creating a content strategy

Creating a Content Strategy

RAHEL ANNE BAILIE, Senior Content StrategistINTENTIONAL DESIGN INC.

DANCING IN HIGH HEELS, BACKWARDS

"Sure [Fred Astaire] was great, but

don't forget Ginger Rogers did

everything he did backwards . . .

and in high heels!"

-- Bob Thaves 1982 © NEA Inc.

Publishing Process

Research

Write and edit

Approvals

Translate

Publish

Day 0

The Real Story

Publishing deadline

Translation deadline

Approval deadline

Editorial deadline

Development deadline

Day 0

But Actually …

Research

Write/Edit

ApprovalsTranslate

Publish

CONTENT STRATEGY: SOME COMMON DEFINITIONS

What Is:

• Content:– Contextualized data

• Content Strategy:– Repeatable system that governs the management

of content throughout the entire lifecycle• Content Lifecycle:

– Iterative processes implemented as part of a content strategy

The Real Content Lifecycle

The Strategy Part

STRATEGYTACTICAL

TACTICAL

TACTICAL

ASKING THE BIG QUESTION: WHY?

USER/CUSTOMER GOALS

USER

EXPERIEN

CE

User resarch, touchpoints,

ethnographics, etc.

PRODUCT / PROJECT(outcome)

CONTENT STRATEGYContent lifecycle management:

strategic analysis, content collection, production/management, publishing

REQ

UIR

EMEN

TS A

NA

LYSI

SB

A, R

OI,

cost

ben

efit

anal

ysis

, pro

fess

iona

lse

rvic

es, i

mpl

emen

tatio

n, in

tegr

atio

n,

gove

rnan

ce, e

tcArticulated

Derived objectives

Adjunct objectives

CORP/ ORG / CLIENTGOALS

Strategic goals

Tactical objectives

DESIGNApplication to the project

(IA, UX, IxD, etc)Specs, wireframes, flows

COMMUNICATION GOALSEditorial strategy, localization strategy, metadata strategy, workflow and production design, social

media strategy, delivery strategy

Ideals Harsh realities

Technical aspects

CONTENT STRATEGY: GOING UPHILL, BACKWARDS

Implementation ComponentsPost-Publishing

Publishing

Management

Technical

Collection

Creation

Sunset or evaluate and iterate? Archiving?

How many channels? Variations?

Components? Business rules?

Components? Standards?

Localization? Other versioning?

Voice and tone? Re-use? Style guide?

Content Strategy ComponentsBusiness require-ments matrix Gap

analysisContent

inventoryContent

auditContent

PlanMetadata strategy

Govern-ance Plan

Content matrix

Process models

Content models

User research

Flow diagrams

Personas, scenarios

Wire-frames

Delivery design

Custom, personal

viewsLocaliz-

ation planStandards guidelines

Content migration

Templates

WHY:ALL IN THE CONTEXT

USER/CUSTOMER GOALS

USER

EXPERIEN

CE

User resarch, touchpoints,

ethnographics, etc.

PRODUCT / PROJECT(outcome)

CONTENT STRATEGYContent lifecycle management:

strategic analysis, content collection, production/management, publishing

REQ

UIR

EMEN

TS A

NA

LYSI

SB

A, R

OI,

cost

ben

efit

anal

ysis

, pro

fess

iona

lse

rvic

es, i

mpl

emen

tatio

n, in

tegr

atio

n,

gove

rnan

ce, e

tcArticulated

Derived objectives

Adjunct objectives

CORP/ ORG / CLIENTGOALS

Strategic goals

Tactical objectives

DESIGNApplication to the project

(IA, UX, IxD, etc)Specs, wireframes, flows

COMMUNICATION GOALSEditorial strategy, localization strategy, metadata strategy, workflow and production design, social

media strategy, delivery strategy

Ideals Harsh realities

Technical aspects

DISCUSS…

Resources

delicious.com/rahelab (Tag: content_strategy)

knol.google.com/k/content-strategyuxbooth.com

Complete Beginner’s Guide to Content StrategyManaging Enterprise ContentThe Web Content Strategist’s BibleContent Strategy for the WebThe Whuffie Factor

RAHEL ANNE BAILIEINTENTIONAL DESIGN INCWWW.INTENTIONALDESIGN.CA