing and branding teams might be obvious players, but legal reviewers, subject matter experts, technologists, and many others have roles to play. Acknowledging and understanding their ideas, issues, and opinions will help you create a more informed, effective strategy.
Your content strategy affects lots of people
When you introduce a new content strategy, you’re asking all of those people to change their habits, opinions, and accountabilities. That’s a tall order. You’ll need more than a fancy PowerPoint™ presentation to change people’s behavior—you’ll need their trust.
You’ll need to help them understand the big picture. Ask for input and respond to questions. Show them where they can contribute and how they will benefit. The earlier you start, the better. So, hey, let’s get started!
First, Identify your Stakeholders
When we talk about “stakeholders,” we simply mean “people who matter to your project.” Stakeholders can make or break your strategy project—so it’s important to think carefully about who is necessary to the health of your content.
Types of Stakeholders
When people think about picking stakeholders, they often try to get representatives from each of the departments in the organization. That’s a good way to start. Having the right departmental representation is important.
However, as you create your list, you may want to think about functional categories, as well:
• Strategic decision makers are people who will be most impacted by your strategy and, therefore, deserve to have a significant amount of impact and input during the process.
• Money people are the folks that are funding your project. Maybe it’s your boss, and your boss’s boss. They are likely the ultimate decision makers on everything you do.
• Champions are people who will advocate for your project regardless of their relationship to the content. They see the value of content strategy and go out of their way to get others interested and invested.
• Showstoppers are individuals who have no “official” power, but could stop the project in its tracks (the CEO’s henchman, for example). This category includes people who are politically necessary. You have to invite them, because they’ll turn into showstoppers if they’re not involved.
• Interested others are people who have tangential interests in your project. Maybe they have a very limited or indirect relationship to the content. Or, maybe they’re considering a similar project of their own.
Considering these categories will make it easier for you to decide who needs to be involved, when, and in what capacity. Do they need to come to every meeting or just the big ones? Do you need to interview someone personally, or can you just send him a questionnaire?
Categories like this are certainly not a caste system. People can move from one to another, and sometimes be in two categories at once. But, identifying your stakeholders by how they impact the project and not by their areas of expertise will help you understand how to involve them going forward.
Your Day-to-Day Players
The people in the “strategic decision maker” category often make up your core team. They come to all the meetings. They come up with the lion’s share of ideas. And, they are the most important people to keep aligned. (The money people can be part of the core team, too, depending on their accessibility and interest.)
Of course, it’s important to limit the core team to a reasonable size. What that size is depends on your situation. But, if you have a “core team” of 25 people, it’ll be hard to get anything done. If you’ve got a big number of strategic decision makers, you’ll have to decide who is most critical to have on the core team and who has the time to participate. Or, you can create several task forces that can work on different aspects of the project simultaneously.
Just be sure no one is excluded from the process altogether. Even the “interested others” should still be respectfully involved—whethe
r you invite them to the biggest meetings or simply send them a quarterly email update.
No Elitism, Please
It’s tempting to just invite managers to represent their teams. But, in reality, the managers don’t always know how things work in the content trenches. Be sure to include people who really know what’s up, even if they’re interns. A combination of people from all levels of the organizational hierarchy works best.
Then, Get them Interested
People are busy. They might not want to add anything else to their already triple-booked schedule. If you have key stakeholders you want to support or participate in your content initiatives, you may have to work at it.
You need to tell a compelling story (you’re a content-savvy person, after all). Create a nice story arc, and present your case with the following elements:
• The problem or opportunity: What’s going on with content—complete with some persuasive facts from the research or some particularly convincing examples on how content affects the stakeholder’s bottom line or area of responsibility.
• The urgency: Why it’s urgent to work on the content problem right now. (Competitive advantage? User needs? Business opportunity?)
• The request for help: Why you think they would be an asset to the team; what unique views they can provide. Make sure you tell them how much you respect their time, and outline your expectations for participation.
Content Strategy for the Web Page 4
